Author(s): Bryce Courtenay

General Fiction

"I am Sylvia Honeyeater; I think myself born around 1196, and this is the story of my life. I am cursed by folk as an optimist and a dreamer, which is a dangerous combination . . . " 'Sylvia is a story of the Children's Crusade, which occurred in the year 1212. It is perhaps the strangest true event to have taken place in European history. I enjoyed the digging that uncovered it - buried in a dark corner of times long out of mind. It is also a story of how, throughout some of the darkest medieval times, the redeeming power and strength of a young woman's love and intelligence prevail over poverty, brutality and bigotry. I trust you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed taking the few scattered bones of medieval Latin and Arabic texts and recreating from them this story of Sylvia: a remarkable, talented and eccentric young woman.' - Bryce Courtenay