Unconquered [Paperback]

Hannah Howell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Left a bequest by a woman with rare psychic powers, Eada of Pevensey suddenly finds herself in possession of a box containing a mysterious document...and something even more extraordinary: the gift of second sight. Now, she can actually "see" her chilling fate: a Norman invader with sea-dark eyes riding across the fields to claim her lands...and her love. A reluctant soldier for William the Conqueror, Drogo de Toulon seizes the Pevensey lands as a right of conquest...and meets a woman who defies him at every turn - and arouses uncontrollable desire. Yet now, as war rages across a divided England, the two lovers must find the bond that joins body and soul...as they chart a course through battle and betrayal that could break their hearts - or seal their passion for all time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A great story has a beginning, a middle and an end. This latest by the author of My Valiant Knight is all middle. On the eve of William's invasion of England, Eada of Pevensey is separated from her family and captured by Drogo de Toulon, handsome, wise, sensitive. At the same moment, she inherits the gift of seeing (or more often, hearing) the future. She knows Drogo is her destiny, so there's no conflict there. Instead, Howell has constructed an episodic plot in which Eada, after "hearing" the cries of her people, slips out of camp, meets up with one particularly nasty lordling and must be rescued by the ever-attentive Drogo. Aside from the plotting problems, Drogo is also just a bit too nice. His lines run to "I was wondering what if anything, I should say, for I could not judge how you felt"?the kind of thing one might pay a 20th-century shrink for, but could hardly expect from an 11th-century Norman.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821780883
• ISBN-13: 978-0821780886
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor + plot + romance = delightful!, April 29, 2002

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unconquered (Paperback)

"Be careful what you wish for, you might get it" is an old truism, as apt for today's reader as it was for a hero of the Norman Conquest. Sir Drogo de Toulon was one of the invader William's mighty war machines. Eada of Pevensey was a young Saxon woman who had been widowed on her wedding night, leaving her still a maiden.

Drogo has fought for William in the hope of gaining lands and wealth, yet when it is offered, he discovers that without Eada as part of the package, there is no worth in it. Eada has inherited from the village witch-woman the ability of hearing and seeing portents of the future. The last prediction made by Old Edith before her death was that Eada's 'mate' would be among the invading Normans. Mayhap there will be even more.

Set against the brutal battles and invasion of the Conquest, the characters in this wonderful book will stay in your heart for a long time. The secondary characters are no less pervasive; you'll especially be enamored of Ivo and May, another Norman/Saxon pair who turn Drogo's war camp into a traveling orphanage. Even though they acquire fourteen kids of various ages, along the way into London, neither of them speak the other's language!

Sensibility, humor, sensuality, panorama, plot, intelligence, romance. All this and wonderfully lifelike characters combine to make this a reader's delight. It'll be yours, too.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Great, Heartwarming Story!, June 29, 2002

By 

"bigreader60" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unconquered (Paperback)

The Norman Conquest is such an interesting period to read about, and it takes a very talented author to insert humor, lovable characters and a heartwarming love story into this violent period of time, and Howell accomplished this with remarkable ease.

Eada of Pevensey is a great heroine. She is feisty, strong, and courageous but she is also mature, willing to see other's point of view and caring. The woman is brave enough to face a knight twice her size who all and out tries to kill her. Drogo De Toulan is a fierce and deadly warrior, but he is also a kind, gentle human being. It is so refreshing to hear a hero not prattle on about how he is a warrior and cannot love because it will make him weak, or not tell the heroine that her place is only to warm his bed. Drogo claims Eada as his, but he shares with her and seeks her advice on important matters. How often do you read this in a medeival romance? Add in some wonderful secondary characters and you have a great book. Also if you like reading about this period of time, I would recommend Elizabeth Chadwick's The Conquest of Jo Beverley's Lord Of My Heart.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Job Hannah Howell, September 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Unconquered (Paperback)

Hannah Howell has created a wonderfully engaging medeival love story without the following elements that I hate to find in romances. First, a hero who does not try to tame or break the heroine. He likes her strong will and respects her intelligence. He also does not rape or enslave the heroine as most heroes do in these Norman/Saxon love stories. Second, a heroine who is strong and feisty while being mature, practical and intelligent at the same time. Third, secondary characters who take an active part in the story and have the reader caring about what happens to them also.

I cannot begin to say how much I enjoyed this story. I also liked the ending. Without giving anything away, I will just say that the hero lets his love guide him and as a result gets everything he had been after. Read and find out for yourself.