27 Mar 2021

Lady Rosamund by Joyce Williams Review

 The Rose and the Ring #1

283 Pages, November 17th 2014, Redemptive Rose Fiction 

Print and Ebook

 

 


Genre: Historical Fiction- Medieval

Setting:  Scandinavia early 1400s

Strong-minded Lady Rosamund rebels at being a pawn in a political chess game that sets her up as the prize if Hanseatic sea captain Erik Branden defeats her father’s enemy.

Victorious, but injured, Erik stumbles on Burg Mosel's tower steps accidentally tripping the mechanism that opens a secret chamber and exposes a skeleton. His discovery solves a long-standing mystery and uncovers a deeper treachery. Can Erik’s integrity and love overcome Rosamund's fear and defiance?

 

 

 

        My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

 This was an enjoyable story, but I have the same criticisms as I do for many Christian novels with a "Medieval" setting.

- Religion. The religion of the characters is not Roman Catholicism. Not even close. There are references to priests, but their religion is modern Evangelical Christianity. They pray about who to marry, "God's plan for their life" etc.

Rosamund at one point reads a passage in a psalm and sees a reference to "man". She responds by thinking "well I'm not a man". I would have thought any reasonably educated 15th century person would have grasped that the word referred to all humans, not just the male gender.

- Historical details. 15th century castles generally did not have marble floors, reception rooms or halls. The architecture reads more like that of an 18th century manor house.

- This is meant to be set in Sweden and Denmark, and yet there is a reference to the Romans conquering the region. The Romans never got that far North. They never got further than Germany and Britain.

I'd recommend it, its a sweet story but not to be taken very seriously in terms of historical fiction. The characters were- OK. Rosamund was sort of a Mary Sue though. I found her a bit flat and boring.

3 comments:

  1. Hi English Lady,
    I have a question:
    I’m always worried about modern theology sneaking into my writing. As a conservative Lutheran, I have more in common with Catholicism than some modern “non-denominational” churches, but I still worry. In this passage, a woman is talking about being a widow at a young age and finding happiness in a subsequent marriage.

    Originally, I wrote:
    With a trembling smile, Isabel declared, “But now I can see that God had other plans for me. A few years later, I married Hamelin, and I’ve realized that Hamelin and I are much better suited for each other. Over the years, we have become like two sides of the same coin. We have four wonderful children, and now we are grandparents.”

    Would you recommend the following change as more appropriate to the time?
    With a trembling smile, Isabel declared, “But God has blessed me. A few years later, I married Hamelin, and I’ve realized that Hamelin and I are much better suited for each other. Over the years, we have become like two sides of the same coin. We have four wonderful children, and now we are grandparents.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jennie!

      I'm more in favour of the second one starting "God has blessed me". I don't think Medieval people really thought in such terms as the first one suggests.

      Is this for Robin Hood's Return?

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    2. Yes, this is from Robin Hood's Return. If you're familiar with Hamelin and Isabel de Warenne, Earl and Countess of Surrey, they are important secondary characters in the third book. I'm so glad I read this review. I'm always so worried about getting something like this wrong. I've changed it to the second version, and I found two other places in the manuscript that either mention God's plan or infer it. Thank you! I'm sending you an updated ARC.

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