Sylvia

ISBN-13:9780143006992

'I am Sylvia Honeyeater; I think myself born around 1196, and this is the story of my life.'

From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes the colourful epic of Sylvia. Late twelfth-century Europe is torn by religious intolerance. Sylvia, with a singing voice that can literally charm the birds out of the trees, and an acute and questioning mind that refuses to accept unreasoned beliefs, embarks on a pilgrimage. She joins the Children's Crusade, bound for the Holy Land.

From a bawdy life as an entertainer in a whorehouse to an austere and frequently cruel existence in a convent, she fights to be true to her destiny. And her mysterious birthmark causes much confusion: can this peasant maid indeed be a chosen messenger?

Sylvia is a tale of adversity, of adventure and crusades, and of a beautiful and gifted woman.

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User Reviews

• Comment by Stephanie Dodd May 20, 2010
  I often wonder when I was the age of twelve, would I have been able to survive by myself the way Sylvia did - physically and emotionally. As a hungry orphan with nothing left in this world to live for she made the choice of life and literally took God by His Word. It is such a different, weird, inspirational story and it was wonderful to see how a human being - an orphan destined to die from hunger and cold - escalated to the top of life itself. In a way it reminded me of the character Anna in The Persimmon Tree - a young girl who also suffered the brutality of this world and came out on top (although totally scarred from the inside for the rest of her life). The books are brilliant from the first page to the last! It is only a pleasure to read Mr Courtenay's books and none can compare! Stephanie - South Africa
• Comment by Samantha November 20, 2008
  I think that this is the first book ever that I will read again.