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Lindsay Townsend

Autor de A Knight's Vow

22 Obras 153 Miembros 18 Reseñas

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Incluye el nombre: Lindsay Townsend

Obras de Lindsay Townsend

A Knight's Vow (2008) 43 copias
A Knight's Captive (2009) 25 copias
A Knight's Enchantment (2010) 24 copias
To Touch The Knight (2011) 11 copias
Flavia's Secret (2008) 10 copias
The Snow Bride (2012) 8 copias
Night of the Storm (1996) 7 copias
Blue Gold (2009) 5 copias
Bronze Lightning (2009) 3 copias
Voices in the Dark (1995) 2 copias
Twelve Kisses (2012) 2 copias
Dark Maiden (2013) 2 copias
Mistress Angel (2014) 2 copias
The English Daughter (2004) 1 copia

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Nombre canónico
Townsend, Lindsay
Género
female

Miembros

Reseñas

A high mistress of the Mediaeval Romantic Suspense, with `Dark Maiden' Lindsay Townsend brings to vivid life a tale of faith, humility and belonging among those of society largely ignored by both history and fiction. No pampered lords or damsels here, safe in their castles of stone.

Dressed in men's clothing and well able to use the sacred bow of Saint Sebastian to root out demons and Man's evil, and bring the restless dead within God's grace, Yolande walks alone tied by the Church to an enigmatic but blessed mission of Seven. It is Geraint, itinerant Fool and tumbler, who is bewitched by her sense of vision and her self-belief, and in her company learns to see in himself what he can become.

A romance? Yes, but don't look here for mere sultry looks and fluttering hearts. The air between the lovers sparks with wise-cracks as they travel afoot along the bridleways of an England beset by plague and worry. Villages and hamlets in this true land aren't quaint, but of wattle & daub and midden heaps where families try to cultivate an existence as much from the greenwood as their field-strips, and priests question themselves and their faith in the face of pestilence and death.

I found the detail fascinating, from the dual use of plants and scriptures for medicinal purposes, to the mores of the period, to the vivid descriptions of sunlit dells carpeted with heady-scented violets, and the loneliness of a hill tower from another age casting a darkness through life and soul.

It was intriguing, too, to draw from Yolande's and Geraint's thoughts and actions what, through our 21st century prism, we'd now term psychology and detective work, as well as the intrinsic Mediaeval belief in the Devil's ability to turn men from the path of a righteousness that had less to do with cerebral enlightenment and more to do with aiding their fellow man. It's a measure of the author's skills that for the reader credibility and the suspension of disbelief were maintained throughout.

As Yolande and Geraint, and the imminent arrival of their child, travel with their newly acquired cart into the greenwood, I hope not to be waving them goodbye. They and their world are too good to lose and should be the start of a series. highly recommended.
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Denunciada
LindaAcaster | Mar 8, 2015 |
I can't find the link to the audiobook, which is how I "read" this short novel - it's out as an audio download from Audiolark.com - so I've put up the Bookstrand cover. Here's the review:

When Heidi journeys to Bologna in northern Italy to find her late father’s estranged Italian family, she soon realises why the two families lost contact. While parents Frederico and Rosa welcome her as only Italians can, the three siblings are suspicious of her motives, all except for one. But what’s his motive? All is not well in the family bakery – a well respected panetteria nestling in the picturesque medieval streets of the old town of Bologna where history assails on every side and fragrances of flowers and chocolate mix with smoked hams and pine-fired bread ovens. The siblings want to sell, the parents to remain with tradition, and they put Heidi in the unenviable position by bestowing her late father’s voting rights on her. Wooed and warned off in equal measure, does Heidi trust the silver-tongued Marco or the business-like Stefano – or does she listen to her heart?

This romantic mystery evokes the gorgeous scenery of northern Italy in sights and smells – I was salivating to taste the breads and pastries of the panetteria, eager for the family to mend their differences, and for Heidi, so long alone, to be taken to their hearts and to find true love. This is an excellent audiobook I listened to in the car and it shall be staying there to listen to again.
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Denunciada
LindaAcaster | Mar 8, 2015 |
Looking for a short read while stuck somewhere waiting? This will calm the frazzles, though not to begin with. Incensed at the arrogance of "Prince" Orlando, I wanted to reach into the story and slap him. But all is not as it seems. The Sleeping Beauty might be asleep, but... but that would be giving the game away. Suffice to say this is a great ahhh... story that will leave you smiling. Indulge.
 
Denunciada
LindaAcaster | Mar 8, 2015 |
This historical romance is no sugar-coated, pasteurised version of 12th century merrie-olde-England, but a fast-paced story of fear and loss, hope and love set in a wintry Medieval landscape readers can taste and smell, can almost touch. No chivalry, here, between knights making a life after returning from Outreimer – the golden ladies in their rich gowns are terrified sex slaves, and Elfrida may well be joining them.

The author does a brilliant job of making her characters live within their time period. Elfrida the hedge-witch, or wise-woman, doesn’t just make herbal remedies. Through her eyes readers see the plants she collects, notices the land in the detail a woman of her learning would, giving her a mindset straddling both the Old Religion and that of Christianity and its saints. When she ‘bewitches’ a washerwoman, readers see it for the hypnotism it is even if her shocked contemporaries are warding against evil.

In this respect, giving the battle-maimed Magnus a background of Crusading in the Holy Land was inspired, as it brings an other-world perspective to Elfrida’s beliefs. That the skirmishes alluded to were as much for personal booty as the greater glory of Christendom sits well with both historical accuracy and human frailties. Readers never see Magnus’ seat of power, as at the start of the novel he is responding to his villagers’ pleas for help, but he is no fanciful lone knight. He has with him a full contingent of hearth-men, horses and wagons to carry all they need – which in the depths of midwinter means food enough for peasants as well as themselves. I particularly liked the way communication was problematic, as it would have been within village dialects of the northern Pennines, and a Norman-French overlordship reaching back to its Viking roots.

It is this sort of detail, often conveyed in a quiet line, that makes this historical novel sing. If prospective readers want to learn how life was during the Medieval period, this is a cracking way to take a peek.
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Denunciada
LindaAcaster | otra reseña | Mar 8, 2015 |

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Estadísticas

Obras
22
Miembros
153
Popularidad
#136,480
Valoración
4.0
Reseñas
18
ISBNs
33

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