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The Leper of Saint Giles
- The Fifth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- Narrated by: Joanna Ward
- Series: Brother Cadfael, Book 5
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Non-member price: $25.59
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In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden to the bloody battlefield. Not far from the safety of the Abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: 95 bodies lie in a row, and the extra corpse tells Cadfael that the killer is both clever and ruthless. But one death among so many seems unimportant to all but the good Benedictine.
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Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peters and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive 19-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.
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Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the Abbey boasts the services of clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognises Richildis, whom he loved many years ago before he took his vows. And Master Bonel has been fatally poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's herbarium.
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-
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Proof pisitive!
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Christmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least toward a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable. To Brother Cadfael, once wordly, now dedicated, if gently cynical, is left the familiar task of sorting the complicated strands which define guilt and innocence.
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It is June in the Year of Our Lord 1143 when Elave, young clerk to William of Lythwood, returns from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his elderly master's body. His mission is twofold, to bury William in his home abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, and to deliver a dowry to William's adopted daughter Fortunata. But Elave, suspected of harboring views inimical to church doctrine, is held for ecclesiastical trial. And when Aldwin, the Lythwood family clerk hired in Elave's absence, is stabbed to death, Elave is incarcerated not only for heresy, but for murder. Fortunata's dowry, an intricately carved box with mysterious contents, holds the key to the mysteries that spring up around Elave and the Lythwood family. Shrewd and patient, Brother Cadfael is at his best here. Performed by Tony Award-winning actor Derek Jacobi, this sixteenth chronicle of Brother Cadfael is sure to delight old friends and new fans.
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An adventure of morals
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Brother Cadfael's Penance
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Performance
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It is nearing the end of the Year of Our Lord 1145. A monk vows to abandon all earthly ties, but how can Brother Cadfael obey when his son is captured in battle? Olivier de Bretagne is one of many young knights taken prisoner in the current power dispute in Britain, but he is also Cadfael's son, and the monk cannot be objective. A council is planned at Coventry to try to appease the warring factions, and Brother Cadfael asks leave to attend, knowing he must do all in his power to find and deliver his son. This most thrilling and humane of Ellis Peters's novels is filled with excitement, intrigue, and a meticulously depicted medieval background.
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Brother Cadfael's Stories
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Brideshead Revisited
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The wellsprings of desire and the impediments to love come brilliantly into focus in Evelyn Waugh's masterpiece - a novel that immerses us in the glittering and seductive world of English aristocracy in the waning days of the empire. Through the story of Charles Ryder's entanglement with the Flytes, a great Catholic family, Evelyn Waugh charts the passing of the privileged world he knew in his own youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities.
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a true classic read by a veteran performer
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The Potter's Field
- The Seventeenth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It is the Summer and Autumn of the Year of Our Lord 1143 in which the gentle monk, Brother Cadfael, is forced to leave the tranquility of his herb garden to find the whole truth behind the murder of a young women whose body was unexpectedly discovered in a newly tilled field recently acquired by the Shrewsbury Abbey in a land exchange.
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Excellent
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Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"Each addition to the series is a joy. Long may the Chronicles continue." (USA Today)
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What listeners say about The Leper of Saint Giles
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall

- Wm Bruce Ford
- 25-10-2009
The Leper of Saint Giles
Good. Moderately enteraining.
2 people found this helpful
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- Tom
- 05-12-2012
Another great listen!
Any additional comments?
I have been slowly going through the BC series, and have enjoyed them all thus far. But I want to comment specifically on the reader, Joanna Ward. There have been some comments on this, and other BC books, about her being a bad choice. I have to strongly disagree. Of the readers I have heard so far, she is clearly the top one. Her ability to add Welsh inflections, where needed, are terrific, and her male/female character voices are as good as anybody else's given that any reader, male or female, is going to be challenged to sound authentic doing the "other sex".
I have just started "Virgin in the Ice", and the reader (Vanessa Benjamin, I believe) is already bothering me immensely.
I wish that Joanna Ward had read them all.
1 person found this helpful
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- MRC
- 10-01-2021
great read
you will feel yourself transported to a world gone - a time when wolves still roamed England
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- monique
- 19-11-2011
Why was this narrator chosen?
I have read all of the Brother Cadfael books in French as well as English, and am a solid fan of this author and series.
While I enjoyed the accent of this narrator, however, and her skill, her efforts to convey male voices failed in my view (as a function of her voice capabilities), with the unfortunate and unintended consequence of making all of these characters (and almost all characters are male of course) sound pompous and self-important. I have much preferred male narrators for this series.
1 person found this helpful
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- Suzo
- 23-05-2018
Questionable Narration
The narration of Ms Ward wasn't bad, except when she was speaking Cadfael's voice. The voice she used, supposedly to mimic Welsh speaking, was more reminiscent of Calcutta or Bombay. It was quite annoying. Only the excellence of Ellis Peters' story carried me to the conclusion. I'll make it a point to avoid Ms Ward's narration in the future.
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- JOYCE H.
- 19-12-2011
Another well written Brother Cadfael mystery
What made the experience of listening to The Leper of Saint Giles the most enjoyable?
Well written story; well told
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
While the plot is good; the enjoyment for me is in the telling.
What does Joanna Ward bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Like many peiople I
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes
Any additional comments?
The whole series gives a wonderful picture of 14th century England. It is also provides a peep into customs, religion and the basics of forensics and criminal psychology. Reading in chronological order provides a good insight into a civil war not often written about.
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- Kimberly
- 11-10-2008
No mystery at all
Well-narrated, but this murder was no mystery at all. I really dislike books peopled by caricatures rather than characters, who do stupid things merely to advance the plot. Ellis Peters is no grand master of crime.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bookaholic
- 19-07-2013
Good story, spoiled by narrator
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes...it is a good Ellis Peter story...well written and interesting.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
Totally! Her ludicrously bad attempt at a Welsh accent for Cadfael was so irritating and jarring that it spoiled the experience for me. It would have been better if she had not tried...I am amazed that the producers accepted it. Rather than being absorbed by the story I was constantly being wrenched into the present whenever Cadfael spoke!
3 people found this helpful
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- Miss J. P. Ross
- 19-01-2018
Spoiled by poor narration
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
The narrator's dreadful attempt at a Welsh accent entirely spoiled my enjoyment. Stephen Thorne's narration is superb and it is a pity Audible haven't commissioned him to read all the Ellis Peters books.
What other book might you compare The Leper of Saint Giles to, and why?
The other Ellis Peters Cadfael novels are all great entertainment.
How could the performance have been better?
By having the book narrated by Stephen Thorne.
2 people found this helpful
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- Nadia
- 20-07-2008
A masterpiece of historical fiction
This is the fifth in the absorbing and highly aclaimed Cadfael series and shows author Ellis Peters at her best. With deeply sympothetic characters, vivid descriptions and a fantastic twist, this is a great listen from start to finish.
1 person found this helpful
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- Alexander
- 09-11-2020
Narrator can't read
This is a great story but the narrator literally can't read, what a shame and I find her terrible Welsh accent quite insulting.
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- Amazon Customer
- 26-08-2020
Very enjoyable apart from a terrible Welsh accent
An old favourite and I enjoyed the performance very much but, oh I wish someone had given the narrator instruction in a Welsh accent, it did spoil the narration for me. Although her depiction of Agnes in her final scene was magnificent
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- Tomasz
- 30-07-2020
Brother Cadfael
Just like with the preceding books, the story was engaging and a travel to a different time and world. It was very interesting to see how the characters develop and the story line unfolds. The only minor complaint is that I got used to the voice of Stephen Thorne and while Joanna Ward did a good job, I would like that continuity.
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- sianeflewog
- 19-04-2019
Disappointing.
The narration of this book constantly detracted from the story. Why do they insist on people who are unable to give adequate voice to Brother Cadfael? Joanna Ward would have been better advised to read without accent. Her version of Cadfael put him all over the British Isles and the Asian sub continent!
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- Mary Carnegie
- 15-05-2017
Great story but not best narrator
Stephen Thorne did a great job with Cadfael, so it's sad he didn't read them all. Still Joanna Ward is reasonable if you're happy with a reader rather than a performer- she (thankfully) avoids putting on silly voices as some do!
It's a great story, no question, and unabridged, thank God.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-08-2016
Let down by terrible narrator
I like the plots and historical setting of the Cadfael stories, but this version is completely ruined by the narration. Joanna Ward's accents are laughably bad, with her Welsh resembling the clipped syllables from the Indian subcontinent, while Shropshire swerves between Somerset and Cockney. Seriously, listen for a moment and you'll think Brother Cadfael is from Pakistan. On top of that, it's hard to tell when she's doing a character's voice or a description, as she delivers in a monotone with little variation in pace or pitch. They must have scoured the land to find an actress who can't do a Welsh accent ... or indeed act.
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- C. Davis
- 07-05-2016
Gentle murder
Love Cadfael stories. Not so keen on this narrator but at least voice not jarring. Would listen again.
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