Customer Reviews

The Conquest

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another exceptional historical from Elizabeth Chadwick! The writing paints a picture of medieval England in the time of William the Conqueror that makes you feel as if you are truly there. The story starts out with Ailith, a Saxon wife who suddenly finds herself a widow after her husband attends William's coronation. Her two beloved brothers have already been slain in the Battle of Hastings defending their country and King Harold. Additionally, to make matters worse, she has lost her feeble baby son to the grave.

With sweeping descriptions of the battlefield to domestic life in medieval England, relationships ebb and flow, with Ailith finding herself alone except for the newly met Norman neighbors. She reluctantly agrees to nurse their son as the Norman Felice is too weakened by childbirth. She then becomes Norman Rolf de Brize's chatelaine at his English estate, after having met him previously, and eventually becomes his mistress and bears him a daughter. Meanwhile, Rolf already has a wife and daughter in Normandy. Their love endures many twists and turns but cannot survive what Ailith considers the ultimate betrayal. Their child Julitta, after having been a cherished and indulged daughter, is taken away from it all and her love for Benedict, her mother's Norman friend's son, is fraught with many trials and barely endured hardships.

All in all, this book is a page turner that I found difficult, at best, to put down. It grabs your attention and holds it throughout the entire story. If you haven't read anything by Elizabeth Chadwick you are missing out on some great medieval historical reading! Do yourself a favor and read this and all of Elizabeth Chadwick's books! You won't be sorry!

I am a big fan of Eliz Chadwick, esp Marsh King's Daughter, The Greatest Knight, and Shadows and Strongholds. She has a way making history come alive; I really feel as if I am there, with characters and places as real and present. I was less than happy however with this one. I am not a big fan of romances in general, so perhaps my disappointment is more about me than about the book. I thought the ending was filled with way too many coincidences, and predictable ones at that. The writing is excellent, and the characters very well drawn out. Another reviewer mentioned the pagan aspects of the time, and I loved that part of the book. But there was passing mention of historic events and personages. Once I realized it was going to be that way, I decided to keep on reading, because she is a wonderful writer. But I must warn others that this is really a historic romance. If that is ok, read on and enjoy!

England, 1065-1088. Ailith, a young married Saxon woman, had no idea how much her life would change when William, the Duke of Normandy, conquers England. At first, she meets her Norman neighbors, Aubert and Felice de Remy, and befriends them. But neither she nor her husband knows that Aubert is William's spy. Then when the war begins and William becomes the new king, tragedy befalls Ailith. Her newborn baby dies, followed by her husband, and her world falls apart. She wants to end her life, but Rolf de Brize, a handsome and womanizing warrior and buyer/breeder of warhorses, stops her. He is attracted to the voluptuous blonde and wants her at all cost, which is why he saves her from the unwanted advances of a sleazy suitor and offers her a job at his new English estate. She keeps her distance, but he will have her, and he won't let a small matter like his marriage to a noble lady stop him from having the woman he has desired the most...

Years later, past mistakes and tragedies fall on young and spirited Julitta. Having grown up working as a maid at a bathhouse (brothel) with her mother, she has known a great deal of hardships. When she finds her way back to her father and stepfamily, Julitta is also reacquainted with Benedict de Remy, her childhood love. Benedict had been betrothed to Gisele, Rolf's legitimate daughter, when he was still a child and he has to fulfill his contractual obligations. But his feelings for Julitta grow as he spends more time with her. Julitta will learn about star-crossed love, growing up a woman and the unfairness of an arranged marriage before she even turns fifteen.

Wow. That is all I can say about this book. So many people have praised Elizabeth Chadwick and how wonderful her medieval-set novels are. They said that she knew her medieval history, and that she makes the time period come alive. They also say that you are transported to the time period and see the scenes in your head as though it were a film. Well, it is true. I read one of her novels once. I think it was Lords of the White Castle, and thought it was wonderful. But that was years ago and I forgot about this author for a while. The Conquest is a beautiful historical read. It has a great backdrop of the Norman Conquest, but it also tells a wonderful and bittersweet story with lots of romance, adventure, tragedy and intrigue. You will love these characters. Ailith is a tragic heroine that I will remember for a long time, and Rolf, though flawed and at times insufferable, is also a great character. The story of Ailith and Rolf enthralled me more than Julitta and Benedict's, but only because it is so sad. I cannot recommend The Conquest enough. I will definitely read Chadwick's other novels, even if they have to be shipped from the UK.

This is the first novel I have read by this author. I normally prefer to read historical novels based on historical figures, mainly the English monarchs - however, I still really enjoyed this novel even though the actual historical figures of the time, William the Conqueror and his sons, were barely mentioned in this book. Good storytelling, and interesting characters, was ingrossed in this story, and read it within a few days. Only minor complaint was the ending, too 'tidy' and unrealistic way for the characters to have their 'happy ending'. Looking forward to reading more of this author - if only I could find some of the out-of-print ones reasonably priced.

The characters are believeable and humorous, and the story is great. The scenery is entirely realistic, and I would recommend this book to any historical fiction freak like me. By the way, does someone know whether she had written more in the trend of The Conquest and The Champion?! I would love to read them!

I am a new fan of Elizabeth Chadwick's. After reading this book I have bought her others. Loved the continuity in both love stories: Ailith and Rolf's and their daughter, Julitta, and Benedict's. Couldn't put this book down. I felt like I was in Medieval England. Can't wait to read her other books.

Ms. Chadwick writes a beautiful, romantic story with the Anglo-Saxon-Norman era as the backdrop. She has done an excellent job of historical research... from the vivid, graphic battle scenes at Hastings to the societal culture of the period. The love stories of Ailith & Rolf, and Julitta & Benedict would stand alone regardless of the time period. However, the setting of 11th century Britain makes these & all the characters that much more intriguing.

I usually enjoy Ms. Chadwick's work thoroughly. This one also started off excellently, but lost some steam in the second half. I think it has to do with the character of Ailith vs Julitta.

One can not but help admire strong, beautiful, passionate and efficient Ailith. Julitta, however never quite managed to gain my sympathy or even understanding. She comes off as spoilt, high strung and willful, no matter how much the author tries to portray her as "High spirited and independent." She seemed interested in herself only and came off as wanting her own way and not caring about anything or anyone else...

Also, may be I expected more in terms of historical content that Ms Chadwick provided in this book. I suppose I was expecting more of a "Falcons of Montabard"...

That said, it is a good book and may be one of her early efforts. So she can be forgiven for any small lack of character development or plot formation. I look forward to read many more from Ms. Chadwick

This novel is set during the Norman conquest of Saxon England and is a mother-daughter tale written in 2 parts. This book is beautifully written and an enchanting read. My only regret is that it is very difficult to find more of this authors novels as I feel the need to pick up as many as I can now.

I have an Amazon Friend who has been telling me for almost a year that she thought I would enjoy the novels of this English author. I was reluctant because I've read (and been disappointed by) books set in medieval times before, albeit by different authors, and I was not much interested in the historical period. Gladly I can say that the writing of Elizabeth Chadwick is on an entirely different level from my previous experience with this genre.

This is a wonderful book which takes place over a space of 23 years, from 1065 to 1088. All of the main characters, and there are quite a few of them, are written as complete people. Not just the good traits, not just the bad. People are never one dimensional in real life, why should we accept them when written that way in a novel? This particular author has a wonderful talent for letting the reader see all sides of a character so that they fit naturally within the story. Her descriptions of daily living, war, birth and death are vivid and compelling even if sometimes difficult, for those of us who are squeamish, to read about. Yes, the descriptions for the Battle of Hastings were unsettling for me to read but I know they reflect reality. War was never clean and sterile. It still isn't. The good thing is that this is not a book about war, it is a book about what impact that war had on the lives of these characters before, during and after that war.

The book is divided into two sections. The first centers around Ailith and the second around her daughter Julitta. I found it extremely interesting that Elizabeth Chadwick allowed both mother and daughter to make the same mistake, namely to put themselves in a position to love a man who could not be their husband. And yet Chadwick used Julitta's father, Rolf, as the character who could understand her situation best since he had lived through those same kinds of situations with her mother. I didn't want to like Rolf, but after watching him mature over 23 years I just couldn't help myself. That is the sign of a truly good author from my standpoint. Someone who writes well enough to make me change my mind.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The history is there, the fully drawn characters, the complete immersion in the time period. I was sorry to see it end. Thank you Elizabeth Chadwick for sharing your talent in this way and thank you my Amazon Friend for recommending this book. Don't you think that is the wonderful part of this Amazon amateur reviewing/sharing community?