Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Self-Published

Genre: Gay Romance/ MM

Tags: Historical, Religion, Otherworldly 

Length: 68 Kindle Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon, Author’s Page

Blurb:

A monk. A stranger. A love that defied heaven.

For years, Herefrith has known only the quiet rhythm of prayer, duty, and obedience. The wind-swept monastery on the Holy Island was his entire world—until the morning a man washes ashore, naked and wounded, offering nothing but a name: Elior.

Elior speaks with the grace of saints and prophets. His wound vanishes overnight. And when his golden eyes meet Herefrith’s, something long-buried in the young monk’s heart begins to stir: awe, wonder, and the first spark of a burning that feels both forbidden and divine.

As Elior’s secrets unfold, so does the pull between devotion and desire. But when terror strikes from the sea, Herefrith must choose where his true faith lies—in the God he was sworn to serve, or the man he was never meant to love.

Set against the mist-laced shores of early medieval Britain, The Lost Pilgrim is a tender, intoxicating tale of mystery, passion, and a love that transcends time.

Review: 

I’m feeling blessed right about now. I’m finding some really good books to read and some new-to-me authors who I’m enjoying. I found this because another book of his has the same name as one of my all-time favourite movies and I thought I’d start with a novella to see what I thought of the writing. I’m so glad I did.

The Characters: Herefrith is twenty, has been at a monastery in Lindisfarne for the last three years after his parents gave him to the Church. The Bishop feels he doesn’t spend enough time on his vows, not like he does on other earthly things. He’s definitely a dreamer. However, when Herefrith finds a man washed up on the shore, and the Bishop feels the sea is better swallowing some things, you can see who’s the most charitable. 

“He is no simple seafarer,” the bishop said one evening to Herefrith, low over his wine. “There’s more to him than he claims. Beware of shadows that shine too bright.”

The Bishop’s negativity aside, Herefrith is devoted to ensuring the man feels well again. He also can’t help but notice how beautiful he is. Like a warrior, muscular, but also soft. Elior is of unknown age or origin. He heals quickly also learns their language quickly. Can mend human or animal alike with his remedies. So he fits within their agricultural and productive island community, to a degree. Because, how can he do what he does? Where did he come from? Answers he kindly evades until he can’t.  

The Story: It’s set in 793AD, which is an interesting choice of both time and place. The story taps into that and does it justice. There is a feel for Monastic life, how it isn’t for everyone. I loved Herefrith. While not as seemingly devout as others, he’s forgiving and caring where others aren’t.

That Azanon can imbue 68 pages with a sense of time and place, while also feeling otherworldly, ethereal, is so well done. It suits the mysterious Elior, the soulful Herefrith. What’s to come. Herefrith finds himself drawn more and more to Elior and his feelings are certainly not unrequited. It’s also scary, sex between two men is a big deal in the sense of faith and the period. I don’t want to give too much away, and even though my pic/quote at the bottom gives you something, it isn’t necessarily what you might think. However, what I can say is that the knitting of circumstances and the MCs together is lovely. A deep and timeless sense of love and devotion is a visceral thing. The writing is beautiful. Gentle. Evocative. Spiritual. Romantic. It leans into magical realism.  

I’m going to be reading more by this author. It’s a shame this story wasn’t longer but it still works.  They seem to have varied stories. Drop Dead Gorgeous is currently on my Kindle.