Eleanore of Avignon

In 1347 Provence, in southern France, 17-year-old Eleanore and her twin sister, Margot, live with their father, an accountant employed by Pope Clement, and their faithful housekeeper, Anes. When the girls were 10 years old, their mother, a respected midwife, healer, and herbalist, died. As a child, Eleanore had accompanied her mother as she cared for the pregnant and laboring women of Avignon and gained understanding of how to handle crises in childbirth.

Now, Eleanore, mindful that she shares her mother’s healing gift, uses her knowledge of the medicinal properties of herbs to bring restoration and relief to people in her community.

One day in the forest as she is collecting herbs and berries, Eleanore encounters the larger-than-life personal physician to the pope, though initially she is unaware of his identity. In search of a remedy for Pope Clement’s illness, Dr. Guy de Chauliac enlists Eleanore’s expertise and help. Her efforts are successful, and Guigo—the doctor’s common name—agrees to take her on as his apprentice.

With Guigo’s guidance, Eleanore begins to learn far more than she ever dreamed possible in an age where women weren’t allowed to be physicians and any woman who overstepped her bounds as a healer could be accused of being a witch and burned at the stake.

Guigo and Eleanore’s efforts are stretched beyond what seems humanly possible when the Black Death arrives in Europe and reaches Avignon, causing unimaginable suffering, death, and devastation, and giving rise to hysteria, hatred, and fear. Eleanore understands that “this fear, this hatred is a weapon searching for a target" and knows that unfounded rumors that Jewish people have caused the plague by poisoning wells will lead to the death of many Jews.

Eleanore’s strength and knowledge are further challenged when she is enlisted as the midwife of Queen Joanna, who has come to Avignon to be tried for allegedly murdering her husband.

As thousands of people in Avignon are dying, Eleanore is torn between concern for her family, the rigors of caring for plague-ill patients, assisting the queen in her difficult pregnancy and delivery, and navigating a society that threatens her calling as a healer with the looming possibility of accusations of witchcraft.

Brilliantly plotted and satisfyingly suspenseful, this novel for adults, which introduces readers to real historical figures, portrays the life of a fictional young woman who chafes against society’s strictures and, with the assistance of unexpected allies, pursues an inconceivable future.

Author Elizabeth DeLozier candidly exposes the moral failures of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages as horrific crimes against Jewish people were carried out in Christ’s name and as Pope Clement’s ostentatious lifestyle made a mockery of God’s command to keep one’s life free from the love of money and worldly wealth (Heb. 13:5).

(Dutton)