The Champion [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Chadwick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1998

Stefan and Hervi are half-brothers who meet in France, Stefan becomes Hervi's squire and joins his band of immoral travellers. Stefan befriends a girl, Monday, who becomes pregnant by him but goes to England as the mistress of King John. The couple are later reunited and now older, fall in love.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A rousing sample of English medieval life, replete with violence, lust, royal schemes and religious scandal, Chadwick's latest (after The Conquest) follows the story of Alexander de Montroi, who abandons the monastery for the tournament circuit, where men battle for sport, property and riches?often to the death. Parallel to Alexander's transformation from abused novice to knight extraordinaire is the story of beautiful, innocent Monday de Cerizay, who becomes a ward of the Montroi brothers. Chadwick ably contrasts the bawdy scene on the tourney route with cloistered castle life, where a shrewd wife scheming to keep her marriage intact can be just as calculating as a lord planning an elaborate battle. The costumes, weapons, foods, royal and common customs?including birth control methods of the period?are well realized in this story, which spans 1193 to 1201. Characters realistically brush up against such notable figures as Richard the Lionhearted, King John and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Although all the elements of a historical romance are observed?myriad obstacles fail to keep the hero and heroine from the obligatory happy ending?this is also an unusually imaginative depiction of the sometimes seamy circumstances behind the conventions of the chivalric romance.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

"Reading an Elizabeth Chadwick novel is the next best thing to time travel." --Sharon Kay Penman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312192460
• ISBN-13: 978-0312192464
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,394,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Chadwick is a best selling, award winning author of historical fiction. A born storyteller, her first novel The Wild Hunt won a Betty Trask Award in 1990. She has been four times shortlisted for the RNA Award in the UK for the best mainstream romantic novel. Her book The Scarlet Lion was selected as one of the top ten works of historical fiction of the decade by Richard Lee, founder of The Historical Novel Society.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Champion Medieval Adventure!, July 29, 2002

By 

Kimberly Gelderman (Spring Lake, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Champion (Hardcover)

This is the incredible story of Monday de Cerizay and Alexander de Montroi. She is the daughter of a tourney knight and he the brother of one, soon to become one himself. The story moves rapidly from place to place and event to event. Never is there a dull moment in this book! I couldn't get enough of it fast enough. You feel as if you are transported back in time and are a part of all their lives. I would stay up until 1 a.m. (sometimes later) absorbing all the details of jousting and tourneys to relationships ending, changing, and new ones beginning. Tragic events effect everyone's lives in the story, mostly for the better. The plot twists and turns and you have no idea where you're going next.

I did not find this to be a predictable book at all! It kept revealing surprise after surprise and kept me hooked from start to finish! This is one of EC's best novels yet. If you do not like dull predictable reads this one is for you!

Other books that I've read by Elizabeth Chadwick that were also outstanding are: The Winter Mantle (available at amazon.co.uk), The Love Knot, Lords of the White Castle, and I am looking forward to reading The Marsh King's Daugher next.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Improvement, January 7, 2000

By 

Crystal - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Champion (Hardcover)

I read Elizabeth Chadwick's "The Wild Hunt" and I was none too thrilled with it. I didn't find it particularly memorable so when I picked up "The Champion" the name of the author didn't quite click, though it did sound familiar. As I was reading it, it finally dawned on me why the name sounded familiar. Although I had my doubts about the book, I persevered because I'm a staunch believer that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. And I'm glad I did.

When I read the inside of the jacket, I felt pretty sure I saw how this book would go. I'm glad to report I wasn't able to entirely predict the story, which is always a thumbs-up in my book. Nothing is more disappointing then being able to tell the story yourself.

Indeed, it's a cliche to say it, but it's the truth--I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN. God knows I had dozens of things to do but the book drew me on.

Having read two of her books, Elizabeth Chadwick has learned subtlety (among other things).

I highly recommend this book, I know I will now make an attempt to read more of her work

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars #1- If you read one book read THE CHAMPION, November 29, 1999

By 

Gregory Mace - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Champion (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book that tells the epic story of a young man that leaves the monistary he is put in and joins the tourney court with his brother and ends up a knight with a son and a wife that is happy that the father of her son is "home." Even though I am only 14 this was a great book I belive and I would recomend it to anyone. It has a great plot and it combines romance, history, adventure, and human ethics to make a briliant tale of a knight and his strugle through life and the strugle of those who he encounters. This was the first book I ever read all the way through, in previous grades i would read books asigned and i would skip chapters or just read the back and "wing" the test. This book kept me on the "edge" of my "seat." I read this book for a week straight, I only stoped to eat or go to the bathroom. If you read one book this week, this year, or even in your life it should be this.