Product Description
The year is 1299. Fourteen year-old Elenor reluctanly awaits the return of her betrothed -- a man she hardly knows -- from the Crusade. Thomas, broken and disillusioned from years of fighting, finds the very idea of marriage and lordship overwhelming. So When the village priest sends them on religious pilgrimage before the marriage, both are relieved. The journey means a postponement of the dreaded nuptials, and a last chance for adventure. As Eleanor and thomas wend their way toward the shrine of St. James, they meet mant other pilgrims -- each with their own extraordinary tales to tell and ideas to share. There is Etienne, a passionate student of philosophy; Brother Ambrose, gentle teacher of Sschoolboys; practical Marthe, eager for a decent life for her children. And graually Eleanor and Thomas come to realize the glorious possibilities of the world around them... within each other.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 40 reviews)

Don't bother.

Temple's view of the Middle Ages is historically inaccurate, completely anachronistic, and blatantly biased. This is not historical fiction...this is the treatise of a woman with an axe to grind. As a professional children's librarian and an amateur medievalist, I'd say, "Don't waste your time."
April 13, 2008

Pretty good book

The Ramsay Scallop was a good book. At first, I was reluctant to read it but once I got started, I finished it in about a week.. yes it was that good.
The parts about religion were boring but the stories some of the characters told were entertaining and lesson-learning.
It's amazing what some people would do to release sins from their souls!
I really did like the book and the selective boring parts were made up for with the rest of the story.
A must read for social studies fanatics!!
August 29, 2005

Don't just hand this to your child

This would be a great book for learning about Catholic life and pilgrimages during that time period if it wasn't so PC. About 70% of the book is accurate, 25% is fluff and 5% contains the usual inaccuracies and misconceptions about the Catholic Church. There are about 20 or 30 sentences that do one of the following
-poke Christian beliefs
-misconceptions about the Catholic Church
-portray Moslims as more enlightened and more intellegent
-references to s-e-x (about 3 sentences)
-other politically correct views
This book does not twist historical people to act like modern people as does Catherine Called Birdie, for example, but there are enough problems that I won't be having my younger set read it (and the older teens aren't interested.) To bad she didn't do just a bit more research.
July 06, 2005

Ramsay Scallop

I liked this book, but in my opinion it ends too early. The numerous stories that were told by the characters were unnecessary and dragged on. On a better note, I found many parts realistic, enchanting and sweet. A very interesting book like none I've read before.
February 07, 2005

Why I liked it and many didn't

Well, after reading all of the other reviews offered at the bottom of this page, I was suddenly motivated to write a review of my own. I loved this book and was a bit confused at first about why others hated it.I think that the readers who reviewed this book and thought it was bad were not prepared for all of the information or didn't expect it to be how it was. Obviously there has to be something about this book or else it wouldn't've won the ALA Best Book for Young Adults award. I thought it was very interesting to learn about this time period and all this religious stuff got kind of boring but then you sort of got intrigued. The best part of the book was the blooming romance between the main characters Thomas and Elenor. I loved how at first Thomas referred to Elenor as "the Brat" and then eventually switched to Nora. I'm only a teenager and know as much about pilgrimmage as I do about gnu herding in West Africa (if there is such a thing). I found myself engrossed, though, and all in all it was a really good book I think.
April 27, 2004

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