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Book Review of Brother Cadfael's Penance (Brother Cadfael, Bk 20)

Brother Cadfael's Penance (Brother Cadfael, Bk 20)
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I feel rather sad to come to the last of the Brother Cadfael Chronicles, published the year before Ellis Peters died. It's a fitting but frustrating end, as one feels there could be so much more ground to explore beyond this. Cadfael breaks his monastic vows of obedience to rescue his captive son, who we met a few volumes back. It's been so long since I visited this world, it took me awhile to get my bearings around the 12th century politics, but once the good brother takes off to find his son the story trots along on a good pace. Cadfael's son finally comes to know his father by the end, but although the story reaches a satisying conclusion, fans of the series can't help but feel saddened that there will be no further exploration of that relationship.