Review: A Procession of Ashes by AM Blackmere

The Book:

Piacenza, Italy. The Year of Our Lord, 1349.

Father Matteo has shepherded a dying flock through plague and lime, but nothing in his missals prepared him for the Brotherhood of Broken Flesh—a ragged procession of flagellants who turn suffering into scripture.

When their leader, Fra Aureliano, raises a living Psalm and the faithful begin to speak its geometry in flesh, devotion itself takes on a fevered life.

Beside him stands Tommaso Bellini, an empiric physician tracing the hidden pattern between faith and decay. Together they seek to silence a Psalm that should never have been sung—and learn that belief, once awakened, does not easily sleep again.

My Thoughts:

This is a wonderful, if somewhat disturbing novella, set against the backdrop of plague riddled medieval Europe. It makes for a chilling read, the horror aspect visceral, both the earthly and the supernatural aspects being equally grim for the unfortunate inhabitants of this world.

The writing is exquisite and the research that has gone into this work is extensive and fascinating. AM Blackemere also talks about some of this history over on his Substack, which is well worth checking out if you want to know more about the historical background to this story. There is also an Authors note at the front which I found fascinating and worked well to set the context which forms the backdrop of this tale.

I can’t help but be drawn to the people of that time, who lived through the plague as it tore apart their communities and changed their world for ever. This tale does not shy away from the horrors and trauma they faced, and the added horror which this tale envisages only serves to make it all feel so much more real.

This is an excellent and compelling novella. Not one for the fainthearted. But I’m definitely going to read more of this author’s work.