Seventh century England; a baby is found in a tree by a party of monks. He’s brought up in their monastery and given the name Arborius. Young Arborius appears to have miraculous powers, so he’s awarded a halo (second-hand, source uncertain)—but all is not as it seems. His “miracles” are really the work of his guardian spirit, a foul-mouthed thin dog, visible only to himself and to the slowest-witted of his fellow monks.
This biography of a little-known (actually non-existent) saint reveals how Arborius ostensibly earned his halo, worsted the Devil, was famed for feeding the poor and healing the sick, founded many of our Christmas traditions, departed the world in a manner recalling the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk—and was canonised.
Warning: the story contains groan-inducing word games!
Giới thiệu về tác giả
After retiring from a career in medicine and university teaching, Mark P. Henderson moved to the Derbyshire Peak District in 2002 and started to write fiction and collect local folktales. Several of his short stories and poems have appeared in magazines and anthologies. His books, released by various publishers, include an anthology of short stories (Rope Trick; 2008), a children’s story (Fenella and the Magic Mirror; 2009), a study of the origin and evolution of a local legend (Murders in the Winnats Pass; 2010), a collection of 62 traditional Peak District stories (Folktales of the Peak District; 2011), a collection of puns in verse and prose (Cruel and Unusual Punnishments; 2016), a one-act play (Forget it, it’s History; 2017), and a second novel (National Cake Day in Ruritania; 2018). The publishers of the last-named have given him a contract for another novel, The Engklimastat, due to appear in 2019. He’s in increasing demand as a storyteller to adult audiences around North-West England, and as an editor and a creative writing tutor.