Shortlisted for
Book of the Month
13th Century
England and Acquitaine
Serving a king must have been a trial in
the olden days, especially when that king was Edward I. Sir Richard Burnel,
cousin to the recently deceased Robert Burnel, the King's Chancellor, is
ordered to go to Aquitaine to fight in the on-off wars against France. This
despite the fact that Richard has a crippled leg and only one eye. Not that
Edward will be there; he has troubles with the Welsh. And, to a lesser extent
at this point, the Scots.
Inept leadership leads to the surrender
of two cities and Richard is captured and held for ransom. But he is an
impoverished knight – the family fortune having being frittered away before
Richard ever set eye on any of it – and cannot afford the ransom.
And where does this leave poor Illesa,
his wife and their two children? Begging favours for the money which is not
forthcoming. There are two possibilities: Richard could turn traitor or Illesa
could recover a special treasure to use to get her husband back. With her
cousin Azalais of Dax and Gaspar a travelling player, they hatch a plan
fraught with danger. But can they get Richard released before he is tempted to
betray his king?
The novel moves along at a good pace and
certainly at times I found myself reluctant to put it down for even such
mundane things as life. Many might recognise this as the sequel to The
Errant Hours and will welcome it, I'm sure. But here comes my only real
criticism: I would have liked a little more of the back story incorporated
into the narrative or dialogue; we do not know, for example, just how Richard
got his injuries. The author does give a little piece of their history in a
note prior to the beginning of the first chapter, but I did not feel it was
enough to acquaint any new reader of the full details and therefore I would
strongly recommend reading the first volume.
Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed
this and it will take its place on my 'keepers' shelf. The ending isn't quite
conclusive (what will happen next?) which I hope leaves it open for a third in
the series.
© Richard Tearle
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