★★★
An Uncertain Choice #3,
Zondervan, March 7th 2017,
Print, Ebook and Audio
Lady Sabine is harboring a skin blemish, one, that if revealed, could cause her to be branded as a witch, put her life in danger, and damage her chances of making a good marriage. After all, what nobleman would want to marry a woman so flawed?
Sir Bennet is returning home to protect his family from an imminent attack by neighboring lords who seek repayment of debts. Without fortune or means to pay those debts, Sir Bennet realizes his only option is to make a marriage match with a wealthy noblewoman. As a man of honor, he loathes the idea of courting a woman for her money, but with time running out for his family’s safety, what other choice does he have?
As Lady Sabine and Sir Bennet are thrust together under dangerous circumstances, will they both be able to learn to trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets? Or will those secrets ultimately lead to their demise?
I shall humbly admit, the first
two thirds of this book were an improvement on the last two, without all the
silly, historically inaccurate rubbish that marred the two previous titles, and
the disturbing obsession with torture. It was actually rather enjoyable with
some of the banter between the two main characters, Sir Bennett and Lady
Sabine. I would even go as far as to say that some of the details were quite
credible, with Sabine’s interest in reading and some of the works mentioned. There
were the usual problems with Americanisms though, and the mention of certain
animals that would not have been found anywhere in Medieval Britain (or a
fictional country based on it) such as mink and vultures.
Then things went rapidly
downhill, when someone accused Sabine of being a ‘witch’ because of a birth
mark, and in scenes reminiscent of Monty Python or Blackadder, wanted to grab
her and burn her straight away, then and there. But that’s correct, cos’ those Medieval
people were all so superstitious and ignorant that they would think anyone who
was ‘different’ was a Devil worshipper?
No. Witchcraft was a religious offense,
and in most of Europe, a person could only be tried and convicted by a church
court under Canon Law. Trial oy Ordeal was banned on the orders of the Pope in
1215, and the real paranoia about witchcraft did not start until the sixteenth
century, reaching its height in the seventeenth. The sort of things that
happened to Sabine would fit into a seventeenth century setting under the
Puritans, or in Salem Massachusetts, they don’t belong in the fourteenth
century.
Why do I even bother to mention
this? Mostly because there are people who treat this series as accurate
Historical Fiction, and have even recommended it for history courses. It’s not
Historical Fiction- it’s not set in England just because some of the place
names are the same. Other details do not fit in with an English setting at all-
for instance there being a High King. This story is fantasy, and should be
taken as such- not accurate history. There are far too many inaccuracies and inconsistencies
for a Medieval English setting, not to mention the downright silliness of the
characters.
Seriously, what is the point of
laying siege to a person’s home, and half destroying it because they owe you
money, that’s not going to get it back- and Bennett’s resolve not to sell any
of his treasures as equally absurd. What good is keeping hold of your treasured
items going to do of you are going to be homeless. To be, honest, the fictional
country that he characters inhabit must be the single worst-run state in
Medieval History, with nobles constantly attacking and killing each other,
every single forest and road crawling with bandits, and the central authorities
only stepping in to ‘save the day’ when it’s almost too late.
Do people think Late Medieval England was actually like that? It was not. Nobles very rarely attacked each other, except during times of civil war, or on the borderlands with Scotland and Wales, which were notoriously lawless. Kings were supposed to maintain law and order, to keep the nobles in check, if they did not, they were failing to do their job.
Do people think Late Medieval England was actually like that? It was not. Nobles very rarely attacked each other, except during times of civil war, or on the borderlands with Scotland and Wales, which were notoriously lawless. Kings were supposed to maintain law and order, to keep the nobles in check, if they did not, they were failing to do their job.
It’s a shame, because this could
have been a great love story, with a lot of positive messages about not judging
by appearances. It could have been better executed without all the silliness
about ‘witchcraft’ which was totally inaccurate, and could just been copied
from some movie. I wish authors would take the trouble to do their research before
writing Medieval Fiction to find out if the detials they want to include actually happened at that time, and if they are going to use a lot of artistic licence
make it clear where they have done so.
I requested an e-book version of
this title from Zondervan via Booklook Bloggers for review. I was not required
to write a positive one and all opinions expressed are my own.