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| Keeper at the Shrine
| | Domini Highsmith
| On a freezing night in December 1180, a sudden storm of sinister and devastating power strikes the town of Beverley in the see of York. At the tempest's height a mysterious hooded figure brings a newborn child for baptism to the great Minster Church while a crippled priest is healed of his affliction and made young Peter's guardian by the time the figure vanishes. An elderly priest is struck down from behind, a young boy hangs himself in shame, and the sacred shrine of St. John of Beverley is left exposed to the diverse greeds, desires, and failings of common men. His obsessive love for the child sets Father Simeon at odds with his church, and the secular hierarchy is divided against itself in the struggles for control that follow the storm. News of the so-called Beverley Miracles spreads beyond the town as ruthless and dangerous men seek to profit from the tragedy. Soon Father Simeon and Elvira, the beautiful young woman engaged as wet nurse for Peter, become catalysts of treachery, corrupt ambition, and brutal murder. Knowing their own lives are at stake, they prepare to risk everything to protect the mysterious child whose destiny is in their care. Brought together by strange forces, united by a forbidden passion and driven by the secrets they must share, the handsome priest and the ditcher's wife stand fast against their enemies and defy the awesome authority of the church. In the service of St. John of Beverley they shape an uneasy peace in which they must survive ... until the hooded figure reappears.
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