A review by kybrz
To Calais, in Ordinary Time by James Meek

4.0

Two years following the historic Battle of Crecy, a score of archers gather to return to Calais and to combat. On their long road to the coast they are joined by fellow travelers and the plague. Will Quate a young bondsman joins up, hoping to buy his freedom and marry his love. Bernadine, the daughter of Will's noble landowner, flees a loveless marriage proposal. Cess, a woman in bondage with one of the archers, taken from her home 2 years ago and desperate to return. They are joined on the road by a large cast of characters, each searching for something on the road to Calais. As the miles and time passes, we learn of the class struggles that defined 14th century England. And more than anything we dwell on complicity and guilt, what it means, and who is responsible.