Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tuesday Teaser: Lords of the White Castle by Elizabeth Chadwick

Do you ever sit down and read through your own blog posts? Every now and again I like to do so, and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by what I read and other times I cringe! Today I took a few minutes to go through my past posts about Elizabeth Chadwick. The thing that stood out is that when I do post about her books, the reviews are overwhelmingly positive and filled with praise at the way that medieval life comes to life in the pages of her books. Whilst this isn't a review as such, I can guarantee if I was to get around to writing one it would be another positive one.

I have been working my way through her back list very slowly. I could have read more of her books, but the thing is that I know that once I have finished then I will have to wait for each new book. By not devouring them all, which is definitely tempting, I know that I will still have a Chadwick fix for a little while yet!

The interesting thing for me is that I think this book seems to be something of a turning point for Elizabeth Chadwick. As far as I can remember, prior to this, Chadwick populated her books with real historical figures, but the main characters were fictitious. In this book, the main male character is Fulke Fitzwarin and he is a real figure from history and has been suggested as a possibly inspiration for Robin Hood. You can also clearly see the transition that the author is making from writing meaty historical romances with strong historical themes to meaty historical fiction with strong romantic themes.

I have a number of passages marked to choose a teaser from. In the end, I decided to go with this teaser from page 228:

I told you that we should have ridden straight to Whittington when Papa died and taken FitzRoger then," William muttered as they led their horses across the ward and found a boy to tend them.

"Hindsight is a wondrous thing,' Fulke sneered. "Likely we'd have ended our lives swinging from a gibbet."

"Well, if you think there is going to be a happy outcome from this, you're a greater fool than you've ever taken me for."

Fulke rounded on him with bunched fists and Jean hastily put his wiry frame between the. "Peace!" he hissed. "We're not clear of the guards yet, and you do yourselves no favours by this childish brangling. If you cannot handle yourselves, then what use are you going to be before John?"

Fulke clamped his jaw until the muscles showed in two rigid grooves below his cheekbones. "You do well to remind me, Jean," he said with a stiff nod. He looked at William. "We need to be united by our brotherhood, not split by our differences of opinion. Are you ready to go within?"

William wriggled his shoulders within the thickly padded gambeson. "No point in coming just to stay outside." It was the nearest he would come to conciliation.
Do you have an author who you want to rush through their booklist, but you also want to take your time to savour?

17 comments:

  1. Oh this sounds good on a lot of levels. Love the tension and uneasy resolution in the teaser and love the idea that the book is based on the man who may have inspired the Robin Hood legend. Interesting assessment of Chandwick's evolution as a writer.

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    1. Thanks Beth! Thankfully EC agreed with this assessment so I must have got it right! lol

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  2. Totally ashamed. Haven't read Ms. Chadwick yet.

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    1. Lucky you, you have so many great books ahead of you if you do decide to try her books.

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  3. Wow! Long teaser today. Thanks for sharing. Mine is here.

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    1. Hi Julie, I have been doing longer teasers for a while now which is why I am not linking up to the meme anymore. Wanted the freedom to explore longer passages and write longer posts around them, like this one.

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  4. I'm doing exactly as you are doing.....slowly moving through Chadwick's list so as to always have something to anticipate. One of my favorites of her earlier works is The Marsh King's Daughter -- have you read that one? I'm doing the same with Barbara Erskine's books -- don't want to rush through them and be left with nothing.

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    1. I have read and enjoyed The Marsh King's Daughter. Barbara Erskine feels like an author I should love but I really disliked the one book I have read from her. I will give her another go but I am not in a rush to do so.

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  5. I slowly meander my way through Austen, reading one book a year, because there are no more! I also slowly read through the Outlander books after gobbling up the first five in a matter of weeks. Now I slowly savor them, as I never know when the next one is coming, and I would hate to be left in the Jaime and Claire lurch!

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    1. I still intend to read another Jane Austen book this year, maybe with you if you are still up for it. Just have to find some time.

      I inhaled the first 5 Outlander books too. I think I have read everything from her so far, but as soon as I see something new from her I have to grab it straight away

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  6. I have never read this author, but it sounds like I should give her a try!

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    1. If you like historical fiction, and especially medieval historical fiction, she is a must read.

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  7. Salley Vickers is my favourite. And Mary Hooper. Both are exquisite writers.

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    1. I have a couple of Sally Vickers books here but haven't read her yet.

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  8. I must pick up a Chadwick novel... she sounds great!

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    1. I think she is. I started with The Greatest Knight.

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  9. I'd like to get through Chadwick's work slowly, but I've still got so many to go and know she'll have released at least a couple more at all times if I did. I also should've been slower reading Austen, because there will always only be the books we have now, but her stories make me want to keep reading.

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