Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, evocative, haunting
Review: A lot of the newspaper reviewers seem to focus on the author's previous modelling/acting career ("Gee she's gorgeous, but can she write" syndrome.) Let me assure you that Ms. Craig is the real deal. She evokes a 14th-century French village and its inhabitants in such luscious detail that you'll find yourself thinking about the characters at odd times. She details the minutiae of religious differences between Church and heretics without bogging down, and propels the story along smartly. I was hooked by page three. I think this would be an enjoyable read not just for medieval history buffs, but for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful work of historical fiction
Review: A young woman in 14th century France is tried for heresy by the Catholic Inquisition and finds many different points of view come to light in the process of her trial in The Good Men, a powerful work of historical fiction. Fans of the genre will find this an involving and eye-opening piece which is packed with believable, well-researched background.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing?
Review: Although I devoured every word and was fascinated by the explanation of the heresy at the time and the descriptions of this medieval period, I admit to feeling depressed both while reading the book and afterwards. Maybe because I'm a Catholic?
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Chronicle of Sex and Heresy
Review: As has been proved time and time again, few things are sexier than the combination of sex, blasphemy, and Catholic guilt. In "The Good Men", the beautiful and talented young novelist Charmaine Craig retreads this ground in a startlingly enjoyable fashion, chronicleing the lives, conscience, and consciousness of several 14th century peasants from the French village of Montaillou- a libidinous, corrupt priest, his blessed bastard niece, a tormented Dominican friar, a student who succumbs to sodomy, and a young girl who carries on a torrid and forbidden affair, all caught in the middle of the last fires of the Cathar heresy.Craig writes with passion, talent, and remarkable scholarship- southern France of the 14th century comes alive through her skillful prose. The sensual and spiritual lives of her characters make this novel (all to brief, IMHO) absolutely riveting. Ultimately, the book's message is unclear, however- Craig's treatment of medieval religious life is fair and balanced, and leaves one with a greater understanding of the reasons behind the Inquisition than they had before reading this story. I highly recommend this work to all fans of historical fiction and anyone with an interest in medieval Catholicism and it's discontents.
Rating:
Summary: "A Beautifully Composed And Darkly Memorable Novel!"
Review: Author and literary critic Harold Bloom wrote of Charmaine Craig's "The Good Men: A Novel Of Heresy," An authentic novel of heresy. The book is beautifully composed and darkly memorable. I have never read so powerful an account, fictive or historical, of the Cather rebels against the Catholic Church. Craig's vision encompasses an entire culture, which was forever destroyed." When she was fourteen years old Grazida Lizier became the lover of a Catholic priest, a close friend of her mother. Grazida was consequently charged with incest and heresy when the Inquisition came to town in 1320. Set in the mountain village of Montaillou, in southwestern France, the story follows the passions of various characters torn between the desire for spiritual grace and fleshly pleasure, particularly the village priest, Pierre Clergue, who throughout his life is obsessively attracted to three generations of women in his brother's family. Grazida Lizier is the central figure in the novel, and through Ms. Craig's powerful prose the reader walks through the Inquisition in some of the victims' shoes. The primary targets of the Catholic Church's inquisitors were the members of the Cather religious sect, known as the Good Men, of the book's title. The Good Men renounce all things earthly which they consider to be the creations of Satan. As they wait for the inevitable death that the Inquisition will bring, they travel the countryside as celibate monks, undermining the power of the official church. This is the gripping epic story of what happened when religious persecution turned Christian against Christian, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. There is no evidence anywhere of Christian compassion or forgiveness in the ignorant people of the village or the Church which allowed and promoted slaughter in the name of religion. Charmaine Craig's writing is elegant, elaborate, tight and somewhat distant, almost as though she is an objective observer of the events she documents and creates. This is an amazing novel, and it is Ms. Craig's first. Apparently, she was studying medieval history and literature at Harvard when she came upon the testimony of Grazida Lizier. She remained fascinated by the girl and her deposition, which defended her affair with a priest old enough to be her grandfather, until, years later she wrote this extraordinary novel. A illuminating read about a terrible time.
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Not your Spielberg inquisition
Review: Charmaine Craig has recreated the world of medieval France, a time when a peasant's perception of theology could end him up to his chin in flaming cordwood. What is especially subtle and honest about the book is that it admits that spiritual doubt is not always beneficial--contrary to our contemporary values--nor is heresy necessarily more attractive than orthodoxy.
In a Spielberg version, the heretics would be good and right, unfairly persecuted, and the Church presented as bad, corrupt and doctrinally reprehensible. But in the case of the Good Men, as presented in this meticulously researched novel, the heretics are even worse than the church, which at least holds that God created the world and that life and creation are good. Yet who can stop them, but the inquisition? Religion, power politics and personal vengeance all play a part in the outcome.
The central character of the book, the village priest, is drawn with a similar complexity and realism. A man both capable of deep love and shocking heartlessness, spiritual longing and the basest betrayal, his conflicts form the axes upon which the book turns. I believed the world of The Good Men in way I would not have a more simplistic treatment of the same period. Anyone who thinks that the lives of common country people were better, safer or more peaceful in the past should read Craig's elegant, suspenseful novel.
Rating:
Summary: I have never before been so moved by a book
Review: Charmaine Craig's The Good Men is at the top of my most cherished books list, and I can't recommend it more highly. I have not submitted an online review before, but I loved this book so much, I felt compelled to comment. The novel entirely drew me in from beginning to end, and I couldn't put it down once I started. I still find myself reflecting on the three generations of characters, feeling for them as if they were real to me. In particular, I was struck by the author's most honest portrayal of the human condition. Her characters were true to life -- complicated and imperfect, wanting goodness, but invariably stumbling along their interconnected paths. Through their struggles and triumphs, Craig cut straight to the core of what it means to be human, in all its pain and beauty. Though the story takes place in medieval France, its essence is absolutely timeless, and just as relevant today as ever. I am in awe of this talented, first time novelist, and can't wait to see what's next on her horizon.
Rating: 
Summary: Enthralling but should have ended sooner
Review: Freedom of religion is something that we don't have to think about too much anymore. It's been an ingrained part of our society for so long that it is difficult to imagine living any other way, and we probably take it for granted. It therefore always comes as a little bit of a surprise to learn of a time or place in fiction or history in which there is no freedom of religion. The reader gets a very healthy dose of it in this excellent first novel by Charmaine Craig. It takes place in the little village of Montaillou in southern France around the year 1300. The story primarily concerns a wayward priest, Pierre, who takes to heart his mentor's suggestion that, "Vows of chastity are not as solid among mountain priests." He becomes sexually involved with a woman who decides to use him as a shield to protect the heretics in the area--the Good Men of the title--who are actually nothing more than a renegade Christian sect. Of course, this doesn't seem like such a big deal to us, living in our free society, but back then, such things weren't done. And when the Inquisition comes sniffing around, attempting to root them out, one realizes that the practice of one's faith in these dark ages was literally a matter of life and death. At the same time the story concerns the family of women with whom Pierre finds himself inexorably involved. As a young man, it as at first the mother to whom he finds himself enraptured, and who he adores from afar. To her daughter Fabrisse, he is indifferent, although it is he who kindles her sexual yearnings. And finally it is Fabrisse's daughter, Echo, on whom he unleashes his lifelong, unquenchable lust. But Pierre finds himself increasingly cornered by his Catholic vows--now being tested by an all-too-keen inquisitor--and his dissolute lifestyle, which also happens to involve a knowledge of heretic villagers. His response to these difficulties is, alas, all too human, and inevitably leads to the destruction of everything dear to him. To her credit, Ms. Craig offers no easy answers. Yes, she carefully depicts the cruelty of the Catholic Church at the time--with its dungeons and torture and burnings at the stake--but we also see the effects of Pierre's pursuit of earthly pleasure, in that it leads to his becoming shallow, selfish, and in the end, cowardly. This is a superb novel, with excellent and believable characterizations; a moving and dynamic plot; and a sure, steady, revealing sense of time and place. Clearly, Ms. Craig has done her homework. Thematically it succeeds as well, being as it is an interesting exploration into the age-old conflict in the Christian church between the goals of the spirit and the desires of the flesh. A conflict, I might add, which continues to exist today, even in our free society, but which in the Middle Ages manifested itself in nothing less than open warfare.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Medieval Fiction
Review: Freedom of religion is something that we don't have to think about too much anymore. It's been an ingrained part of our society for so long that it is difficult to imagine living any other way, and we probably take it for granted. It therefore always comes as a little bit of a surprise to learn of a time or place in fiction or history in which there is no freedom of religion. The reader gets a very healthy dose of it in this excellent first novel by Charmaine Craig. It takes place in the little village of Montaillou in southern France around the year 1300. The story primarily concerns a wayward priest, Pierre, who takes to heart his mentor's suggestion that, "Vows of chastity are not as solid among mountain priests." He becomes sexually involved with a woman who decides to use him as a shield to protect the heretics in the area--the Good Men of the title--who are actually nothing more than a renegade Christian sect. Of course, this doesn't seem like such a big deal to us, living in our free society, but back then, such things weren't done. And when the Inquisition comes sniffing around, attempting to root them out, one realizes that the practice of one's faith in these dark ages was literally a matter of life and death. At the same time the story concerns the family of women with whom Pierre finds himself inexorably involved. As a young man, it as at first the mother to whom he finds himself enraptured, and who he adores from afar. To her daughter Fabrisse, he is indifferent, although it is he who kindles her sexual yearnings. And finally it is Fabrisse's daughter, Echo, on whom he unleashes his lifelong, unquenchable lust. But Pierre finds himself increasingly cornered by his Catholic vows--now being tested by an all-too-keen inquisitor--and his dissolute lifestyle, which also happens to involve a knowledge of heretic villagers. His response to these difficulties is, alas, all too human, and inevitably leads to the destruction of everything dear to him. To her credit, Ms. Craig offers no easy answers. Yes, she carefully depicts the cruelty of the Catholic Church at the time--with its dungeons and torture and burnings at the stake--but we also see the effects of Pierre's pursuit of earthly pleasure, in that it leads to his becoming shallow, selfish, and in the end, cowardly. This is a superb novel, with excellent and believable characterizations; a moving and dynamic plot; and a sure, steady, revealing sense of time and place. Clearly, Ms. Craig has done her homework. Thematically it succeeds as well, being as it is an interesting exploration into the age-old conflict in the Christian church between the goals of the spirit and the desires of the flesh. A conflict, I might add, which continues to exist today, even in our free society, but which in the Middle Ages manifested itself in nothing less than open warfare.
Rating:
Summary: enchanting
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book. I read it from start to finish in a matter of days, and I'll read it again soon. It's one of those books that, as cliched as it sounds, transports you to another place and time, completely enveloping you into it's world. It's doubly fascinating because this work of fiction is based on historical fact. I think it's possibly one of my favourite books, ask me again in a few years.
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