![]() ![]() The writing lifts this book to a level of excellence few novels even aspire to. She conveys in one gesture what other authors might take paragraphs to tell. Holland excels at characterizing individuals by showing them in action. This book has everything a good historical novel should have: a wonderful sense of the place and time, exciting battle scenes, and a deeply felt, surprising love story. It is a tribute to Holland’s skill as a novelist that we don’t know what Maria will do until she does it, and yet her action rings absolutely true. In the end, she must make a fateful choice. The reader sees her grow as a wife, a mother, and a power in her own right. Both Richard and Roger exert a pull on her emotions. She is a survivor and then some, strong, canny, and brave. Maria will fight with different weapons, for her own personal autonomy. ![]() Richard will battle the Saracens and other Christians for his place in the sun. Cecelia Holland in taut, spare prose creates a hard, unsentimental world in which people fight for survival and betrayal is always possible. The fact that Maria loves Richard’s younger brother, Roger, is beside the point. Set in 11th-century Italy, Hollands epic presents ongoing battles. Besides, the father has no sons and would like grandsons. Cecelia Holland, Author Soho Press 17 (528p) ISBN 978-0-93. “I have to give him something to keep him satisfied for a while,” her father explains. Maria, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a robber baron in 11 th century Italy, is given in marriage to Richard, an ambitious young knight. ![]()
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