A Book of Hours
16th February 2026 by | Uncategorized
A Book of Hours was a personal devotional prayer book, used by lay people for private worship. It followed the canonical hours of the day — Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline — guiding prayer from dawn to night.
By the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Books of Hours were among the most common books owned by the literate. They were often beautifully illuminated, written on vellum, and customised for their owner with saints’ days, family prayers, or coats of arms. Some were lavish status symbols; others were modest, well-thumbed companions carried daily.
In The Reflection in the Mirror, a Book of Hours represents routine, faith, and inward reflection — the quiet counterpoint to the noise of court, politics, and danger.
It reminds us that in 1540, prayer was not confined to church walls. It lived in the hand, the pocket, and the rhythm of the day.
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My second novel in the Murder in the Tower saga, The Wolf of Whitehall, will be published in late March 2026. The third Murder in the Tower will be published in June 2026
Gemma
The past is never silent.
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