Abbey of the Whispering Maidens
(Historical Fiction)
It is 1540, Henry VIII is king, and it is the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England. Sir William Holloway is retiring from the London court and has purchased Nediam Abbey in the county of Wiltshire, with the intention of changing it into a manor for his wife Viviane and his two sons Adelard and Cedric. While repairs are made on the rundown abbey, the old abbess dies, but not before telling William that the library holds a secret. Then he discovers a Templar tomb, which reveals a secret that casts a warning and a request that both excites an appetite for fortune and scares him, as it is a mission that may be seen as a treasonous Catholic mission.
When the abbey is ready, William moves his family there. With Baudwin, William’s best friend from court, and Vivian’s new lady-in-waiting, Delia, they contract with young maidens and young gentlemen to train them how to run a working estate. More secrets are discovered, which takes William and his sons to various old abbeys to find out more about their ancestors and Templar history. But each time he returns, Viviane becomes paler and weaker. Fearing for her health, William sets out to find the one holy object that may save her. His magical quest begins with a knight’s duty to a dead Templar, to one of self-discovery and fulfillment of the heart for the living.
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