Compelling historical fiction set in France in the 1300s, A Slender Tether dramatizes the struggle of the brilliant pioneer Christine de Pizan, the world's first feminist and author.
Amid the turbulent weather of Europe's Little Ice Age, "A Slender Tether" offers three compelling tales of self-discovery, woven into a rich tapestry of 14th century France. Christine de Pizan, daughter of a disgraced court physician and astrologer, grapples with her ambition to be the first woman writer in France. A doctor finds an unusual way to cope with the death of his wife. And opportunity alternates with disasters in the lives of four commoners, yoked by necessity: a paper-maker struggling to keep his business, a falconer with a mysterious past, a merchant's daughter frantic to avoid an arranged marriage, and a down-on-his-luck musician with a broken guitar and the voice of an angel.
Excerpt
Part One: “The Raptor Among Bluebirds”
Paris, 1387
1
Gilles Malet stretched his hand across the table to comfort his friend, Tommaso de Pizan, who was sweaty with fever, pale as a fish, eyes ringed red from crying.
“Not a word to my wife and family,” Tommaso said to Gilles, as he reached into his tunic and tossed a piece of parchment onto the table between them.
The parchment was wrinkled as if it had been gripped in a fist; it was frayed and stained from the sweat of Tommaso’s fever. It displayed an astrological chart that Tommaso had just finished, and it showed a birth, an array of planets, and a death.
Gilles Malet read the parchment, then shuddered and slapped his hand on top of it as if to stop vapors from rising. The chart predicted that four days from now Tommaso de Pizan himself would die.
Gilles reached across the table and grabbed Tommaso by the upper arms, but both men were speechless.
Gilles couldn’t protest that Tommaso must be mistaken. Tommaso had been the court astrologer, an advisor to the late king Charles V, and a physician who had fallen from favor. Gilles couldn’t hope Tommaso was wrong and wish him to fail in the last prediction of a faltering career: it would cast doubt on the man’s abilities. But at the same time, Tommaso was Gilles’ closest friend. They were so close that after all these years of the same food and wine, surrounded by the same candles, working to the same schedule, Gilles imagined that he and Tommaso now even smelled the same, more so than any husband and wife.
Professional Reviews
Extraordinary Trio
This extraordinary trio of stories …celebrate human ingenuity, resourcefulness, and resilience. The writing is sure, the voice arresting and original. Places come alive; the seasons are painted skillfully, there for the reader to experience… Highly recommended to readers interested in the lives of medieval people who were neither royalty nor members of the nobility, and who are all the more individual and interesting for that.”— Tinney S. Heath, author of A Thing Done
Engrossing Story
Wells has spun this woman's tale into an intriguing and engrossing story that will set readers seeking more… Wells has an incredible ability to teach without diatribe, tells a wickedly engrossing tale full of empathy (and, in this case, more than a little sympathy), and knows her history cold. Jess Wells is just bloody brilliant. Go. Buy. Read. – ‘Nathan Burgoine writing on RedRoom.com
Brilliantly Conceived
Jess Wells (The Mandrake Broom) has mastered the art of the immersive historical, exemplified by her latest release from Fireship Press, A Slender Tether.... brilliantly conceived and perfectly executed, A Slender Tether is an engaging, rewarding read. Highly recommended.” – Jerry Wheeler, in Out in Print
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