BOND OF BLOOD

This historical novel, somewhat better than her last (Knight's Honor- 1964) opens with a medieval CLANG of plot that reverberates to the last paragraph. The time is 1146-1147 A.D. in England which is still ruled by the Normans and, indirectly, the Church. The theme delineates the capillary action of allegiances to God, King, overlord, family, husband or wife, by blood, homage or moral obligation. The story concerns the attempt to marry off fifteen-year-old Leah to Lord Radnor, who has a congenital foot defect (which links him with the devil) and a given name of Cain. Through this alliance, Leah's father will acquire Radnor's lands... Preoccupied as it is with fealty, the novel does reveal a way of life with some exactness of intention, but the writing is conventional and the dialogue not always convincing.