Lady of Hay [Paperback]

Barbara Erskine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2001

So well researched and so well written that it is almost impossible to put down. The novel has everything that readers of racy fiction could ask for: beautiful characters, exotic settings, passion...and situations and characters that are so completely convincing that they come to life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Erskine's first novel gets off to a fine start. As a participant in a college research project on hypnotic regression, Jo Clifford is almost too good a subject. Under hypnosis, she relives the final, tortured moments in the life of Matilda, a 12th century Welshwoman. In the process, Jo herself comes close to death. The story then jumps 15 years. Jo, now a journalist researching regression, is again hypnotized and again regresses to Matilda's excitement-packed life. Unfortunately, the pace of the early pages is not maintained. The problem is not with Jo/Matilda, who are both well-drawn, or even with the whopping coincidences Jo encounters. What slows the narrative is the bevy of minor characters, Jo's acquaintances. They talk to her and about her, they try to help her and they conspire against her, all at the expense of the central plotline. This is still a good read, but it could have been better. Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Matilda de Braose was an actual 12th-century Englishwoman who angered and was put to death by King John. Fictional journalist Jo Clifford undergoes hypnosis while researching the story of her previous life as Matilda. As she becomes increasingly obsessed with the story, her male friends assume the roles of Matilda's husband, lover, and the king, manipulated by "mad scientist" Dr. Sam Franklyn, who hypnotizes all of them. Jo's story is initially an annoying intrusion in a historical drama that could easily have stood on its own merits. The modern-day characters are all "types," none of them particularly likeable. However, as Matilda's death nears, this complex first novel turns in to an engrossing gothic that races to an exciting conclusion. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. Marcia R. Hoffman, M.L.S., Hoechst Celanese Corp., Somerville, N.J.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 760 pages
• Publisher: Welcome Rain Publishers; 1 edition (March 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566491606
• ISBN-13: 978-1566491600
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #944,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WoW, a Blast From the Past, June 27, 2000

By 

Jody Allen (US) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady of Hay (Paperback)

What wonderful news to see a classsic book make a reappearance. Who can we thank for such insight? LADY OF HAY is classic past lives/reincarnation, certainly a step up from current time travel . This is where it all started influencing authors such as Jeanette Baker and Jude Deveraux. LADY OF HAY was a wonderful read when it first came out and is now a classic in its own right, sure to help a whole new generation of readers discover this exceptional author. The concept of writing two storylines in two seperate time periods with each effortlessly interwoven with the other is only possible because of the exceptional writing talent of Ms Erskine. If you are reader who devours all sorts of the paranormal historicals and historical romances this one should be an automatic buy, because this is where is all began. This is not time travel this is reincarnation and no one does it better than Barbara Erskine. Jody Allen, Charter member-RIO Reviewers International Organization

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Story of Time Travel At Its Best!, February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lady Hay (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book in 1986 on the advice of a friend and from that time onwards I seek out all of Ms. Erskine's books on a regular basis.

This particular book was real find if you want to become entranced with a modern day independent woman who was made to realize she had lived before many centuries ago in a time when women were sold off in marriages made of convenience for money, power, property. The parallels of the past life haunt the present life of the central character as she "sees" how the three men in her present life draw distinct parallels to the men in her past life. To say anymore would be unfair! READ IT, SAVOR IT, YOU WILL LOVE IT!!

Then follow up reading this book with the book that followed this one,Kingdom of Shadows, which takes place in Scotland.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising start...but ultimately disappointing, October 22, 2003

By 

Barbara "bnkf" (Union City, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady of Hay (Paperback)

Lady of Hay makes a promising start. Jo is a young journalist who researches past life regression for a magazine article. As research, she undergoes hypnosis and discovers that she is not only easily hypnotized (so easily that later in the book someone calls and hypnotizes her over the phone!) but in a previous life she was Matilda de Braose, a 12th century Welshwoman. How exciting, I said to myself. This could be very fun. Matilda is a real historical figure. I love historical fiction. I would enjoy the puzzle of matching past lives with present characters, and of course I hoped for romance. But alas...it was not to be.

The first half of the book was great. It keeps up a good pace and intriguing events unfold as Jo and her present life alternate with regressions to Matilda's existence. But by the second half of the book there is no new material and far too much repetition as well inexplicable violence against the main character that simply turned me off to her possible love interests. In the 1st half of the book we learn that 3 men love Jo in both the past and the present and we know who they were in their past lives. We also learn about the end of Matilda's life very early in the story. So where can the author take us from here?

I hoped that some of the modern day characters besides the 3 men would eventually be revealed to have some involvement in the past lives or a more important role in the present. However, they don't. I also expected that that the author might expand on history and offer an explanation for the legend of Matilda building Hay castle in one night. She doesn't. And I was disappointed with the mundane theory about rumors that Matilda was a witch. The explanation: she studied herb lore with her nurse Jeanne and rides horses swiftly, like a man. But perhaps most disappointing of all is the fact that Nick, the man she is in love with in the present was very cruel to her in her past life and not very nice to her in the present and there is no satisfactory explanation of why. Nor did it seem that his behavior was ever an obstacle to their relationship in the present. And what about Sam's behavior? The actions of 2 of Jo's lovers leaves me questioning how much if at all, they really care(d) for her. Richard was the one nice guy and I was hoping he would somehow turn out to be a hero, but when he turns out to be a junkie I think my hopes for a satisfying finale were extinguished.

Maybe the fact that 3 men are supposedly in love with the main character is the romantic attraction of this book. Or is it Jo's suffering that is intended to be attractive? Perhaps I was ultimately disappointed because of the promising start, but my advice is to skip this book.