Song I Listened To While Reading This Book
Wow. That is all I have to say about this book.
Dolssa is on the run, ash she was supposed to be burned at the stake with her mother as a heretic. However, as she used to be a gentlewoman, she has no survival skills to rely on, besides praying that her beloved Jhesus will come and save her.
Botille is a motherless girl who makes a living off of matchmaking. Her sisters and her also run a tavern, which makes them a fairly successful family, even though their beginnings were rather humble.
When Botille finds half-dead Dolssa while walking during the night, she has to decide whether or not to save her. However, she is going to at least nurse her back to health and hide her from the men going after her, before she lets her go.
This story takes place in 1241 Provensa France, a city still damaged and recovering from the Catholic Church’s Christian Crusades. These wars tore apart families, diminished their spirits, and changed the area forever.
I loved this book so much. I personally love historical fiction, and I feel that there is not enough new historical fiction about how religion really affected the medieval times. This story talks about how religious figures would take advantage of village women, even though they weren’t supposed to be married or doing anything of that sort as holy men. This story talks about how it was difficult for poor men to provide for their families, and the women that had to be loyal to them and raise their children. This story talks about how the Church acted as the judge and jury during these times, based on what people believed in.
Secondly, the multiple points of view in this story worked so well! It has been awhile since I wasn’t confused by a story told in more than one point of view, but I never felt lost or confused as they changed. I also felt that the testimonies spread throughout also gave the story a unique feel, as I was thrown into the minds of various side characters in the story.
Lastly, I loved the fact that the book had a glossary and a list of names and information about characters in the back. I always loved the American Girl Series, and would reread the historical books, so this threw me back to the days of which I would stare at the character lists so that I could picture them in the story.
Overall, this book was an amazing historical fiction story, and it did not push romance throughout but instead focused on the importance of the actual plot, and highlighted many historical events often forgotten by history books.
Overall Rating: 6/5