From Publishers Weekly
Norman plans to build a cathedral on the Isle of Ely in East Anglia lead to trouble in Clare's less than compelling second medieval historical featuring apprentice healer Lassair (after 2009's
Out of the Dawn Light). When unknown assailants attack Lassair's cousin Morcar while he's fishing for eels one night, they leave him close to death. With Lassair's teacher otherwise engaged, she must try to save Morcar's life. After she succeeds in stabilizing her patient, 16-year-old Lassair turns her attention to identifying the men responsible for the assault and their motives. She soon learns that the culprits, who may be connected with a local monastery, are still looking to tie up loose ends by eliminating Morcar—and that they're prepared to kill her as well. Clare (the pseudonym for British author Elizabeth Harris) has done a better job of creating interesting lead characters and settings in her Hawkenlye series (
The Joys of My Life, etc.).
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
*Starred Review* Another outstanding entry in Clare’s engaging Aelf Fen series, set during the Norman period in British history. Sixteen-year-old Lassair, an accomplished “healer,” is sent to Ely Island to nurse her cousin, Morcar, after he is viciously attacked. Because it’s too dangerous for Lassair to travel on her own, she is accompanied by Sibert, a young man she likes “most of the time.” But Sibert has another motive for going to Ely: his father died there under mysterious circumstances before Sibert was born, and Sibert wants to find out what really happened. But his mission becomes secondary when Lassair discovers from Morcar that he may have been attacked because he witnessed a pale, white-haired youth being pulled into the Ely monastery, apparently against his will. What Lassair can’t understand is why such a minor incident should provoke such a violent attack, and she determines to seek out the odd-looking young man, learn his story, and free him if he’s being held captive. What she finds, however, is a terrible secret dating back decades, a secret that could have deadly consequences. This page-turning historical thriller from one of Britain’s most talented popular-fiction authors ticks all the boxes with a riveting plot; fascinating period detail; engaging characters; and liberal doses of romance, magic, and mysticism. Recommend across genres to fans of historical mysteries and romances. --Emily Melton
