Characterization reigns supreme in this layered, gripping historical fiction tale set in Britain.
Three individuals from two warring religions begin to form a family in this debut adventure.
This historical fiction series opener is set in 788 in Britain, a nation that has largely been taken over by Christian Germanic Saxon invaders from the Indigenous Druids. At the novel’s center is a man on a mission. After the Druids are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, Caelym, a young priest, is sent to find Annwr, the sister of the supreme priestess Feywn. Annwr was abducted 15 years prior by a Saxon war band. He discovers Annwr on the grounds of a convent, where her charge, Aleswina, the dead king’s teenage daughter, resides. The teen was banished by her cousin King Gilberth. Caelym also has his own secret crusade: to find his two young sons, Arddwn and Lliem, who were sent away with a faithful servant two years ago. When the cruel Gilberth’s men come for Aleswina because he has decided to marry her, she throws in with Annwr and Caelym in an effort to escape that fate. The trio, rife with conflict, must cross unknown territory for three purposes: to locate Arddwn and Lliem, to find a safe place for Aleswina, and finally to connect with the remaining Druids en route to their new homeland. Linden’s well-researched tale eloquently brings to life a lesser-known period of transition in Britain. The riveting story illustrates that religious strife has been woven into that country’s tapestry for centuries. And life was difficult for the underclass even back then. The author has created a strong foundation for her series with well-developed characters whom readers can embrace. Still, with all those Welsh-sounding Druid names missing some vowels, the book could have used a pronunciation guide to go with its cast of characters. But that’s a small quibble. What’s important is that readers will care about what happens to Annwr, Caelym, Aleswina, and the others in future volumes. In the interim, this installment is a sterling exploration of a tumultuous era.
Characterization reigns supreme in this layered, gripping historical fiction tale set in Britain.Pub Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64742-114-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.
A dramatic, complex imagining of the origins of Stonehenge.
In about 2500 B.C.E. on the Great Plain, Seft and his family collect flints in a mine. He dislikes the work, and the motherless lad hates the abuse he gets from his father and brothers. He leaves them and arrives at a wooden monument where sacred events such as the Midsummer Rite take place. There are also circles of stones that help predict equinoxes, solstices, even eclipses. This is a world where the customary greeting is “May the Sun God smile on you,” and everyone is a year older on Midsummer Day. Except for a priestess or two, no one can count beyond fingers and toes—to indicate 30, they show both hands, point to both feet, then show both hands again. Casual sex is common, and sex between women is less common but not taboo. Joia, a young woman who becomes a priestess, wonders about her sexuality. After a fire destroys the Monument, she leads a bold effort to rebuild it in stone. To please the gods, they must haul 10 giant stones from distant Stony Valley. Of course neither machinery nor roads exist, so the difficulties are extraordinary. Although the project has its detractors, hundreds of able-bodied people are willing to help. Craftspeople known as cleverhands construct a sled and a road, and they make the rope to wrap around the stones. Many, many others pull. And pull. Meanwhile, the three principal groups—farmers, woodlanders, and herders—all have their separate interests. There is talk of war, which Joia has never seen in her lifetime. Soon it seems inevitable that the powerful farmers will not only start one but win it, unless heroes like Seft and Joia can come up with a creative plan. But there is also the matter of love for Joia in this well-plotted and well-told yarn. The story has a lot of characters from multiple tribes, and they can be hard to keep track of. A page in the front of the book listing who’s who would be helpful.
Vintage Follett. His fans will be pleased.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781538772775
Page Count: 704
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.
Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.
In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring passeurs: people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
