A morbid taste for bones

¶ … Morbid Taste for Bones

The novel A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters is both a work of historical fiction and a mystery, in keeping with the interests and field of knowledge of historian Edith Pargeter, the real name of the author. The central character is Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk newly arrived in Shrewsbury who is then sent on a mission to Wales, his homeland. He is sent along with the prior to act as interpreter while the two carry out the task of acquiring the bones of Saint Winifred, bones that currently rest in a village graveyard. This mission creates tension in the village, with some villagers fighting to keep these relics in the village, relics revered because Saint Winifred was thought to perform miracles. The villager most in opposition is murdered, and Cadfael and the man's daughter set out to discover the murderer.

Within this framework, Peters includes a great deal about village life and the religious life in the twelfth century. One element often used for dramatic effect involves unequal power relations, which in the era depicted have an authoritarian element tied to the power of the Church. This is evident as Sioned hints that her father might have been murdered on the orders of Robert, the prior, who shows his authority when answering. Peers contrasts the two as they face one another, "staring upon each other like adversaries in the lists before the baton falls" (101), a description right from the period involved. He is "very tall and rigid and chill as ice" (101), and she is "slight and ferocious and very handsome" (101). He tells her to "Take care!... You put your soul in peril!" (101). Power relations in this era involve not merely physical freedom and well-being but threats to the soul unto eternity.

Power also derives from righteousness and the self-confidence that comes from that state, as is seen alter in the book when Sioned again stands before Robert and shows herself to have an inner strength that does not fear him and that indeed affects him: "So far from checking at sight of Robert, she gave a slight spring of hope and purpose to her step, and came on without pause" (145). Peters chooses words carefully to show a girl deliberately maintaining her pace and refusing to be cowed in the sight of authority. The girl stops before Robert "and stood so still and quiet that he might have mistaken this for submission, if he had been fool enough" (145). Again, Peters chooses words carefully to delineate the dramatic situation, to illuminate the nature of both characters, and to create a tension that holds the reader as Sioned makes her proposal and is granted it as a "loyal daughter" (146).

Peters is also skillful at evoking thoughts and emotions by outward signs that can be observed and described. When the Prior, Brother Richard, Father Cadfael, and the others ride to Rhisiart's yard and learn that the prisoner has escaped, Cadfael's mood at this news is evident as he translates "With considerable pleasure" (209), seeing the news as a "neat little stab" (209). The way the news affects another person present is apparent in the way Peters describes the scene: "It kindled a spark in the speaking eyes of the young person in green, and Griffith did not miss it" (209). Again, the tension of the moment creates a dramatic situation that holds the reader as Griffith thinks that "to challenge it would have been folly" (209-210).

Peters is also able to convey a sense of the attitudes of the crowd in the final sequences and does so in a way that shows the awareness of Brother Cadfael as well as the lack of awareness of the other clerics. During the transfer of the bones, Cadfael fools the other clerics but not the people: "They knew already!" (239). The fact that the people would keep the secret is also apparent to Cadfael: "And not a word aloud, not a word out of place, until the strangers were gone" (239). The contrast with the Prior is also made quite clear as he enters the chapel, "very tall, very regal, very silvery-fine... with most of Gwytherin crowding into the graveyard after him" (239).