Cloister and the Hearth (version 2)

The 15th century comes alive in this sweeping tale of love, loss, and redemption. Gerald Eliassoen, a talented scribe and illuminator in Rome, flees persecution and journeys across seven countries back to his native Holland, desperate to provide for his family. But upon arrival, he finds his parents dead, his brothers have cheated him of his inheritance, and worst of all, they've told him his beloved wife Margaret has perished. Believing himself utterly alone in the world, Gerald attempts to take his own life, but fate intervenes, and he instead finds refuge in a monastery, becoming a friar. Years pass. Margaret, still alive and faithful, searches for her lost husband across Europe. Will they find each other again, or will the cloister keep them forever separated? A groundbreaking Victorian historical novel that helped establish realistic historical fiction in English, The Cloister and the Hearth is a powerful meditation on faith, fate, and the endurance of love.