Book Review
Feb. 8th, 2021 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Norman Pretender
by Valerie Anand
This historical novel covers the lead-up to the Norman Conquest in 1066; despite its title, it focuses on the English royalty and nobility rather than William the Conqueror or the situation in France. Instead, the plot follows the dynastic machinations going on in England as Edward the confessor's reign draws to a close, and the lives of Harold Godwinson and his wife Aldith and her handmaid Wulfhild. as in Anand's other novels covering the era around the Conquest, we see the effects of sibling and family rivalries, the tension between honor and ambition, and the interconnection of the personal and the political in the middle ages. Harold, Aldith, and Wulfhild are great characters, each involved in the political maneuverings at a different level, which gives the book a very well-rounded feel.
by Valerie Anand
This historical novel covers the lead-up to the Norman Conquest in 1066; despite its title, it focuses on the English royalty and nobility rather than William the Conqueror or the situation in France. Instead, the plot follows the dynastic machinations going on in England as Edward the confessor's reign draws to a close, and the lives of Harold Godwinson and his wife Aldith and her handmaid Wulfhild. as in Anand's other novels covering the era around the Conquest, we see the effects of sibling and family rivalries, the tension between honor and ambition, and the interconnection of the personal and the political in the middle ages. Harold, Aldith, and Wulfhild are great characters, each involved in the political maneuverings at a different level, which gives the book a very well-rounded feel.
