"From the award-winning biographer of Chaucer, the story of his most popular and scandalous character, from the Middle Ages to #MeToo Ever since her triumphant debut in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath, arguably the first ordinary and recognizably real woman in English literature, has obsessed readers-from Shakespeare to James Joyce, Voltaire to Pasolini, Dryden to Zadie Smith. Few literary characters have led such colourful lives or matched...

A collection of nine critical essays on Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" arranged in chronological order of publication.

"Though he is one of England's most acclaimed intellectuals, John Gower is no stranger to London's wretched slums and dark corners, and he knows how to trade on the secrets of the kingdom's most powerful men. When the bodies of sixteen unknown men are found in a privy, the Sheriff of London seeks Gower's help. The men's wounds--ragged holes created by an unknown object--are unlike anything the sheriff's men have ever seen. Tossed into the sewer, the...

"Geoffrey Chaucer might be considered the quintessential English writer, but he drew much of his inspiration and material from Italy. In fact, without the tremendous influence of Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio (among others), the author of The Canterbury Tales might never have assumed his place as the ‘father’ of English literature. Nevertheless, Richard Owen’s Chaucer’s Italy begins in London, where the poet...

A full-length portrayal of Chaucer's life and works of fourteenth-century England examines the poets youth, his service to the king in France and Italy, his family life, and his late years, and demonstrates how his work is the key to his life.

Tolkien's Lost Chaucer uncovers the story of an unpublished and previously unknown book by the author of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien worked between 1922 and 1928 on his Clarendon edition Selections from Chaucer's Poetry and Prose, and though never completed, its 160 pages of commentary reveals much of his thinking about language and storytelling when he was still at the threshold of his career as an epoch-making writer of0fantasy literature. Drawing...

Guest, returning home after a late night, sees a body hurtling from the uppermost reaches of the London Bridge. While whispers in the street claim that it was a suicide, Guest is unconvinced. The man was believed to be searching for the Spear of Longinus-- the spear that pierced the side of Christ on the cross-- which is believed to make those who possess it invincible. Geoffrey Chaucer comes to London and is anxious to help Guest find the missing...

A medieval mystery starring Canterbury city physician Kathryn Swinbrooke and King Edward IV's soldier Colum Murtagh. Together they investigate the murder of the king's tax collector whose sacks of silver are missing. By the author of The Eye of God.

"June, 1381. Embarking on his annual pilgrimage to Canterbury, Geoffrey Chaucer and his fellow travellers are forced to turn back when confronted with a horde of armed and angry peasants, intent on marching to London. Returning to the city to warn the authorities of the approaching danger, the pilgrims hole up at the Tabard Inn and prepare for the coming invasion. That same night, a woman's body is fished out of the River Thames, her throat cut. When...

"Introducing 14th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer as a memorable new amateur sleuth in the first of an ingeniously-conceived medieval mystery series... April, 1380. About to set off on his annual pilgrimage, Comptroller of the King's Woollens and court poet Geoffrey Chaucer is forced to abandon his plans following an appeal for help from an old friend. The Duke of Clarence, Chaucer's former guardian, has been found dead in his bed at his Suffolk castle,...