Chosen as Eostre's handmaid, Hild will serve the goddess for a year before being wed. Her future is predictable--until King Edwin claims her as kin and she learns that her father was murdered. Her first love is given a command in Edwin's forces and vanishes from her life, wed to her sister. The court is baptized, ending the old religion and Hild's role. Life looks bleak. She can't stop wondering who killed her father. She is intrigued by the Iona priests making pilgrimages to spread Christ's love. When home and family are lost in Oswy's sack of Edinburgh, she finds herself in enemy hands, but meets the charismatic Aidan. Inspired and guided by him, she builds communities to live and teach Christ's love. She never ceases battling against old superstitions resurrected by storm, plague, and solar eclipse, but at last she receives a bishop's blessing - from a man she trained herself. It took me a long time to read this book. It definitely isn’t a quick read. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, in this case, it may be a good thing. The story is based on a woman that actually lived in 7th Century Britain and there is so much historical information that I would have missed if I had just been able to skim through it. That's not the only reason, however, that it took a long time to read. The story starts out interesting with a good hook that drew me in. But soon after, it jumps forward in time, without making it clear that that is what it's doing. It does this throughout the book, jumping months, and even years ahead without making it clear. I did get used to this style after a bit, but it was still confusing. Another confusing aspect were the characters and their names. I know that it is historical, so the author couldn't make the names more distinct. But I feel as though there may have been a way for her to have less characters. I often found myself stopping and wondering, “ who is that again?” The story itself, however, is very interesting. It took a bit to get into, but once I did it was very good. It's a beautiful story of God's Redemption and although it’s bittersweet at times, I enjoyed it a lot. The story does have some violence, cursing, and mature themes, (more about that in the content warning below) so it's definitely better for an older audience, but I think that those who like learning about historical people and events we'll enjoy the story. I give it 3.5 (round up to 4) out of 5 stars. Content Warning - MildThere are mentions of blood, injuries and other violence, but for the most part it doesn't go into to much detail. And there are about 4-5 mild to moderate curse words used throughout the book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About MeHey there! I'm Grace, a tea drinking, book loving, Child of God. I also draw maps of fictional places. ArchivesCategories
All
|