Crossed
A Tale of the Fourth Crusade
By Nicole Galland
(Harper Paperbacks, Paperback, 9780060841805, 672pp.)
Publication Date: January 17, 2008
Categories: Historical - General
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In the year 1202, tens of thousands of crusaders gather in Venice, preparing to embark for Jerusalem to free the Holy City from Muslim rule. Among them is a lowly vagabond Briton, rescued from damnation by a pious knight who burns with zealous fire for their sacred undertaking. And so they set sail, along with dedicated companions—and with a beautiful, mysterious Arab "princess" whom the vagabond liberates from a brutish merchant. But the divine light guiding their "righteous" campaign soon darkens as the mission sinks ever deeper into catastrophe, disgrace, and moral turpitude—as Christians murder Christians in the Adriatic port city of Zara, tragic events are set in motion that will ultimately lead to the shocking and shameful fall of Constantinople.
Impeccably researched and beautifully told, Nicole Galland's Crossed is a stunning tale of the disastrous Fourth Crusade—and of the hopeful, brave, and driven who were caught up in and irrevocably changed by a corrupted cause and a furious battle beyond their comprehension or control.
Award-winning screenwriter Nicole Galland is working on her fourth novel, set in Leominster, England. An itinerant gypsy for much of her adult life, she has recently married, and rumor has it she will even settle down soon.
1. Discuss the title of the book. What are all the possible applications of the word crossed to the events and characters of the story?
"A tasty fictional stew. . . . A veritable reading feast."
-Booklist on Revenge of the Rose
"A tasty fictional stew, mixing elements of twelfth-century culture together skillfully to produce a veritable reading feast . . . .The combination of vicious politics, mysterious doings, betrayals, and double-dealing, added to a leisurely but engaging plot, will keep those pages turning."
-Booklist
"A clever novel of courtly love . . . entertains with a flourish."
-Publishers Weekly
"[A]ttention to detail and humor keeps the novel both exhaustive and hilarious...Nicole Galland is exceptionally well versed in the fine nuances of storytelling and illustrating the combustible nature of mixing religion, commerce and war."
-St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
"A wallop of a first novel-entertaining and engaging."
-San Francisco Chronicle on The Fool's Tale
"[A] funny (really!) look at this disastrous Crusade through the eyes of a wacky Welshman, a pious knight and his half-brother and an Arab princess (who isn't what she seems) they hope to return to her Egyptian home. It's a raucous road trip set in the 13th century."
-New York Post
"[A]t once an idiot's guide to the tangled geopolitical landscape of 13th century and a clear and stern indictment of contemporary events...Thick with delectable historical details."
-Martha's Vineyard Times on CROSSED
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