Readers' Guide: Les Peregrines by Jeanne Bourin
Les Peregrines
Category: NOVEL
Guide Created By: Eloise De Pelteau and Ginny Anderson
Discussion Leader(s): Eloise De Pelteau and Ginny Anderson
Read our archived discussion of this book
Guide Description
Jeanne Bourin, the popular historical novelist, recounts the story of three young French women who go on the crusade to Jerusalem in 1099.
Plot Synopsis
Les Peregrines
On July 15, 1099, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem. It was the end of the first crusade, the most daring pilgrimage of all times. Several historians wrote about this extraordinary expedition toward the tomb of Christ. But no one yet wrote a novel of this epoch from a woman's point of view.
From Chartres to Jerusalem, passing through Constantinople, Nicea, Antioch and Tripoli, Les Peregrines carry us along with Brunissen, Flaminia and Alais, the three daughters of a parchment maker from Chartres. Through their eyes we discover the splendors of these cities but also the terrible ordeals they will meet along the way: the deaths that decimated their family, the long exhausting marches, the hunger, the thirst, the sickness, the fighting and the rivalries opposing the Frankish lords. Upheld by their faith and the miraculous events which saved the pilgrims from disaster, the three sisters will also make us live their passionate and contradictory love affairs which will divide their hearts and shatter their lives.
Jeanne Bourin brilliantly restores for us the day-to-day existence of the crusaders. She brings us back to this era of faith and violence, mixing history and fiction and reminds us that women also actively participated in the crusades. They were the adventurers of God.
Le 15 juillet 1099, les croises conquirent Jerusalem. C'etait le terme de la premi_re croisade, le plus audacieux pelerinage de tous les temps. Nombre d'historiens ont rapporte cette extraordinaire expedition vers le tombeau du Christ. Mais personne encore n'avait ecrit le roman de cette epopee au feminin.
De Chartres _ Jerusalem, en passant par Constantinople, Nicee, Antioche et Tripoli, Les Peregrines nous entrainent _ la suite de Brunissen, Flaminia et Alais, les trois filles d'un parcheminier chartrain. Par leurs yeux, nous decouvrons les splendeurs de ces villes mais aussi les terribles epreuves rencontrees en route: La mort qui decime leur famille, les longues marches epuisantes, la faim, la soif, la maladie, les combats, les rivalites qui opposent les seigneurs francs. Soutenues par leur foi et les evenements miraculeux qui sauvent les p_lerins du desastre, les trois soeurs nous font egalement vivre les amours passionnees et contradictoires qui vont diviser leurs coeurs et bouleverser leurs vies.
Jeanne Bourin nous restitue avec eclat l'existence quotidienne des croises. Elle nous replace dans cette epoque de foi et de violence, en m_lant l'histoire _ la fiction, et nous rappelle que les femmes, elles aussi, ont participe activement aux croisades. Elles furent les aventuri_res de Dieu.
Bibliography of Author's works
Les Compagnons d'iternite
La Dame de Beaute
Le Grand Feu
Le Jeu de la Tentation
Les Amours Blesses
Tr_s Sage Heloise
Chronique du Temps Passe
Chroniques Medievales
Les Peregrines
Entre Femmes
Garenne
La Chambre des Dames
Questions
Interesting InformationParcheminier: the Role of the Parchment Maker |
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