Customer Reviews

Troubadour

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As a young noblewoman in thirteenth-century France, Elinor may live a life of comfort, but she has little control over her own future. She is secretly in love with the much older Bertrand, a troubadour who often travels to her family's home. Bertrand has a secret of his own - he is a member of a religious sect that the powerful Catholic church wants to destroy, considering them heretics. When Elinor learns her parents wish to marry her off to a man old enough to be her grandfather, she decides she must avoid that fate at all costs. To escape, she disguises herself as a boy and runs away from home with a band of troubadours, hoping to one day be reunited with Bertrand.

Over the next few years, Bertrand and Elinor continue their separate journeys through a land at war. Bertrand witnesses the horrors of the Church's crusade, and the suffering of the innocent people caught up in the violence. Elinor, an immature thirteen-year-old at the start of the story, grows and matures throughout the novel, into a young woman. The ending was not what I expected when I started this book, but fit the story perfectly, I think, while being true to the place and time the story takes place in.

Troubadour is a detailed and interesting historical novel that I enjoyed as a fan of historical fiction. However it does have a lot of heavy historical detail about some lesser known events from history. While I enjoyed these details, and I think this book would be enjoyed by older teens (and adults too) who have an interest in Medieval history, more casual readers of historical fiction might find themselves overwhelmed by all the history. Therefore I would most recommend this book to readers who either love lots of historical detail in their historical ficton or who are fans of Mary Hoffman's previous books.

The story starts in France in 1208 when one of the main characters, Bertran, a troubadour, witnesses the murder of Pierre of Castelnau, one of the Pope's representatives, who has been visiting the Count of Toulouse. He knows that this could mean trouble. not just for himself. but for all the Pope's enemies and he tries to warn other heretics (like himself) who could be in danger from the Pope's revenge by travelling to the various towns and cities of Southern France.

The other main character, Elinor, a 13 year old noblewoman who is in love with Bertran, is also travelling through France with a troupe of minstrels in the disguise of a young minstrel boy. She runs away from her family rather than marrying an older man in an arranged marriage.

Mary Hoffman has woven an enchanting tale of love, poetry and music set against the backdrop of the invading army from the north.

I really liked the character of Elinor, the headstrong young woman, who was always at war with her mother when living at home and who had to grow up quite a lot during her journeys.

I especially enjoyed learning about the troupes of joglars; these were minstrels who wandered around to different towns entertaining the Lords and Ladies by composing poems and singing especially for them in their castles, or just singing in the marketplaces.

The easy flowing writing was a joy to read and, overall, I was absorbed in the story.

In the Midi (Southern France) in 1208, a great trouble is looming on the horizon. Pope Innocent III, greatly angered by the impiety and lack of fealty of Raimon VI, Count of Toulouse (not to mention Raimon's resistance to paying tithes to the Church), has decided to punish the Count by launching a crusade against the heretic Cathars the Count protects. Northern French Lords, spurred on by the promise of lands to be seized (without regard to the faith of the lord who holds them) are quick to sign on in service to the Pope's Crusade.

Thirteen-year-old Elinor de Sévignan, daughter of a heretic lord, knows little of the great affairs of man. Her troubles are much more personal and immediate. Elinor's parents have decided that she must marry a much older man - a widower with children older than Elinor herself. Elinor knows it is her duty to marry as her father wills but she cannot accept this union. Her heart is wholly given to Bertran de Miramont, a handsome troubadour. Even though she knows Bertran does not return her affection, Elinor cannot face marrying an old man she could never hold in her heart.

With the aid of her friends Huguet and Perrin - minstrels who are wintering at her father's court - Elinor disguises herself as a boy and flees her father's home, exchanging her life of privilege for the life of a minstrel in a traveling troupe. For the next four years Elinor and her friends travel throughout the Midi and Italy, witnessing the horror and tragedy of the Albigensian Crusade in this brilliant, rich work of historical fiction.

Troubadour is an interesting book, that readers of most genres should enjoy. It is written fairly simply, in the sense that it is an easy book to read. The vocabulary isn't particularly difficult, and any period terms are generally explained in the prose (with a handy glossary at the back in case you forget).

In fact there was only one problem that I had with the historical aspects if the book, and that was the definition of France. In my mind, France is as it is defined now. But according to the map in the book, the south of France was a region known as Occitania. Now this in itself isn't a problem, but it would have been nice to have known this at the BEGINNING of the book. Consequently, "the French were attacking" confused me, given that I was under the impression it was a civil war.

But other than this slight confusion, I found myself enjoying learning history while reading a novel. Of course it's not perfectly accurate, it's fiction, but it was an interesting experience, that I'd be happy to repeat. In fact, I really loved the first two parts (of three).

The third part however, feels rushed, sometimes unrealistic and somehow wrong. Obviously the war had to be won by the historical victor, but the fictional main character's end-story seems to disregard many of the threads that began the book, particularly what I would consider the main one, the love interest.

But before this final part, the feelings and emotions of the two main characters, Elinor and Bertran, are acutely described, and they seem to be very real people.

So while this book isn't in my normal reading genre, it has left an impression in my mind that perhaps I should read more historical fiction. The plot weakened towards the end, which was disappointing, but the first two parts, in my mind, more than made up for that. If you can't stand a book with a weak ending, this probably isn't for you, but if you read to appreciate a good writer, then buy/borrow/steal* this book as soon as possible.

*Do NOT steal the book, that was a joke.