Customer Reviews

Morning Gift

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Inner flap blurb time:

"A Norman heiress was a chattel to be sold in marriage to the highest
bidder. If one husband died she was up for sale again.
Only the first of Matilda de Risle's husbands gives her anything
back. His is the customary Saxon morning gift -- the present to a
wife if her lord finds her sexually pleasing on their wedding night.
Matilda's morning gift was Dungesey in the Fens..."a bolt hole my,
dear somewhere to hide should trouble come." And come it does. As the
war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda in the 1140s tears
England apart, Matilda de Risle has to fight for her land, her son's
safety--and her own life. Matilda, snobbish, bossy, inquisitive,
realistic, competitive, and tough, is at once a powerful and
endearing central character in Diana Norman's splendid new novel of
medieval English life. It is set in a barbarous civil war and
is by turns violent and very funny. Above all it fills the pages with
real people, with the scents of the Fens in all seasons, and tells in
the end a heartwrenching love story."


This blurb really tells why I've enjoyed the two Diana Norman books
I've tried so far. The characters are real. Sometimes noble and
wonderful and sometimes pettish and jealous. You might get mad with
them but you can understand why they act as they do. She has a
delicious, subtle sense of humor which had me laughing out loud
several times.

Her research appears to be meticulous but is never hurled at us in
chunks just to prove she did it. Plus it's not too disgusting in
portraying medieval life. And I love the way she doesn't hit you over
the head and take you by the hand to lead you to these facts. She
also makes religion an integral part of the story.

Things which may put some people off. The heroine is fourteen when
the story starts, not unusual for medieval child brides. It spans a
20 year period of time. The heroine is married three times before she
finally hooks up with the hero. It's more a historical novel with a
romance threaded through it then a true romantic historical.

Finding out about life in the Fens, the marshland around Ely in
Cambridgeshire, was fascinating. How they lived, what they ate, how
they hunted and wove reeds to provide things needed for day to day
life. And watching the clash between Norman and Saxon showed how the
two sides were still settling in. It's a detailed snapshot
of the era and one I thoroughly enjoyed. A-

Here is the full sentence from which the blurb quote is taken:
"I just wanted, my dear, for you to have a bolthole, somewhere to
hide should trouble come, where you and our children will always be
safe and hidden and have plenty to eat. I know it seems an odd little
gift to you and it will take time to get used to its people--these
are the true English and nobody is odder than they--but I shall feel
happier that you have it."

A wonderful story of survival amidst a political war torn backdrop. It is more romantic history than historical romance. It is not a happy ending; it is a fitting ending to a story filled with strong will and strong emotion. It leaves you happy for the heroine. Unforgettable!

This is one of my all time favorite books. I have reread it many times with a great deal of pleasure. It concerns the life of a young Norman heiress named Matilda who is sold off to one husband after another during the violent times of the civil war between King Steven and the Empress Maud. Matilda's first husband presents her with a "morning gift" after their wedding night. She is dismayed at this display of lusty feeling on his part and mortified to think anyone might imagine she is capable of the same feelings. Then she is further dismayed to find that this gift is a swampy bit of fenland in East Anglia where no one speaks her proper Norman French. But it is a rich land filled with sassy, dependable people and it's a great place to hide in times of trouble and trouble is surely coming!

The Morning Gift is a great look at life in twelfth-century England. It is the story of the Norman lady Matilda of Risle, who we meet living a life typical of noblewomen of her day. As England enters a period of war and turmoil, however, she goes through times of joy and ease as well as times of sorrow and strife as her life goes down paths she never could have imagined.

The characters are all very interesting, both alone and, particularly, in their interactions with one another, and they are also very real. The main character, for instance, is not always a very nice person, but she is so believable and her thoughts and feelings so human, that she is a likeable and sympathetic character who can make the reader want to continue the story.

This book shows us daily life in the 1100s, from what clothing nobles wore and what they ate to the chores of peasants and villeins to the technologies and rules of conduct of medieval warfare. It gives us details about life in the courts of King Stephen of England and of the Empress Matilda in Normandy and life in the fens of eastern England. It tells about the political scheming going on among the aspirants for the crown. And it shares with us the story of people trying to survive and perhaps find happiness and purpose for themselves.

Plus, the young Fitzempress, the future Henry II, was brilliant!

I was not sure what to expect when I first started "The Morning Gift," and the book pleasantly surprised me. An engaging depiction of a fascinating time and just as engaging main character. I think it is more in line with "Cecilia Holland's" books, than "Diana Norman's."

I recommend.

What a mess! The editorial review (excerpt from Kirkus reviews) is about the Eva Ibbotson book Morning gift - set in Vienna and Britain before and during World War II. Great book: 5 stars.

The Diana Norman book is the one about the Saxon heiress. I also read it, but can not remember much about it, thought it was average.