A Place Beyond Courage – Elizabeth Chadwick

A tale set in England during the turbulent 12th century, when the repercussions of the Norman Conquest were still being felt – not just in England but in what we now know as France too – as Empress Matilda and her cousin King Stephen fought for the crown, bringing civil war, famine and fear to the country that Henry I had made strong and prosperous.

The man at the centre of the novel is John FitzGilbert, Lord Marshal of England, who after loyal service to Henry I, first supports Stephen and then switches sides to support Matilda, staying Lord Marshal throughout. He discards his first wife on the grounds of consanguinity, and swiftly makes a political and more profitable marriage to Sybilla of Salisbury.

As you might expect, Elizabeth Chadwick turns this somewhat unsavoury set of events into a tale of passion, heroism and honour – and whilst it is a good read, be prepared for rather a lot of battles and sieges.

Amazon.co.uk link: A Place Beyond Courage – Elizabeth Chadwick

Lords of the White Castle – Elizabeth Chadwick

An excellent historical novel from Elizabeth Chadwick, telling the (true) story of Fulke FitzWarin, growing from squire to knight to outlaw to Lord of Whittington in the Welsh Marches during the reigns of Henry II, absentee Crusader King Richard the Lionheart and treacherous King John.

The love story strand tells of his marriage to Maude le Vavasseur, the politics feature Llywelyn the Great, Hubert Walter, Ranulph of Chester, and the action takes place throughout the lands of the Angevin Empire, which stretches across the English Channel.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was the balance between the male and female characters – Maude le Vavasseur wasn’t portrayed as a damsel in distress, predestined to fall into the strong arms of Fulke FitzWarin (having overcome some obstacles in the path to true love, naturally). Instead we get to see these two main characters develop from childhood to adults, carefully picking their way through the tricky politics of the period, maturing as individuals and developing relationships as one does in real life.

Amazon.co.uk link: Lords of the White Castle – Elizabeth Chadwick

Daughters of the Grail – Elizabeth Chadwick

If you liked the historical sections of Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth, you will definitely enjoy this novel. It is set in the Languedoc at the time of the Albigensian Crusade and the persecution of the Cathars by the twin powers of the Catholic Church and the northern French nobility, notably Simon de Montfort – the former thirsty for souls, the latter for land and the power and wealth it would bring.

I haven’t quite worked out why, but the love story part of the plot of this novel didn’t irritate as much as it has done in other Elizabeth Chadwick novels I’ve read of late. Possibly because all the characters remained strong throughout, and the story didn’t end when the guy got the girl.

Amazon.co.uk link: Daughters of the Grail – Elizabeth Chadwick

The Marsh King’s Daughter – Elizabeth Chadwick

Selected from my Library Books To Read pile on the basis that the cover illustration might not be allowed into Iran (I go there for a fortnight at the start of May), The Marsh King’s Daughter was a quick read.

Set several centuries earlier than The Lady and the Unicorn, and in the lowlands of East Anglia it tells the story of a headstrong wool merchant’s daughter who runs away from the convent to which her stepfather consigns her, and ends up becoming a successful business women, trading in sheep, wool and cloth, travelling around England and to Europe. There’s the usual love story accompanying the history, and the Marsh King references are to King John‘s baggage train being lost in the treacherous quicksands of The Wash in 1216.

I fear that familiarity with Elizabeth Chadwick’s novels is at risk of breeding some kind of contempt, which I wouldn’t want as I do enjoy them – the books are well written and detailed, with good characters and plot; they’re just a bit too similar in the overarching tale of two people overcoming adversity to find love.

Amazon.co.uk link: The Marsh King’s Daughter – Elizabeth Chadwick

The Winter Mantle – Elizabeth Chadwick

Another strongly researched mediaeval romance from Elizabeth Chadwick, but the first that left me wondering whether I should have a break from her before reading another of her novels…. The Winter Mantle is by no means a bad book, but three generations’ worth of stories isn’t really sufficiently supported by three generations of characters and depth. And for the first time I failed to warm to any of the characters.

What you do get in exchange is a plot that shows the social and political impact of the Norman invasion of 1066 and the gradual merging of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds, at a time when the Normans were building an empire on the continent that would power the Crusades – and which would once again emphasise the position of England and the English on the periphery of the Western world.

As one of the amazon reviewers put it, Elizabeth Chadwick “now writes about the period with the convictions of her obvious knowledge of the subject and has also made a subtle change from writing what were in effect historical love stories (nothing wrong with that) to historical novels with a love interest.”

Amazon.co.uk link: The Winter Mantle – Elizabeth Chadwick