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Who has gazed at the magnificence of a Gothic cathedral and not been awestruck by its splendid architecture? One has to believe that the medieval builder of cathedrals was not only a genius but a creative artist of great talent. Such is the architect, Cajetan the Stargazer, of this historical novel set in the late 13th and early 14th Centuries. The setting gives a sweeping brushstroke to the developing Gothic cathedrals in Paris, Reims and Amiens with its architecture, its stone sculptures and stained glass kaleidoscopic luminosity. The young apprentice, Cajetan, and then journeyman goes from France to England, then on to Flanders to eventually become a master architect. We become witnesses to each stage of Gothic cathedral building: foundation, walls and piers, flying buttresses, nave, choir, radiating chapels to the vaulted ceiling and the keystone as the crowning point.
The novel also touches upon the great Fontevraud Abbey in the Loire valley where Eleanor of Aquitaine is buried alongside her husband, Henry II and her son Richard Coeur de Lion. Cajetan’s sister becomes its abbess. The famous Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela is also included as a link to the spiritual journey of the architect dreamer. Finally, medieval literature is introduced in the life of Cajetan’s brother: trouveres/troubadours, playwrights and the pageant wagons as well as chivalric romances. It’s a splendid look at cathedral building from the ground up while incorporating the mysterious Green Man or foliate head as stone sculptures.
