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A Gathering of Ghosts

By: Karen Maitland
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Summary

Pagans tackle the Knights of St John with terrible consequences in the new medieval thriller by Queen of the Dark Ages, Karen Maitland. Set on the wilds of Dartmoor, this is a ghostly tale for fans of The Essex Serpent or C. J. Sansom's Shardlake series, and The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse. 

1316. On the wilds of Dartmoor stands the isolated Priory of St Mary, home to the Sisters of the Knights of St John. People journey from afar in search of healing at the holy well that lies beneath its chapel. 

But the locals believe Dartmoor was theirs long before Christianity came to the land. And not all who visit seek miracles. When three strangers reach the moor, fear begins to stir as the well's waters run with blood. 

What witchcraft have the young woman, the Knight of St John and the blind child brought with them? 

The Sisters will need to fight for everything they hold dear as the ghosts of the Old World gather in their midst. 

©2018 Karen Maitland (P)2018 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

"A dark read...fear and hysteria are portrayed with claustrophobic skill." (The Times on The Plague Charmer)

What listeners say about A Gathering of Ghosts

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Keeble's Masterclass Shines on Karen's Grim Noire

In A Gathering of Ghosts Maitland and Keeble have come together to produce a fabulous audio book.

Maitland paints the grim existence of the denizens of the Middle Ages as well as anyone. She uses a palette of grimy greys, desolate blacks and sullen browns to describe their oft-blighted lives. There is very little humor or optimism in her books.

Keeble delivers a genuine masterclass despite the fact that so many of the characters are female. He brings out the ragged desperation that these poorest of peasants must have felt in an admirable performance. Their hopes, their fears and often their sheer terror are brought vividly to life. In fact this is one where it's difficult to say who contributed most to the overall production, author or narrator. They are a great combination.

Maitland takes full advantage of the dim history and rampant superstition of the times. Old Gods, vengeful spirits and various magics are infused into this atmospherically stark and grisly story. very definitely one I would recommend!

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21 people found this helpful

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A thrilling and haunting Dartmoor story

I’m a huge fan of Karen Maitland’s and have read all of her books so far, however I particularly loved this as I myself live on Dartmoor by the river dart and listened to this as I wandered the moor truly feeling the story coming alive.
In typical Maitland style it is not a sweeping Romantic historical novel with an equally romanticised view of medieval England, fat from it, this is history in its horrific reality transporting you back to a time when life was truly very different to what we know today. This is something I love very much about Maitland’s books, they don’t floralise the past into a mythical dreamworld but give you the bare bones of lives lived and lost all those years ago.
For me this was a truly enjoyable listen, the characters richly painted and the narration, as always, perfect for the story. Cannot wait for her to release another one!

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For Me a Big Surprise!

This is the first book by Karen Maitland I have listened to and, at first, I did think I would like this story - then to my surprise I was totally immersed in this dark tale. The narration was outstanding and did wonder, at one time, whether there was more than one person involved in the telling. The whole is very well worth persevering with - understandibly it is, at the start, hard to separate the
characters but soon everything becomes clear. Do listen please!

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Amazing tale. I loved it.

As with all Karen Maitland's books, this tale is wonderfully researched. I found myself rooting for the three protagonists more and more as the story progressed. Hot footing it over to Google for images and information of the area and tinners history. I highly recommend this book. Bravo!

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Good Story

I'm loving her Medieval stories. They are immersive, well written, well read. very good .

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Not as good as other Maitland

Great performance as usual from Keeble. Found the story a little dull with a pithy end. Love other Maitland books so was surprised I didn't enjoy this as much

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A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland

A superbly researched book. A really intriguing story. I couldn't wait to listen again.. It never disappointed.

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Atmospheric

Really enjoyed this book. It was well written and very atmospheric. Beautifully narrated and would recommend to anybody wanting a slightly spooky story

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  • K
  • 18-01-19

Clumsy

I've read/listened to Maitland's Company of Liars which I found dark and thrilling. This one, however, is a little bit ham-fisted. I'm not sure of the premise of this book - the plot seemed as undulating and directionless as the travellers that lose their bearings on Dartmoor. Her characters seem to be fallible which you think would create a greater connection between the reader and them - that didn't work here - most of the characters were flawed in deeply unflattering ways and none of them seemed to have redeeming features. Thus, the reader remains ambivalent to them and what happens to them; I'm not sure that's ideal fiction writing.

It also appears that the writer had an agenda with this book. However, it's a stereotyped one, it's hackneyed and lacks subtlety: namely that the corruption of the early Christian church was unmitigatedly bad for any country that happened to allow them to settle. The fact that there was corruption is undeniable but as any really good historical writer, C J Sansom for example, will show you, there is more than one side to a coin. She forgets to value the vocation of many of these establishments and her one facetted approach comes across as childish. Theologically she raises many hackneyed points about the catholic mass and pokes fun at the rituals and beliefs behind transubstantiation. Fair enough. It would seem then that she is taking an iconoclastic stance (yes, we get the metaphor of the crack in the chapel - it's sledge-hammer imagery). Au contraire, she REALLY wants us to know that real supernatural power is in the early Gods of place. It's bad theology and it doesn't even work for literary reasons either because in undermining one faith system she undermines them all - the 'winners' at the end seems no better than the ones defeated.

What I did like was:
A) the narrator - he's an experienced and fantastic voice actor (although as the many of the characters were women I think its a shame a male narrator was chosen).
B) the atmospheric and dirty realism of the setting

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love love love!

Karent Maitland cant write books fast enough for me! Everyone is a terrific read that keeps you 'turning pages' till the end. You wont be disappointed.

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