12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roberta Gellis continues her classic Roselynde series with Alinor, June 29, 2006
This year I've been busy rediscovering a classic historical romance series that was first published back in the 1970's and early 1980's. Now under the Harlequin Signature Select publishers, the books are being reprinted, with additional notes and tidbits from the author, Roberta Gellis.
Alinor, the third book in the series, begins in the year 1206, about fourteen years or so after the events in Roselynde. England's King Richard has died, and so has his mother, Queen Alinor. Now the youngest of the Angevin brood has become King -- John. Alinor, the lady of Roselynde, knows that her life and lands are in danger once the king discovers that her beloved husband, Simon Lemagne, has died. To save herself, and especially the lives of her two children, Joanna and Adam, she knows that she has to remarry, and soon. It's not a prospect that she is looking forward to.
To complicate matters further, an old friend is returning to Roselynde -- Simon's former squire, Ian Vipont. Ian, who is much the same age as Alinor, adores Simon's children, and when word comes that King John is planning a particularly unpleasant match for Alinor, Ian decides that he must protect her and the children, even if it means that he must marry her, even though she may not love him at all.
As for Alinor, still mourning the death of a husband who was thirty years her senior, reuniting with Ian means that she finds herself overcome with both an emotional and physical attraction. Cautiously, and with a great deal of mutual misunderstanding, the couple agree to marry, even knowing that it will cause them both a great deal of grief at the hands of King John and his henchmen.
How the pair work out their differences, and manage to survive a very dangerous time in English history is what makes this novel work. I found myself very caught up in Alinor and Ian's story, along with those of the children, and Ian's squires, Owain and Geoffrey. These are characters that the reader can empathize with, and despite a few problems, the setting and situations are very believable.
Along the way, the reader is treated to scenes of a medieval marriage, a very vivid boar hunt, sieges and medieval warfare, and a plot and storyline that has real substance to it. Roberta Gellis is one of those few writers that I consistantly enjoy, who can make a historical setting live and breathe, and while the research does take liberties here and there, I can forgive her. What I have really enjoyed is that she's not afraid to weave in actual historical personages into the story -- here we not only see King John, but his half-brother, William Longsword; William Marshal and his wife Isobel and Lord Llewelyn of the Welsh and his wife, Joan. All of these people will play important parts in the novel, but Gellis has great talent to make them behave as actual people do, and makes the story all that more real. Too, problems are not solved in an instant, which also makes the story believable -- it takes quite a while for Alinor and Ian to work out their differences.
Now for the tricky part of the novel. Gellis is not at all shy in showing that the real middle ages were not the pretty, romanticized view that most have. There is a great deal of violence, some of it directed at women and children which most authors have abandoned in recent years for not being that politically correct. However, it was a factor in the time, and while it did make me a bit queasy in spots, it was at least not gratutitous. I would caution sensitive readers to take care in reading this one, as the violence and sex does get graphic.
My other big problem is with the way that Gellis handles the character of King John. Yes, he has been vilified as one of history's most evil kings, but she paints him here as a sadistic monster. While some of his actions were certainly horrible -- his involvement with the death of his nephew, Arthur certainly is questionable -- I have a hard time believing that he was this repellent. Most of what is known of John has been written by religious chroniclers who glorified Richard Lionheart (who wasn't that much of a king) and treated John as barely human. However, looking at what he actually did creates a very different portrait of the man -- for a more sympathetic picture, I would recommend Sharon Kay Penman's novel, Here Be Dragons which takes a much more careful view; if you enjoy the characters in this one, Penman's novel has many of them appearing in Dragons.
In these reprint editions, additional features are tucked away in the back of the book. This time around we get an author's note, wherein she explains some of the liberties that she took with history; a glossary of medieval words and expressions, and an excerpt from the next book in the series, Joanna which is due to be reprinted in December 2006. Alas, there isn't any medieval recipes in this one, something that I hope will appear in the next book.
All in all, despite the flaws, this was a very enjoyable read, and gets a very solid recommendation from me. Four and a half stars, rounded up to five.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alinor is one of my favorites, June 30, 2006
Despite the cover, Alinor does not wield a sword during this story. She does however wield base practicality, political craftiness, leadership charisma, a mothering instinct, and of course, womanly charms.
Roberta's research into the lifestyles of the times allows for a vividly detailed setting that provided several "oh, so that's how they used to do it" revelations for me without beating me over the head with it.
The writing itself is masterful with realistic love, subplots galore,deep character development, and main characters that I admire. That last is my criteria for enjoying a book.
By the way, even though the featured review gives away too much of the story... there is a lot left to be discovered and enjoyed.
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