Rating: 
Summary: A Far Cry from The Dress Lodger
Review: I was expecting another descriptive, intriguing book by Holman. The Dress Lodger is one of my favorites. This book disappointed me. The plot was weak and the conclusion was lacking (although without a good plot it would be difficult to write a great end).
Rating: 
Summary: What a Historical Novel Should be!
Review: I've read some wonderful books this year, but the one which sticks in my mind is The Stolen Tongue. Friar Felix is one of the most finely etched characters in historical fiction. And wow!--what a journey he goes on. Felix is on a pilgrimage to the Sinai desert to meet with his spiritual wife, Saint Katherine. Along the way, we have relics, lots of relics, lice, mad men and women, devotion, love, prayer, and of course, death-- all written in fine detailed language! It's one journey I won't easily forget and Sheri Holman writes it with great skill. She is easily one of the best writers I have read. Don't miss this book. It's a great story.
Rating:
Summary: What a Historical Novel Should be!
Review: I've read some wonderful books this year, but the one which sticks in my mind is The Stolen Tongue. Friar Felix is one of the most finely etched characters in historical fiction. And wow!--what a journey he goes on. Felix is on a pilgrimage to the Sinai desert to meet with his spiritual wife, Saint Katherine. Along the way, we have relics, lots of relics, lice, mad men and women, devotion, love, prayer, and of course, death-- all written in fine detailed language! It's one journey I won't easily forget and Sheri Holman writes it with great skill. She is easily one of the best writers I have read. Don't miss this book. It's a great story.
Rating:
Summary: No Fat Guys in Tights Here
Review: If you think "A Stolen Tongue" is going to dish up some musty old history of the Middle Ages, with chanting monks, swooning princesses and gallant young men on prancing steeds, you've got it all wrong. The main character, Felix Fabri, starts out by overseeing a group of galley slaves who fish a bloated, drowned German guy out of a harbor and parade him through the streets of town to his burial site. Later on, he helps a cohort slice open another dead guy and pull out his intestines. And all through this book there is plenty of vomit, rotten things, people burned alive, human waste, worm-infested water, decaying bodies, hacked-off limbs, pus-filled wounds -- and there's Fabri's beloved Saint Katherine, whose decapitated body shoots out milk instead of blood. Oh, and Fabri carries a dried human tongue around in a pouch that he wears around his neck. Not that I choose books by their gore-index mind you. I simply say all this to drive home the point that the events Holman describes are vividly corporeal. The reader is drawn close to the action and really sees, hears, smells (usually gross smells, by the way), tastes (also often nasty) and touches the things the characters encounter. I love to read about life in other eras, and this book, along with being a great read, put me right into the center of the action. And lo and behold if I didn't learn more than a few interesting facts about medieval life, too!
Rating:
Summary: No Fat Guys in Tights Here
Review: If you think "A Stolen Tongue" is going to dish up some musty old history of the Middle Ages, with chanting monks, swooning princesses and gallant young men on prancing steeds, you've got it all wrong. The main character, Felix Fabri, starts out by overseeing a group of galley slaves who fish a bloated, drowned German guy out of a harbor and parade him through the streets of town to his burial site. Later on, he helps a cohort slice open another dead guy and pull out his intestines. And all through this book there is plenty of vomit, rotten things, people burned alive, human waste, worm-infested water, decaying bodies, hacked-off limbs, pus-filled wounds -- and there's Fabri's beloved Saint Katherine, whose decapitated body shoots out milk instead of blood. Oh, and Fabri carries a dried human tongue around in a pouch that he wears around his neck. Not that I choose books by their gore-index mind you. I simply say all this to drive home the point that the events Holman describes are vividly corporeal. The reader is drawn close to the action and really sees, hears, smells (usually gross smells, by the way), tastes (also often nasty) and touches the things the characters encounter. I love to read about life in other eras, and this book, along with being a great read, put me right into the center of the action. And lo and behold if I didn't learn more than a few interesting facts about medieval life, too!
Rating: 
Summary: spell it right
Review: just want to point out that saint catherine is spelled with a "c" i was named for her, i should know otherwise great historical fiction cant wait for authors new one out in paperback
Rating:
Summary: Not enough action for me, but technically flawless
Review: Sheri Holman is one of the best historical fiction writers to emerge during the past ten years or so, and her writing technique is flawless. "The Dress Lodger" is a fascinating book, and is a must-read. "A Stolen Tongue", on the other hand ...
It actually IS a good book; in fact, I am stunned by the amount of research she must have done in order to write this book. The writing itself is beautiful. However, personally, I have to have a lot of action in the books I read -- it's just a quirk of mine. So, this book wasn't really for me. Yet, I would still recommend it to others.
If you're new to Sheri Holman, I would suggest reading "The Dress Lodger" first.
Rating:
Summary: The Sacred and the Profane in One Tightly-Wrapped Package
Review: The path of the pilgrim, in historical and fictional treatments, has been marked by guideposts of greed, of lust, of avarice -- any number of deadly sins. Yet Sheri Holman's Felix Fabri, a holy man of mortal fallabilities, clings tightly to a fierce brand of faith on his pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. Holman has endowed Felix with a spiritual desire so strong, and a sense of humanity so true, that we are swept up in the journey to face the mysteries and horrors when the sacred and profane collide.
Holman's research and remarkable eye for detail -- historical, religious, and personal -- never fail. A very strong debut by a new voice in historical fiction. This is one "Tongue" that must be bitten.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, well-detailed, but not very exciting
Review: There's no doubt that Sheri Holman's promise as a writer shines through the pages of this, her debut novel. She has crafted an intricate, historical story with detailed characters and fascinating medieval anecdotes.Nevertheless, I didn't find the book very exciting, and I don't know why. It just didn't do it for me. Maybe I'm just used to the suspense and sheer intellectual power of an Eco novel, and since Holman has been compared to Eco, perhaps I was expecting too much. But as you can see many other reviewers liked the book, and i was persuaded by their arguments to get it. If you're an Eco fan, however, you might be a bit disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Unengaging
Review: This book is like a cheap paper back 15th Century travel guide. "Pilgrimages on $15 dollars a day or less". It was uneventful. The characters while well crafted held no emotional connection for the reader to identify with. It seems as if there is some suspense getting into the story but this promise quickly dissipates and we are dragged endlessly towards a conclusion that by this point no one cares about. The historical accuracy and research is notable, but for a work of fiction that sells itself as a mystery/suspense it fails.
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