Customer Reviews

Harold the King

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I belive I've read every fictional account of the life of King Harold, William the Conqueror, and Edward the Confessor. This book ranks among the best of them and will share a place in my bookcase with Housecarl and Cold Heart, Cruel Hand by Laurence J. Brown and Lord of Sunset by Parke Godwin - my other favorites. Hollick has developed each character beautifully - and while they don't deviate dramatically from other accounts of the characters, they are fully developed, interesting, and believable. Her insesrtion of Queen Emma (mother of Edward the Confessor) at the beginning of the story was a terrific idea. Her presence helped to understand Harold's father and his shaky relationship to King Edward, the embittered and ambitious Queen Edith (Harold's sister) and King Edward himself. I especially enjoyed her telling of the love between Harold and Edith Swanneck. It was a beautiful love story that did justice to my belief that Harold was a devoted and loving husband and father to her. Her telling of their love actually made the introduction of Aldyth (his legal wife) painful to read. I could feel the anquish the characters must surely have felt themselves. I personally agree with the notion that Harold's oath to William was extremely coerced and that William took liberties in relaying the "support" of the Pope. Little time was spent on the actual battles - especially Stamford Bridge. However, what she lacked in recounting military details, she made up for in her story of Harold himself. I was touched by his love for his family, his sadness that a few of his siblings could have grown into cold, selfish individuals. I apppreciated Harold's self-doubt, his physical limitations, and his continual longing to have been simply a husband and father. The epilogue and author's notes should not be missed. They bring an additional depth to the story that leaves me so hungry for more!. How sad that Harold's story comes to and end on that hillside in 1066. Harold embodies a quote I heard by General Bull Halsey..."There are few great men; just great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet." Harold was an ordinary man - son, father, husband, brother, and yes...king.
But the circumstances of his lifetime led him down the path of greatness and he is truly one of the greatest figures in English history and the story of his life and death is one of the greatest you could hope to find.

Harold the King, a sequel of sorts to A Hollow Crown (AHC was written after HTK), beings in 1043 as Edward the Confessor (as he was named after his death) rules England along with his aging mother the Dowager Queen Emma, and Harold's father Godwine is the second most powerful man in England. Harold falls in love with a woman he cannot marry, Edyth Swannhaels, but they are hand fasted and begin a lifelong relationship. The story also parallels the life of Duke William of Normandy as fate, treachery and a weak king with no heir spins England out of control leaving it ripe for picking at the hands of the Norman aggressors.

While most of us know the story of the 1066 Conquest and what follows afterward, there is so little that is known of the period and politics leading up to that event, and I very much enjoyed getting an "inside" look at this period. I loved the strong and vulnerable aspects of Harold's character (have the tissue ready for the end), along with the implacable and terrifying Duke William of Normandy. I have to admit that the first part of the book was a bit slow for me, but that was because I had recently read Valerie Anand's Gildenford so I was having a lot of déjà vu, but once I passed where Anand's book ended I was thoroughly engrossed and had a hard time putting this one down. Highly recommended for any lover of medieval fiction or for those interested in England prior to The Conquest.

Ok, so we all know the ending! But Helen Hollick's masterful and moving account of Pre-Conquest England still carries the reader along on an enthralling journey to that moment. I loved this book, absolutely could not put it down. I thought I
was an old cynic but it made me cry in all the right places to.
Helen Hollick is a consumate story teller with the rare gift of giving her characters life beyond the printed page, reading her novel was like a journey back to Anglo Saxon England in a time machine. I felt I could breath the same air, hear the same sound and meet her characters. I cannot recommend this book enough

Hollick has done a superb job with this novel. It is an epic work, grand and sweeping. I've read many versions of the events of 1066...but this is one of the best. Also read the prequel, "A Hollow Crown."

Unlike most of the other reviewers I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction but enjoy anything intelligently written and researched regarding King Harold. This is an excellent book and enhances the famous story.

Hollick's main strength is her intelligence. She immediately introduces you to the main character on the first page and you feel you need to get on a good horse to keep up. She writes well and it's clear she's passionate about the subject. What Hollick does much better than other historical fiction accounts is give meaningful depth to Harold and the people in his life - everything she writes is believable and fits in with what is known.

The few fictional accounts I've read of Harold were disappointing to me. Hollick gives each person layers, meaning and tries to understand each character's perspective. I'm not convinced she's accurate regarding Stigand but that's just my opinion. I was hoping for the Battle she would rely on the Carmen de Hastingae but she doesn't. However to her credit she doesn't fall for the boring and inaccurate myths and gives what could be a fairly accurate account - especially the end when the shield wall collapses.

While the book is long (700 pages) it's easy to read with short chapters. I appreciated the passages about Harold's relationship with Edith Swanhaels and Alditha. Her account of the daily life of the Anglo-Saxons was enlightening and informative. Strongly recommended to anyone who wants to know more about this period of time and/or the legendary King Harold.

This was the first book written by Helen Hollick that I've read. It certainly will not be my last! Ms. Hollick is a truly magnificent author! She brings to life all of the characters of that turbulent time in a way that's absolutely spellbinding. And, she writes us a very telling account of Harold Godwinesson, his lifelong love for his "hand-fast" wife Edith Swannhaels and their children. She tells us in vivid terms of the self centered egotism and lust for power of Harold's sister Edith (Queen by marriage to Edward) and brother Tostig. Her description of Edward (like Helen, I refuse to add the title "the Confessor" to his name seeing as how that term was coined upon his politically inspired canonization in 1161,long after his reign and death) is SPOT ON, in my opinion. A weak man and king, much like his father Aethelred who was known as "the Unready", Edward had no sense of kingship. He actually would've been happier to have been a monk, Abbot, or Bishop. Ms. Hollick also paints a vivid portrait of William the Bastard of Normandy, his ruthless ambition, cruelty, avarice, and desire to obtain the throne of England at whatever cost. This outstanding work gives us a very good insight into the greed, treachery, and overweening ambition that all too often drives human beings, both then, at this crucial milestone in England's history and still present today. But the main thing is that Helen Hollick is able to bring to vivid life the personages and times of the period 1043-1066.

This book is truly a MUST READ for those who would better understand the history of England. It's a definite page turner, I could NOT put it down and found myself reading into the wee hours of the morning until my eyes were so strained I could no longer focus on the words. Would that I could give this book TEN stars, I would certainly award them to this masterpiece and to Helen Hollick, a truly magnificent writer! I highly recommend this work and the other works that Ms. Hollick has produced. She is right up there in the same league with Sharon Penman, Rosemary Sutcliff, and Morgan Llewelyn as a great writer who can bring history to life! And, as a lifelong reader and student of history, I dearly love good historical novels that stick to the historical facts and bring the characters to vivid life. Ms. Hollick does this as well as any writer I've ever read! Thank you Helen, please give us more! :)

As Hollick explains at the end of this novel, history is written by the victors. Consequently, what we know about Harold II is subject to interpretation and debate.

Hollick portrays an interesting and detailed account of Harold's life, ambitions and loves as they might have been. The story starts when he is about 20 and his father is exiled by King Edward. It ends with his death during the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Throughout, Hollick recreates the reign of Edward the Confessor, including the relationship with his mother, the former Queen Emma. She imagines him as a pious, devout but ultimately weak king.

Early in the book, she also introduces William, the future king who would win the Battle of Hastings. She imagines him as a self-centered callous ambitious man.

I had previously read the much shorter book, THE WIND FROM HASTINGS, by Morgan Llywelyn, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hollick provides another perspective. Whereas in Llywelyn's novel, the story centers around - and in fact is told from - Alditha's point of view. It covers an earlier time because it includes her marriage to Gruffudd ap Llywelyn in some detail.

I highly recommend both books to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially that which focuses on the people of the times.

Wonderful book, above all my expectations even if Helen Hollick doesn't have the same absorbing way in writing a beautiful story like Sharon Kay Penman, who is my favorite HF writer, without any doubt. Her characters are not fully emotional engaged as the ones by SKP and we don't feel so attached to them. The description of Hastings battle was breathless.

This really is a splendid read by a splendid storyteller.. Helen Hollick takes you on a ride that carries you into the story from the very start. It is obvious she knows her history and she has a knack for weaving a web of words around the frame of history that grips your interest. The characters spring alive and robust from the past in a fashion that brings credit to herself and the genre of historical fiction.

This book was quite difficult to put down for a bit yet it was also quite difficult to keep reading as I knew how it had to end. Hollick's characters became quite likeable, endearing and real.

Again, this is a splendid read by a splendid storyteller.

This is a wonderfully complex and engaging novel of the characters and events that led up to what is perhaps the most famous date in English history - the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where William the Conquerer won the battle that handed the rule of England to his descendants to this day.

Whereas most school children are aware of this date, and many wonderful novels have been written about the times after these events, the life and times of the kings and earls who ruled England prior to the conquest have been relatively unexplored. Helen Hollick has waded into the history of this era with great panache, making the people of the time both vivid and real, with their strengths and weaknesses, ambitions and loves.

If you are a lover of books by Sharon Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick, you will love this too. Not only is there attention to detail and historical accuracy (historical inaccuracy being my number 1 pet peeve), it will give you the historical framework to venture further along the English family tree and wonder at the ascent of the Normans afresh.

Highly recommended.