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The Time Of Singing (2009)

by Elizabeth Chadwick(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0751539007 (ISBN13: 9780751539004)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Sphere

series

Bigod

review 1: I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more by Elizabeth Chadwick. I had no idea how prolific she was with historical fiction. And this is true historical fiction, based on real people and real events.I loved the detail and attention paid to authenticity - right down to archaic words and spelling in some cases. There was never too much description, but enough to make me feel the weight of tapestries on the walls, or see the colors of threads used to detail a man's coat. There was a moment or two where the retelling of history took over the story, but it was necessary information to understand the convoluted plays for power.The characters were well drawn. Of course, we can only speculate about King Henry or his brothers, Richard and John, and what thei... morer true personalities were. But I think Chadwick did a good job creating personality from the history of their actions. And for the lesser known people of the time, she did a wonderful job developing characters that were likable and worth the reader's time to get to know.The conflicts, while some were based on historical fact, there were plenty that were simply common to the time period. The book gave me a good taste for the constant struggle for power and land, and also the more mundane struggle of transportation, food, housing. I was intrigued by the methods used to arrange marriages (even to children not old enough), the 'good match' being of foremost importance.I did not realize when I started this book that it was part of a series. I believe this was the 4th book. That didn't matter. The book read like an independent novel. I will most likely read the last book in the series because I liked the characters so much, and they continue on in the next volume. I would certainly recommend this to all who like to read true historical fiction. Be warned that there are some descriptive scenes of intimacy (nothing to graphic). I look forward to reading more of Chadwick's books.
review 2: I loved this book! On my trip to England last year I quite accidentally discovered that Ida and Henry's son William, who married an earl's daughter and inherited the title through her, was the Earl of Salisbury and apparently did have a happy marriage, since on his death his grieving wife became an abbess. You can visit the Abbey at Lacock, which is, incidentally, a village where many movie scenes are filmed, including the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. I won't forget this book. less

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