THE BOOK OF THORNHOLD by Judith Arnopp @JudithArnopp

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon (universal link)

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: One of my favourite authors, saw this book from her back catalogue advertised on X.

In a Nutshell: A novel of long-short stories, about a family across the centuries

This is one of the best books I've read in ages.  The Book of the title was originally written by a priest in the 8th Century; it is passed down the centuries, with additions made by the generations who are fortunate to be its keeper in the place for which it is named.  Thornhold begins as a Saxon smallholding, and becomes a fine manor house.

It's a novel in the form of eight stories that are independent of each other but are held together by the same threads.  I loved them all, though I think my favourites were the chapter in the 14th Century, when the Thorn family weathered the Black Death, another about monks in a nearby abbey during the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th Century, and a long one that centred around the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 and its after-effects on the family.  I was actually reading that one in the early hours of this morning, and had to tear myself away from it!

The book reminded me of Norah Lofts' The House at Old Vine and A Wayside Tavern, and I was just as engrossed in Thornhold as I am when I read those novels.  I'm also quite relieved because I've been vaguely thinking of doing something similar for quite some time, but I know I could never write anything as good as this, so I can now shelve that project indefinitely!

In the introduction Ms Arnopp apologises for any flaws that have resulted from the re-hashing of this earlier work of hers, and I did notice the odd name with two different spellings and some erroneous punctuation; I mention this for two reasons.  Firstly, in case you're someone whose whole reading experience is spoiled by an ill-placed semicolon, and secondly (most importantly!) to illustrate how good this book is.  I am beyond picky about punctuation, but I loved this book so much that I didn't care if the character was called Dorcas or Dorcus or if an unnecessary comma popped up.

I am happy to say that if you love beautifully written and well-researched historical sagas, I guarantee you will enjoy this as much as I did.

 

COMETH THE HOUR by Annie Whtehead @AnnieWHistory

5 out of 5 stars

 

On Amazon UK

On Amazon.com

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I'd seen many historically-orientated tweets from the author, and decided to try one of her books.

In a Nutshell: Saxon England in the 6th-7th Century.

I loved this book, a fictionalised version of the true saga of the Saxon rulers, from Edwin of Deira to Penda of Mercia, in which I was engrossed.  Annie Whitehead has turned the history into a terrific story, as compelling as any Game of Thrones type fantasy.  There is a large cast of characters, but she has provided a family tree diagram in the front if you forget, for a moment, exactly who everyone is.  The characters themselves are so well defined that I didn't find their number confusing.

 

Until I read this I knew little about the period, other than the fact that what we now call Great Britain was divided into seven basic kingdoms, so I enjoyed finding out about the divisions of territory within these kingdoms, with the different tribes who had their own languages and traditions.  The book covers the period when Christianity was first becoming more popular; I was surprised to find how gradual it was, and I could understand why it was treated with such suspicion, the pagan ways being far more relatable.

 

The way in which the people lived is so well-researched, intricately detailed, painting a vivid picture of the era, but at no time did I feel bogged down with irrelevant facts.  What I loved most about the book, though, is the feeling it gave me; it made me want to be there.  To experience the times for myself.  That's the sign of a truly talented author of historical fiction, I think - one who can make you want to go back in time and live in it, because the scenes and people come alive.  The journeys, the battles, the winter nights in the long halls; I yearned to be Derwena, wife of Penda!

 

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I am sure I will pick up another at some point in the not too distant future.  Highly recommended to all histfic lovers, especially those with a particular interest in the 7th Century. 

 

 

THE CONFESSOR'S WIFE by Kelly Evans #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: 11th century historical fiction

As more and more historical novels hit the virtual shelves, authors of the genre are digging deeper to find the lesser known characters to write about.  Edith was, as the title suggests, the wife of Edward the Confessor, one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England.  Edward was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was famously defeated by William of Normandy in 1066.

I enjoyed this - it's a light sort of historical fiction that flows well, an 'easy read'.  I don't know much about the factual details of this time, but I did have a brief look online and it appears to be well-researched.  Also, the domestic details are presented well, with just enough information—I liked that there was none of the endless descriptive passages straight from the research notes that is present in some histfic; I never felt that I was reading the author's research at all, which is always a plus.

On the slight downside there were times when I felt the dialogue was too modern, with the odd mild Americanism such as 'snuck' instead of 'sneaked', though they weren't bad enough to make me stop reading.  My only other negative was problems with punctuation; either the author or her proofreader, or preferably both, need to learn about run-on sentences/comma splices; there were quite a lot of these, and the odd missing comma.  But, again, this was only mildly irritating.

This isn't a book for the historical fiction purist or buff, but for those who are after an enjoyable, light novel with some well-drawn characters and an interesting look back in time, I'd say it's just the thing.

THE FOREST AND THE FLAMES by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 GOLD Stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Gemma Lawrence is absolutely my favourite writer of historical fiction, so I buy all her books as soon as they come out, and start reading them as soon as possible.

Genre: historical fiction, 11th century.

This is the second of two books about Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror, and picks up the story just after the Battle of Hastings.  

I didn't know much about this period of history before; everyone knows of this most famous of historical dates, but I knew nothing about the problems that followed.  In this second book, Gemma Lawrence softens Matilda as she grows older and wiser, but does not attempt to glorify the harshness and brutality of the time, nor the terrible brutality that William forced upon the north of England; it was odd, in a way, to be reading a book in which one is rooting for the adversaries of the protagonists.  Of course the Anglo-Saxons rebelled.  That William had been promised the crown by Edward the Confessor meant little to them.  Matilda was partly English, and made many bold steps to calm the waters and bring about peace in the land.

What I loved about this book was not just the story, but how much I learned about the history of the time; this is no watery piece of fanciful fiction.  Gemma Lawrence shows what the towns, villages and landscape were like, how the people of the 11th century ate, travelled, dressed, cured their ills and lived their day to day lives, which were ruled by the ever-controlling church and its tales of the wrath of its ruler.  I thought, several times, how much more effective a ruler Matilda could have been had she been able to give her time and wealth to the people who needed it, instead of spending so much of both on appeasing this allegedly omnipotent being.

Matilda was an unusual woman of her time, the first to be recognised as a queen of England, and her marriage to William was unusual, too, in that the marriage was a happy one and William was faithful to her; indeed, after her death, he went into a terrible decline and returned to his brutal ways.  Also well documented in this book is his lifelong feud with his eldest son, Robert 'Curt-hose' (love that!).

At the end of the book there are notes about truth versus fiction and what happened to the graves of Matilda and William, and the continuing stories of their children... Gemma Lawrence talks of Matilda's granddaughter, also named Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England and the first woman to be named as heir to the English throne.  She says she hopes to write her story one day, too; I hope she does.

I loved this book; if you liked the first one, you're in for an even bigger treat.

THE HEART OF THE CONQUEROR by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE 

How I discovered this book: I first got to know of Gemma Lawrence via Twitter, and have been reading her since she published on Wattpad only.  I've loved all her books, my favourite being La Petite Boulain, about the early life of Anne Boleyn.  You can see my reviews of her other books by clicking the 'Gemma Lawrence' tag at the end of this one.

This is something I love ~ historical fiction about a time with which I'm not that familiar, written in such a way that it teaches me about the period.  This is the story of the events that brought about the Norman Conquest of 1066, written from the point of view of Matilda, the wife of William, Duke of Normandy, aka The Conqueror.  Not only does it tell the story of the two of them, but also gives much background about the Vikings, Saxons and the rulers of northern Europe, who came before them; it made me want to read deeper into the history (preferably written by this author), and I was completely engrossed.

I investigated the story of Matilda and William while I was reading the book, so I'd know what came from fact and what is of Ms Lawrence's creation, and could see that she's stuck close to 'the script', but told their story in such a way that only she can.  Gemma Lawrence's Matilda is clever, vain, proud, ambitious to the point of egomania, narcissistic in the extreme, and so assured of her superiority over all beings apart from her husband that she thinks even her God speaks to her, and that she can buy his grace with gifts of money and her own daughter; in anyone's hands apart from this author's, I might not have wanted to read about her, but I loved this book.  Of course the church has long been corrupt, with those high up in it behaving far from the basic ethos of Christianity, but, reading this, it occurred to me that the early Christians did, in fact, treat their God as the pagans did theirs, by offering up material goods in exchange for imagined/expected favours; the insight into the spiritual beliefs of the time fascinated me.

There is much expression of the passion between Matilda and William in this novel, and I will admit to skip-reading some accounts of their frenzied coupling so I could get back to the actual story, but these passages were written so well, highlighted the fierce love between them, and were not in the least bit cringe-making.  Their love was illustrated so beautifully when they were fully clothed, too, in the way they worked as one to fulfil their mutual ambition ~ and there's a terrific section when William comes back from battle seriously ill, and Matilda and a monk work tirelessly to nurse him back to health.

The last 20% is taken up with the preparation for and the events of the Battle of Hastings.  As the book is written from the point of view of Matilda, I wondered how the novel would end without an anti-climax, as, of course, Matilda was not present, but no: the battle is described in all its horror and gory glory, and Ms Lawrence has found an artful way to make sure no detail was spared.

The question of violence towards women arises in this book, as Matilda's first encounter with William was a brutal one, and Ms Lawrence discusses this at some length in the Author's Note at the end of the book, but even as I was reading it I thought this: we can't judge the people of hundreds of years ago on the standards by which we live now, because attitudes were vastly different, and we do not walk in their shoes.  I add this into the review only to make you aware that there is an occurrence of violence towards a woman at the hand of a man, near the beginning. 

This is a long book; sometimes there is repetition, with the same factual detail provided more than once.  On the odd occasion it felt a little research-heavy, and I felt one or two observations might have worked better written in the present tense, but none of these doubts mattered a jot overall; Gemma Lawrence writes with such intelligence, emotion and innate understanding of her characters and period, and I am so looking forward to reading the next part.  Amazon tells us that the highest star ranking should mean 'I loved it', and I did, I loved this book, so I'm happy to award it all five of those potential stars.


In 2015, Gemma Lawrence appeared on my series about writers and their star signs, The Zodiac Files.  You can see her piece HERE

 

THE DU LAC CHRONICLES by Mary Anne Yarde

3.5 out of 5 stars

5th century English historical fiction/Romance/YA

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE 
On Goodreads 

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team 

This novel is British historical fiction set in the 5th Century, with many fictional characters and places.  At the beginning, Alden du Lac, once king of Cerniw (Cornwall, I believe), has been captured by the Saxons. 

I'd say this is definitely more of a book for teenagers/young adults, as the characters are of that age, and it's more of a historical (fantasy) romance than fiction about the historical period in time per se; the focus of the book is the relationship between Alden and his rebel Saxon saviour, Annis.  Although it's in two 'teen and young adult' categories on Amazon, the blurb does not make clear that it's aimed at this age group.  Note to publisher!

For the most part, it's well written (I found myself thinking 'oh good' when I started reading it), though there were a few instances of bad English that should have been picked up by a copy editor/proofreader.  But on the whole it's very well presented throughout. 

There's a fair bit of good atmospheric detail and the characters are sufficiently convincing, Annis being one of those great role models for girls, but I'd say it's for lovers of history based escapism (of which it is a good example) rather than the reader of serious histfic.  If you're a young reader of the former, I'm sure you'll love it!