Feb 1, 2011

Book Review: The Tapestry Shop by Joyce Elson Moore

Title: The Tapestry Shop 
Author: Joyce Elson Moore

"Catherine glanced at the musician; all eyes were on him. This musician has smitten all the ladies and probably cannot see past his Norman nose, pampered as he is in court circles." (ch. 7)
Goodreads description: "The Tapestry Shop, by Joyce Elson Moore, is an historical novel based on the life of Adam de la Halle, a 13th century poet/musician who entertained in France's royal courts and who left behind a vast collection of secular compositions.
 
While researching Adam's music, the author discovered ... that the earliest version of the Robin Hood legend may have been Adam's play, Le Jeu de Robin et Marion. Because Adam was patronized by royalty, his play was probably performed in English courts, and would have changed, as legends do. In the retelling, Robin became an English hero, and Robin's companions became the Merry Men.

The book draws the reader into the Middle Ages, where women joined the crusades and students held discourse on the Street of Straw, but the overriding appeal of The Tapestry Shop may be Adam's connection to the popular legend of Robin Hood."
 
Comments: Romance, religion, history, music and poetry all rolled into one in this novel by Joyce Elson Moore about Adam de la Halle, a French trouvere or troubadour whom she did extensive research on for her novel. Well worth while for lovers of poetry and literature, history, and legend.
Title: The Tapestry Shop (Five Star Expressions)
Published: October 15th 2010 by Five Star
Genre: Historical, biographical fiction
Source: ARC from Carol Fass Publicity
Objective rating: 4 out of 5

12 comments:

  1. Love the teaser. Hope you enjoy the book. I have two teasers this week. My YA teaser is from Warped by Maurissa Guibord and my adult teaser is from Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks. Happy reading!

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  2. Good teaser...sounds like a great read - I'm going to have to look into this book!

    My teaser can be found here.

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  3. What a gorgeous cover! Is that the ARC? And an excellent teaser, too. This one sounds really intriguing.

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  4. Jshall: Yes, that's the cover of the ARC and the hardcover!

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  5. Lovely teaser and gorgeous cover. My TT: http://www.rundpinne.com/2011/02/teaser-tuesdays-shadowfever.html

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  6. that's so funny, so many of us are that way and never look beyond our noses. thanks for stopping by today.

    The Tiger Rising that I featured on my blog today is a childrens novel. It uses a lot of metaphor's that might be above the average childs head. I read a book review from a teacher who had read it aloud to her class and she said only one child in her class figured out the key part of the title was not the word "Tiger" but the word "Rising". I liked the use of William Blakes poem too, the author used it at several points throughout the book.

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  7. Great teaser. You have me hooked.

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  8. I LOVE poetry!

    http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/2011/02/teaser-tuesday.html

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  9. Nice teaser! I'm going to have to check out this book!

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  10. Nice teaser and a pretty cover!

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  11. I haven't seen or heard about Robin Hood for years. Thanks for sharing about the play. The Teaser made me laugh. Are there many vain men now? :)

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