Re-read St. Peter's Fair

I have read Ellis Peter's entire Brother Cadfael series, but I hadn't realized it, and so bought one in paperback. It dawned on me that I had read it already about 3 pages in. It's all right: I hadn't remembered who-done-it or what all was going on with it. I really enjoyed it. I have probably reviewed it somewhere else so I won't recap it, but I will share why I enjoyed the re-read.

1. She's got a way with words. I always admired Ellis Peter's word choice. It's poetic without being distracting or off-putting. She doesn't sound like she's putting on airs, as it were. The blurb on the back of the book said she regularly translated poetry, so maybe that's where she got her deft touch.

2. It was one of the few books that didn't hew to her favored twist. She loves to have a boy who is framed for murder fall in love with the girl and then run away. Then the monk plays matchmaker. It got to the point where I could immediately tell when the kid was going to bolt.

3. I'd forgotten how dated it felt. I know that sounds odd- it's historical fiction. But I mean that you can tell this is written in the 1980's or 1990's just because of how the narrative natters on about the power of the wife. It's a very 1980's take on difference feminism and it can often bug me. In this particular narrative, it is set off by two obviously independent women with agency, so you can kind of give it some credence. It feels like real people are being described instead of as though some writer is trying to explain why their type of mysogyny is ok. A little too often, it's just lip service and a way to decorate the position of the damsel in distress.

Also, I thought Ellis Peters was a guy! I hadn't even looked the author up. Whoops.