Forbidden

Forbidden is a novel that takes place in twelfth century England. Richard Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Kent, is a jealous man who does not trust his pregnant wife Beatrice. After his brother Edward, prior of Canterbury, falsely claims that Beatrice has not been faithful Richard decides to remove the child she bears from his home. He refuses to pay for the bastard's food and education. Richard takes the newborn away to a monastery, never telling Beatrice where the child is. Before he leaves, Beatrice wraps her own mother's ruby cross necklace around the baby's neck as a remembrance of her.

At St. John's Cluniac Monastery in Lewes a baby is found in a basket by a child, Gweneth. Gwen brings the child to Prior Bartholomew who expects that another unmarried woman has dropped off a baby. Usually the mother returns in a fortnight to reclaim the child but not this time. Gwen wants to name the baby Nicodemus after the Bible character and his formal name becomes Nicodemus St. John. Nick St. John grows up alongside Gwen, her mother Agnes, and Simon who both work at the monastery. His best friend Jeremy's mother works there also. He and Jeremy both have childhood crushes on Gwen that carry on into their teenage years. However, when Jeremy talks Nick into taking monastic vows with him to be Templar Knights, thoughts of Gwen have to be suppressed.

There is nothing like a good family fight. The sibling rivalry between the Fitzwilliam brothers reached epic proportions in Forbidden. Not content to just win the fight, the brothers need to destroy each other. If destroying other family relationships helps bring that to fruition, they do so. The characters in this novel were fabulous. There were several villains, which added to the excitement. Nick's father is identified but how the father accepted the news did not seem realistic. The men who could have been Nick's father were emotional and easily angered but when the actual father realized his paternity, he accepted it point blank. The only part that I did not like was the ending. It was too sad for this love story.