The Truce of God

If I should lie in a manger all night she said standing with her feet well apart and looking up at him would I become a boy? The Bishop tugged at his beard. A boy little maid! Would you give up your blue eyes and your soft skin to be a roystering lad? My father wishes for a son she had replied and the cloud that was over the Castle shadowed the Bishops eyes. It would not be well he replied to tamper with the works of the Almighty. Pray rather for this miracle that your fathers heart be turned toward you and toward the lady your mother. -from The Truce of God Mary Roberts Rineharts popular fiction-about nurses who solve crimes and adventurous spinsters-made her one of the most popular novelists and short-story writers of the early 20th century a feminist comic Raymond Chandler. The Truce of God written during the era of her more serious writing is a medieval Christmas fairy tale about Lord Charles the Fair and his young daughter Clotilde who longs for something more than her gender is typically allowed in these dark times. Grimly charming The Truce of God-here in a replica of the beautiful 1920 edition-is an excellent example of the engaging storytelling that first captivated Rineharts readers. American author MARY ROBERTS RINEHART (1876-1958) wrote some of the earliest classics of pulp fiction including The Man in Lower Ten (1906) and The Circular Staircase (1907). Among her many novels of comedy mystery and romance are The Case of Jennie Brice (1914) The Red Lamp (1925) and The Swimming Pool (1952).