The Siege Winter

Summary (from the publisher): A powerful historical novel by the late Ariana Franklin and her daughter Samantha Norman, The Siege Winter is a tour de force mystery and murder, adventure and intrigue, a battle for a crown, told by two courageous young women whose fates are intertwined in twelfth century England’s devastating civil war.

1141. England is engulfed in war as King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda, vie for the crown. In this dangerous world, not even Emma, an eleven-year-old peasant, is safe. A depraved monk obsessed with redheads kidnaps the ginger-haired girl from her village and leaves her for dead. When an archer for hire named Gwyl finds her, she has no memory of her previous life. Unable to abandon her, Gwyl takes the girl with him, dressing her as a boy, giving her a new name—Penda—and teaching her to use a bow. But Gwyn knows that the man who hurt Penda roams free, and that a scrap of evidence she possesses could be very valuable.

Gwyl and Penda make their way to Kenilworth, a small but strategically important fortress that belongs to fifteen-year-old Maud. Newly wedded to a boorish and much older husband after her father’s death, the fierce and determined young chatelaine tempts fate and Stephen’s murderous wrath when she gives shelter to the empress.

Aided by a garrison of mercenaries, including Gwyl and his odd red-headed apprentice, Maud will stave off Stephen’s siege for a long, brutal winter that will bring a host of visitors to Kenilworth—kings, soldiers . . . and a sinister monk with deadly business to finish.

 

Review: It's 1180 in England and a dying abbot summons a scribe to record a story that happened nearly forty years before, between 1141-1143, when England was immersed in a war between King Stephen and his niece Empress Matilda. In this dangerous world at war, Emma, an eleven-year-old peasant, is kidnapped, raped, and tortured by a depraved monk with a penchant for redheads. She is found and rescued by an archer named Gwyl, who names the young girl suffering from memory loss Penda. Yet Gwyl knows they are not safe so long as the man who hurt Penda pursues them. Eventually, Gwyl and Penda reach Kenilworth, a small, strategic fortress that belongs to the teenager Maud and her brutish husband. Kenilworth is soon under attack and siege by Stephen's forces and the fate of all of its residents is at risk.

 

Norman did an excellent job of creating likeable characters and a compelling story. I found Gwyl's compassion for Penda and Maud's tenderness towards her young stepson, although the son of a much unwanted husband, endearing. Yet at the same time, the villain of the novel, the depraved monk, known for reeking of asafetida, was difficult to believe. It was hard to imagine a man of God and a public figure could get away with such gruesome and frequent acts of rape and violence. It would have been more intriguing had more background information been given to explain his penchant for murdering redheads. The only explanation given is that "killing fueled him, sated him, if only briefly, and drove him onward in his inexorable rise to greatness."

 

The novel does attempt to incorporate humor into the novel, such as brigands fleeing with arrows sticking out of their backsides and Maud's paltry attempt at safekeeping of Kenilworth by installing a password, which is then promptly forgotten by everyone. This humor gives some levity and a human quality to this fictional world. Additionally, the descriptions of attacks on Kennilworth read as believable depictions, including the scene where Gwil the archer "tied strings to his bolts, which he would then fire at the enemy shields. As his quarrel pierced their center he would pull sharply on the end of the sting, lifting the shields and exposing the men behind them like ants under a rock."

 

On the other hand, some of the writing was somewhat mediocre, particularly some of the descriptive similes used throughout. Two in particular that stood out included a stomach ache that "persisted like a nagging wife" and bitter cold that "pricked at her cheeks like a bully." Additionally, the dramatic ending to Gwyl and Penda's time at Kenilworth seemed difficult to believe and tidily disposed of many of the various strands of the plot. In sum, this was a relatively enjoyable work of historical fiction, but not a particularly accurate or high brow example of the genre.

 

Stars: 3