Trish and Sophia Talk Books: Le Roman de Silence by Heldris of Cornwall
Trish and Sophia Talk Books An occasional collaboration in which mom Trish and twenty-something medievalist daughter Sophia read and discuss books! Le Roman de Silence by Heldris de Cornuälle Translated by Regina Psaki *** The heart is a marvelous creature, with a very strange nature: for it often thinks very diversely, in truth, turning and returning often to the various thoughts it considers, because of which it often grieves. *** There’s nothing like a 13th century classic recommended by my medievalist daughter Sophia to disabuse me of stereotypes in that era. Le Roman de Silence (Silence ) is an epic poem that reads like a novel in verse, written by a mysterious author named Heldris that tells the story of Silence, a girl born to a noble family without a male heir and so raised as a boy. This is a surprisingly relevant book that presents a gender-bending narrative with themes of Nature versus Nurture, the roles of women and men in society, social injustice and feminism...
