Books Are Like Gold

Many people in the world are sitting around waiting to win the lottery, but while that would be nice, I have found a way to feel like I have won the lottery on a daily basis. There is something about checking the mailbox and seeing your name on a package that makes me very excited. Even if I know what book is waiting for me, there is still that moment of anticipation as I rip open the package and find what is hiding for me inside. The package does not even have to be all that eye-catching because, in many cases, it is what it contains that sparks my interest. I am the sort of person that has a list of all the books that are coming out in 2008 that I want to read. Then, I either pre-order a batch of them or am at the bookstore on the day that they are released to have them in my hands. I get excited everytime a favourite author releases a new book. So, it might not be a million dollars, but many people that win that much money have a lot of problems handling it. At least with a book you are transported somewhere while you are in the pages, and then when you close it you are left with the characters running around in your mind, but you can ignore them if you want to.

Since January was a terrible reading month, I thought I would show off my mini-goldmines. The books that have arrived in my mailbox that have gave me moments of excitement. I of course want to read them right away, but I have just had a hard time finding time for them in January. Hopefully February I can visit with old friends and new ones.

Right now I am putting everything aside to read Ariana Franklin's The Serpent's Tale. The sequel to Mistress of the Art of Death, it is one that I know several people have been looking forward to this year.

Ariana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in the enthralling second novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine Adelia Aguilar.

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by poison-and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is probably the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, to uncover the truth.

Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter, Allie. But Henry's summons cannot be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of St. Albans, who is also her baby's father.

Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, in a tower within a walled labyrinth-a strange and sinister place from the outside, but far more so on the inside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken captive by Eleanor's henchmen and held in the nunnery of Godstow, where Eleanor is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries, awaiting the right moment to launch their rebellion.

Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia and Rowley watch as dead bodies begin piling up. Adelia knows that there may be more than one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is once again plunged into civil war . . .

Some other books that I really want to read that came out this year, and that I own, are:

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue:

Based on the details of a scandalous divorce case that gripped England in 1864, The Sealed Letter is a provocative historical drama that is strangely relevant to modern issues surrounding women, marriage, rights and roles.

Miss Emily "Fido" Faithfull is a "woman of business" and a spinster pioneer of the British women's movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her beloved cause by the sudden return of her once-dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen's failing marriage to the stodgy Admiral Harry Codrington. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama more sensational than any Hollywood tabloid could invent - with stained clothing, accusations of adultery, counterclaims of rape and a mysterious letter that could destroy more than one life.

HarperCollins is proud to deliver Emma Donoghue's internationally celebrated work into the hands of discerning fiction readers in this, her first Canadian publication. The Sealed Letter is the perfect book to mark this milestone event - a masterpiece that brings the force of a life that changed our world into captivating view.

I have an Advanced Reading Copy of this one. It will be available in stores on April 4, 2008.

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland:

The author of the internationally acclaimed Josephine B. trilogy returns with another deeply enchanting historical novel, this one based on the life of an extraordinary horsewoman, Louise de la Vallière, the brave and spirited child of minor nobility who, against all odds, grows up to become one of the most mysterious consorts of France's King Louis XIV, the charismatic Sun King.

Set against the magnificent decadence of the 17th-century court of the Sun King, Mistress of the Sun begins when the eccentric young Louise falls in love with a wild white stallion and uses ancient magic to tame him. This one desperate action of youth shadows her throughout her life, changing it in ways she could never imagine.

Unmarriageable and too poor to join a convent, she enters the court of the Sun King as a maid of honour, where she captures - and then tragically loses - the King's heart. Mistress of the Sun illuminates, through the resurrection of a fascinating female figure from the dark corners of history, both the power of true love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.

Sandra Gulland's previous work brought Josephine Bonaparte magnificently to life in three immediately addictive bestselling novels. Beginning with The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Gulland established an entirely new gold standard for the art of historical fiction. Mistress of the Sun - a riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its centre - is a welcome reward for all those who have waited so patiently for its arrival.

This book will be out on February 7, 2008, and then my Advanced Reading Copy will not really be so advanced! This is what happens when you have a bad reading month.

Lastly, I received an email today saying that Colleen Gleason's new book is on its way to me. It is called The Bleeding Dusk. The third book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles.

To gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome's vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and bloodthirsty as they are. The new leader of the city's vampire hunters-Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy-reluctantly turns to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help, just as Maximilian Pesaro arrives to aid his fellow slayers, no matter what the sacrifice. Desire puts her at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max, but she does not know if she can trust either. Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows...

There are others that I am looking forward to coming out, but these are four of the new releases that are calling to me from the shelves.

Upcoming Release: Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith

Daughter of York re-visits many of the characters from "A Rose for the Crown," as we follow Margaret, sister of Edward IV and Richard III, from the court of England where, as a pawn in Edward's political schemes, she is kept single until she is 22, when a Burgundian alliance is forged through her marriage to Charles the Bold, the new Duke of Burgundy.

Despite fulfilling her duty to her new country with intelligence and aplomb, Margaret never forgets she is an English princess and a daughter of the House of York. Her homesickness is exacerbated by having to leave behind the love of her life. Fate brings them together rarely after she becomes duchess to a man she only met a week before her marriage, and whom she discovers suffers from such a grandiose view of his place in history that he is capable of great cruelty towards anyone who stands in his way. He also prefers spending time on a battlefield than at home with his wife. She finds solace in the bond she forges with her new young stepdaughter, her friendship with William Caxton, learning to rule her new country, and her unusual confidante, a dwarf named Fortunata. But once in a while, she breaks the rules in the arms of her one true love...

Kailana has talked before about how much she is looking forward to this book, and I am in complete agreement with her! A Rose from the Crown was one of my favourite reads from a couple of years ago, and I remember being surprised at how well written it was for a first book!

There is also quite an interesting video of Anne up on BookVideos.TV, where she talks about how she researches her characters and how she keeps her fictional and factual characters straight!

This book is released in the US and the UK on 12 February 2008. Unfortunately it's not listed on the major Australian bookstore sites yet, so I might have to wait a bit longer! Disappointing, but not all that unusual unfortunately.

George S Stuart's Gallery of Historical Figures

The other day, SonjaMarie posted over at Historical Fiction Forums about the George S Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures (link below). I spent a little time today going through some of the figures, and thought that they were fascinating, and that there might be some readers of this blog that might be interested in having a look around too! At this time, only the English and French figures are up but from what I understand there will be more. The figures are incredibly detailed and some are in museum collections.

I could spend ages just looking through all of the figures and reading all the information that is on the site, including, on some pages, reading recommendations!

George S Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures

By the way, if you are at all interested in the life and times of Lady Jane Grey, Sonja Marie runs The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum which is worth a look.

Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander

With the same riveting historical narrative that made The Kitchen Boy a national bestseller, Robert Alexander returns to Russia for the harrowing tale of Rasputin's final days as told by his young and spirited daughter, Maria.

After the fury of the Russian Revolution has swept Nicholas and Alexandra from the throne of Imperial Russia, a special commission is set up to investigate the "dark forces" that caused the downfall of the House of Romanov. The focus, of course, turns to Grigori Rasputin, the notorious holy man and healer who was never far from the throne.

To discover the truth, the commission interrogates Maria Rasputin, the oldest of the Rasputin children, in the ransacked Winter Palace. There, she vividly recounts a politically tumultuous Russia where Rasputin's powerful influences over the Romanovs is unsettling to all levels of society, and the threats to his life are no secret. While vast conspiracies mount against her father, Maria must struggle with the discovery of her father's true nature - his unbridled carnal appetites, mysterious relationship with the Empress, rumours of involvement in secret religious cults - to save her father from his murderers. With clarity and courage, Maria shatters the myths of Rasputin's murder, revealing how she tried to save her father, who nearly killed Rasputin and, most importantly, the devious secrets his murderers still guard.

Using long lost files, Robert Alexander once again delivers an imaginative and compelling story: Rasputin's Daughter vividly brings to life one of history's most fascinating and legendary periods.

**This review was originally posted on my personal blog in April 2007**


I've been sitting here for ages trying to think what to say about this book, which really surprises me for two reasons. Firstly, I don't normally have that trouble, and secondly, I really enjoyed this book so it shouldn't be so hard.

The story starts with Maria Rasputin being picked up and taken to face the commission that has been set up to investigate what caused the fall of the House of Romanov. The irony of the fact that one of her father's favourite authors is the man charged with recording the evidence of what happened to Rasputin is not lost on Maria, but once she has agreed to cooperate she starts her story a week before his death.

For Maria, the events of the last week before her father's death were very revealing. She began to understand his true nature - including the nature of his relationship with the royal family, some of the people that he associated with, and many of his own personal demons. In many ways, however, this book was more about Maria coming to see her family through adult eyes - understanding that her father was not perfect in many ways, and also understanding that the events that were taking place around her were out of her control. It was also about her coming to know herself and facing the consequences of her own decisions as she finds herself falling for the mysterious young man who has appeared and then disappeared from her life a couple of times.

As with The Kitchen Boy, Robert Alexander manages to effectively convey the confusion and fears of characters living in a turbulent time in Russian history. In some ways, this book felt a little more cohesive than The Kitchen Boy, maybe because it was at it's very core a simpler story. I certainly felt as though I was going on the roller coaster ride of emotions as faced by Maria - from the fear for her father's life, to the excitement of falling in live, to the confusion as she comes to realise some of the facts about her father, to her courage as she faced the reality of what had happened to her father, and to her, and a very uncertain future.

A very entertaining read about a very interesting period in time!

Rating:4.5/5

Upcoming release: The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander

Whenever Sarah from Reading the Past posts one of her lists of upcoming releases my TBR list inevitably grows, and her recent post was no exception.

One of the books that I was most interested to see something about was the upcoming Robert Alexander book, The Romanov Bride. I really enjoyed both The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin's Daughter, and so will definitely be picking this one up when it comes out in April.

As Russia races toward catastrophe, the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta is ensconced in the most lavish and magnificent court in the world, that of the mighty Romanovs. In the same city, but worlds apart, Pavel is a simple village man in search of a better life with his young bride, Shura. But when Shura is shot and killed by Tsarist soldiers during a peaceful political demonstration, the grief-stricken Pavel dedicates his life to overthrowing the Romanovs.

This is the fascinating true story of the beautiful and ill-fated Romanov grand duchess who gives up everything, and the peasant who determines her fate.

I do just have to say that Robert Alexander always has really great websites for his books! Click here to visit the website for this book, and then there are links to his other websites as well.

I'll put up a review for Rasputin's Daughter in the next couple of days. I didn't realise that I hadn't posted it yet!

The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon

Dark secrets haunt the manor house at Selden in Buckinghamshire, where Emilie Selden, motherless, fiercely intelligent and more beautiful than she realises, has been raised in near isolation by her father.

John Selden, student of Isaac Newton, is conducting a bold and secret experiment. He aims to turn Emilie into a brilliant natural philosopher and alchemist. Secluded in his ancient manor house, with only their two servants for company, he fills her with knowledge while recording every step she takes.

In the spring of 1725, when Emilie is eighteen, father and daughter begin their most daring alchemical adventure of all - an attempt to breathe life into dead matter. But their work is interrupted by the arrival of two strangers, one a researcher into the life of plants, the other a dazzling young merchant. During the course of a sultry August, whilst her father is away, Emilie is caught up in the passion of first love and, listening for the first time to her heart rather than her head, she makes her choice.

Her father's spell broken, she is banished to London and plunged headlong into a ruthless and mercenary society. Emilie, the alchemist's daughter, discovers that for all her extraordinary eduction she has no insight into the workings of the human heart - and so begins her new and shocking journey to enlightenment.

I remember picking up this book a number of times when it first came out, but it was only when I noticed that this author had a new book out that I finally picked it up from the library to read. On the strength of this one, I have now borrowed the new one as well!

At it's core this is the story of a very sheltered young lady finding herself exposed to the world outside the laboratory and home that she has been bought up in by her father. Her father, and Emilie, are natural scientists, trying to prove things like what fire needs to burn. They are also alchemists, trying to produce something from nothing. One of his long term projects has been the raising of Emilie where he was trying to raise a child who could take over from him, with all the knowledge that he has already embedded into her mind from childhood. It is a somewhat sterile environment, except for those people in Emilie's life who take the time to show her a little affection.

For Emilie, the introduction of two men into their lives is completely life changing. The two men are as different as chalk and cheese. The first is Rev Thomas Shales, who also has an interest in the natural sciences, and the second is Mr Aislabie, who professes an interest in science in order to meet Emilie's father. With so little exposure to the ways of the world, Emilie is swept off of her feet and finds herself in trouble, and ultimately estranged from her father. Now living in London, Emilie finds herself not so much valued for her intelligence but rather as an object of curiosity to those members of society that she comes into contact with.

With her father's death, the true nature of Emilie's importance to her now husband becomes apparent. As he tries to create a stunning new and stylish home from Selden, it is clear to Emilie that to create something out of very little has a high cost, and that she is the one who must fight to protect the homes and families of the people who have served her family for generations as well as what little she has left of her past.

It is only towards the end of the book that the reader becomes aware just how successful her father was at his experiment, if you can call Emilie that, but Emilie needs to learn her own life lessons in order to find fulfilment and happiness.

There were times when there was a danger that the book could become bogged down in the science, but those moments were fortunately few and far between. Emilie is an interesting character, if somewhat naive. I am going to refrain from talking too much about the main male characters because to do so might lead to inferred spoilers, but I was glad in the end with the choices that Emilie made, even if the lessons she had to learn along the way were very painful.

Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon

Diana Gabaldon, the New York Times bestselling author of Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade and the wildly popular Outlander novels, delivers three tales of war, intrigue and espionage that feature one of her most popular characters: Lord John Grey. In the heart of the eighteenth century, there are haunted soldiers....lusty princesses....ghostly apparitions...dark family secrets. And here Lord John will face enemies who come in the guise of friends, memories in the shape of a fiery-haired Scot named James Fraser, and allies who have the power to destroy him with a single blow...

Capturing the lonely, tormented and courageous career of a man who fights for his crown, his honor, and his own secrets, Diana Gabaldon delivers breathtaking human drama. And in tales seething with desire, madness and political intrigue Gabaldon once again proves that she can bring history to life in a way few novelists ever have.

This is a collection of three short stories or more precisely I guess it is technically one short story, and two novellas. One of the things that I see quite often about Gabaldon is that she is extremely wordy, but with these novels she proves that she can write tight, shorter stories than we see in the Outlander books.


In Lord John and the Hellfire Club, Lord John glimpses a stranger in the doorway of a gentlemen's club - and is stirred by a desperate entreaty to meet in private. The rendezvous forestalled by a sudden murder, Lord John will wade into a maze of political treachery and a dangerous debauched underground society...

At 23 pages, this is by far the shortest of the three stories in this book. It was actually written years ago, and I have had a copy of it for a good couple of years but I had never gotten around to reading it for whatever reason. When a man is killed in the vicinity of Lord John he feels compelled to try to find out more. leading him into a very shady and dangerous underground society.

In Lord John and the Succubus, English soldiers fighting in Prussia are rattled by the nocturnal visitations of a deadly woman who sucks life and soul from a man.

Called to investigate the night-hag Lord John finds a murdered soldier and a treacherous Gypsy, and comes to the stark realization that among the spirits that haunt men, none frighten more than the specters conjured by the heart...

This is the story that I have read previously. In fact I bought the trade paperback of the Legends II anthology just for this novella and still, a couple of years later, I still haven't read anything else in the book! Luckily for me, there has been a significant enough gap in time so that I couldn't remember who did it, so while I did remember many of the events it was kind of new to me. I enjoyed it the first time, I read it, and I enjoyed it this time through to. As usual with Gabaldon, there are many layers and she even has time to do this in her short stories. In this there is the fear of the supernatural and the sometimes comical lengths that people will go to avoid the succubus of the title. We also see John in situations on the battlefield and also within the higher of echelons of society and how he has to sometimes walk a very thin line!

One of the more interesting aspects of this novella is the relationship between John and the Prussian major who John has been seconded to. Here we see a side of John's insecurity, or perhaps caution would be better, as to whom he can act on feelings of attraction to. I don't actually know how that would be, especially in an age when to be caught would mean death, but I think Gabaldon does a great job of portraying the carefulness required before making an approach, or even allowing an approach, to a possible partner.

In Lord John and the Haunted soldier, Lord John is thrust into the deadly case of an exploding battle field cannon. Wounded in the same battle, Lord John is called to testify and soon confronts his own ghosts - and the shattering prospect that a traitor is among the ranks of His Majesty's armed forces.

This is the new story, written just for this book, and the events follow on directly from the end of the Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, which I have read, but not yet reviewed.

Lord John is recovering from the wounds he received in battle when a cannon explodes killing several of the men operating it. Still having some pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body and suffering somewhat because of it, Lord John is called before a military tribunal where it soon becomes clear that he is to be the scapegoat in the inquiry to investigate the deaths.

Never one to allow himself to falsely blamed Lord John starts to investigate on his own to see what he can find out about the events leading up to the explosion, even though there appears to be a chance that his own older half brother may be implicated in treason. To further complicate matters, John is asked to try and track down the wife of one of the men who died...a young lady who does not seem to want to be found.




Despite the fact that these books are much shorter than the Outlander series, Gabaldon still manages to populate them with memorable secondary characters and quite a bit of historical detail from the time. There are, of course, references to Jamie from the original Outlander series, but they are references only. I think in the last book in particular we began to see the basis of the friendship between John and Jamie that readers of the later books in the Outlander will recognise - the honest exchange of views and news - even if at first John is not brave enough to actually send the initial letters off.

Of the secondary characters, I really love Tom Byrd, John's valet, and also Harry Quarry! Lord John is a man of impeccable honour, and could at time become something of a stuffed shirt, so the scenes with these two characters bring an earthiness and realness to his life and his friendships with them.

Just a note on the reading order. I have taken the book back to the library now so I can't check, but I believe the reading order of the Lord John stories is as below:

Lord John and the Hellfire Club
Lord John and the Private Matter
Lord John and the Succubus
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
Lord John and the Haunted Soldier

Once again, I sound like a total Gabaldon fan girl, but I truly can't help it!

Death at Dawn by Caro Peacock

Duelling, derring-do, and dastardly deeds are all in a day's work for Liberty Lane: a new heroine for fans of Matthew Hawkwood and Sarah Waters's Victorian novels.

June 1837. She should have remained in the care of her sour aunt, but Liberty Lane was never one to obey instructions. Eager to be reunited with her beloved father, she headed for Dover, only to receive an informing her that he has been killed in a duel at Calais.

Thomas Jacques Lane -- radical, romantic, scholar, republican, gambler and devoted father -had led an unconventional life. His movements in the days leading up to his death are a mystery, but of one thing Liberty is certain: he would never have taken part in a duel, for it went against everything he believed in. And if the author of the anonymous note expected her to swallow this lie and meekly obey his command to stay put, he had severely underestimated Liberty Lane.

With no resources bar her own wits, she immediately sets sail for Calais in pursuit of the truth - and her father's killer. And as the nation prepares to celebrate the coronation of young Queen Victoria, Liberty uncovers a treasonable plot which could lead to another vicious civil war...

Being a somewhat headstrong and impetuous young woman, when Liberty Lane receives a note telling her that her father has been killed in a duel in Calais, and that she should stay where she is, she crosses the channel and tries to find out exactly what happened to her father. She knows that he can not have been killed in a duel, as it is very much against her father's beliefs. Thomas Lane was something of a radical in his thoughts, following the beliefs of the French Revolution, hence his children are named Liberty and Fraternity! That being said, he was not one of those men who believed in any course of action to bring about a fulfilment of his cause.

In the course of her investigation, Liberty finds herself caught up in several strange situations, including being kidnapped. She also finds herself the owner of a new horse with impeccable breeding. along with the man that her father engaged to look after the horse in Paris. Having come into contact with several different people, Liberty finds herself sent to be spy in a household that has suspicious activities in it. Now Liberty must figure out who is on what side of the political divide and what it all has to do with the death of her father.

This was quite an easy read, and it did have a very interesting premise, which is all to do with the time just as a very young Victoria came to the throne. I have no idea if the kind of conspiracy theory that is suggested was really doing the rounds, but I guess it was a plausible storyline.

As always it is often more difficult to write a review of a book that was average than one that you either loved or hated! I am sufficiently interested in the character to want to read more in the series, although I am not sure how long I would keep reading without a little more to entice me! I am not sure if part of the issue for me is that I read the first book by Tasha Alexander which has a similar time frame, and is another young lady (although slightly older than Liberty in this book). There do seem to be several different mystery series around with a Victorian setting at the moment.

When I was trying to see if there was a website or anything for this author, I couldn't find very much at all, but I did find something that suggested that this is a new pseudonym for a writer who used to write under the name of Gillian Linscott.

Thanks to the First Look program at Harper Collins Australia for sending me this book for review!

A Christmas Visitor - Anne Perry

Another novella about Christmas and in this case about doing the right thing...this is my second novella by Perry and once again it's very good.

Henry Rathbone arrives to spend Christmas at the Dreghorn family manor house near Ullswater. He is greeted by the news that the master of the house, Judah Dreghorn has slipped while crossing a stream in the grounds of the estate in the middle of the night, and drowned. Not only this, but Ashton Gower, recently released from prison, is slandering Judah's name, claiming that his family rightfully owns the estate and that the forged deeds for which he was imprisoned were in fact genuine. To Rathbone and the two remaining Dreghorn brothers, also returning to the Lakes for Christmas, Judah's mysterious death and Gower's outrageous claims seem inextricably linked

From the beginning we know that there is some mystery to uncover. Everyone believes Judah was a good person and there could only be another explanation to his actions than dishonesty. At the same time his death might not be accidental, but is the one responsible the most obvious suspect. To find the answers to these quenstions Henry Rathbone investigates what really happened 11 years before and what knowledge Judah had of it and which course of action was he planning. The part I enjoyed the most was precisely after the truth is found out the dilemma the characters face in to do or not to do the right thing. Especially because it was not their fault that the wrong thing had happened but they will be the one's to suffer the consequences. I really like the psycological "games" Perry makes the characters play and my only regret is that these are not the center of the story.

Grade: A-

Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

January 1067. Charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux decides to commission a wall hanging, on a scale never seen before, to celebrate his role in the conquest of Britain by his brother, William, Duke of Normandy. What he cannot anticipate is how utterly this will change his life - even more than the invasion itself.

His life becomes entangled with the women who embroider his hanging, especially Gytha - handmaiden to the fallen Saxon queen and his sworn enemy. But against their intentions they fall helplessly in love; in doing so Odo comes into conflict with his king and his God and Gytha with Odo's enemies, who mistrust her hold over such a powerful man. Friends and family become enemies, enemies become lovers; nothing in life or in the hanging is what it seems.

I first heard of this book when Dovegreyreader started raving about it earlier in 2007, and the story sounded so good to me, that I went ahead and bought it instead of waiting for it to come in to the library. Good job too, seeing as it still isn't on the catalogue yet!

Our main female character is Gytha. She was a handmaiden to the former Saxon queen. When William the Conqueror, for want of a better word conquered, Gytha was in some ways lucky to escape from the same fate of her queen who became a prisoner. In other ways Gytha was not so lucky, because she had to find some way to make a living and becomes a prostitute. Gytha is saved from this fate when the quality of her needlework is recognised and she is recruited by Odo and William's sister, a formidable woman in her own right, to join the team of embroiderers who are working on an embroidery which will tell the story of the Norman invasion of England. It is there that Gytha meets Odo, a charismatic churchman who is not, let it be said, all that chaste. The attraction between the two is intense, as is the hate that Gytha feels towards him, and she is not sure what action to take - to kill him or love him.

Odo makes Gytha his mistress, an action which in itself causes many issues for the couple, including with the all powerful king of England. As the two fall deeply in love, Odo must fight for both his political and canonical lives. The line between the church and politics has over the years has often been thin, and it is particularly thin during these early medieval days.

This is an extremely detailed book, and I would be stretching it to say that it is a book that I found myself swept away by. It took me a bit longer to read than I would have anticipated but having said that, I was immersed in the 11th century, and I was compelled to continue reading to find out what happened next. In some ways, the romantic side of this story was almost fairy tale like - a sweeping epic love story between two unlikely people. This aspect, along with much historical detail, meant that this was a book to savour and enjoy.

On the front cover the byline says 'A powerful tale of sex, lies and embroidery' and that about covers it!

Rating: 4/5