Novels are mini-vacations, they take us on guided tours of new places, and introduce us to new people who are involved in occupations or activities other than our own, and who experience unusual circumstances. A good book pulls you in and holds your attention through the story so well that, when it ends, you want more.

Sharan Newman’s To Wear the White Cloak held me this way. She portrayed a real family, their problems, and how they related to one another, in a way that my modern mind could embrace; yet the setting and events were authentic to the historical period. (This novel is set in France during the Crusades.) I remembered and mused over the characters’ words and thoughts long after I closed the book.