Tag: Orion Books

A Court of Betrayal by Anne O’Brien – a wonderful historical novel of a determined woman

April 2, 2024

A Court of Betrayal by Anne O’Brien

This is a very enjoyable, readable novel of historical characters written in the voice of a strong and determined woman. It is based in a lesser known period of British history; the early 1300s, so pre Tudors, and the usual time for historical fiction. It is the story of Johane de Geneville and her marriage to Roger Mortimer at the age of fifteen, which goes on to span betrayal of different types, both political and personal. It is a period that I knew very little about before reading this novel, and I am happy to say that it is so well written that I was able to follow the major upheavals of the reign of Edward II and the aftermath. On one level it is the story of a woman married early to an ambitious young man whom she has never met, and what happens to her and her family as time goes on. On another level it is the story of Roger through her eyes, and how his ambition and actions have an effect on a country as well as their marriage. There is great love and great hurt, great success and great threat. Johanne emerges as a woman who from the beginning shows her enormous strength and quick wits, and her genuine emotional intelligence in understanding those around her. She has many children, takes strength from an older woman, and has to develop survival skills that help in unexpected circumstances. There are genuinely touching moments in this book with its account of difficult relationships, as well as an understanding of the political realities of the time. I found this an excellent read which kept me engaged from beginning to end; an historical novel that is firmly and convincingly set in a turbulent time with a substantial amount of research that never slows the narrative.

The book begins with a Prologue in which Johane is informed that a marriage has been arranged for her with the young Roger Mortimer, the heir of one of the English Marcher lords. She has substantial lands and estate, but in order to satisfy the dynastic demands of both families the inheritance must be kept intact, so her two younger sisters are condemned to a convent. Johanne is very young, and she is naturally apprehensive of marriage, but as the book begins she discovers that in Roger she has met her match, fiercely ambitious but also potentially quietly affectionate. It was no easy position to maintain the peace on the Welsh border for Roger and his immediate family, and Johanne soon discovers that she has married a very able man whose determination to hold his position and estate, as well as his love of jousting, means that he is frequently absent, and she is left to worry if he will return. The political situation is not made easy by the vacillations of King Edward and his favourites, especially when he is strongly influenced to meet their demands for power and land. Johanne is not only left to manage huge estates on a daily basis, but also witness at a distance the building up of a crisis that imperils not only her husband, but all those she loves. Yet there is still betrayal to come.

This is a book that I thoroughly recommend if you enjoy straightforward historical fiction without time slips or other distractions. The characters, especially Johane herself, jump off the page and are consistent throughout the book. There is much to enjoy in terms of descriptions of clothes, jewels and tapestries that make the settings of the various castles and great houses seem so real and add enormous depth to the story; these are real places populated and entire even if now in ruins. This is a terrific story with real depth, and I am so pleased to have read it.

The Midnight News by Jo Baker – a novel of a young woman in upheaval in 1940 and the London Blitz

September 6, 2023

The Midnight News by Jo Baker

This is a powerful and intense novel set in the London Blitz of the Second World War. It is enthralling, atmospheric and a little disturbing. It is narrated mainly through the point of view of Charlotte Richmond, a twenty-year-old woman with a disturbed past in 1940, when she has made a break for relative freedom in a city that is rapidly becoming accustomed to nightly bombing which is a total upheaval for many of the people left, a profound upheaval mirrored in the mind of Charlotte. As a reader I found this an unsettling, brilliantly written book, which often made me stop and admire the power of the writing.

Early in the novel the first raid is likened to an unexpected sound on the streets of London. “She can also hear a waterfall, and there are no waterfalls round here.” Charlotte does not tell her own story, but it follows her progress, her confusion and bafflement of what is happening. It explores the nature of friendship, of life experience, of contrasting family situations. Charlotte’s silent thoughts, of how despite a relatively wealthy background she is forced to count out her money that she earns for “essential war work”, is revealing of how she really lives. She finds a welcome in a boarding house, in sharp contrast to a background she has rejected, which may have rejected her. When a tragedy rocks her life, when she finds her whole view of life upset by how what is happening to everyone seems particularly awful for her, she feels threatened on every front. Her thoughts become dominated by her friends in several ways, even her remarkable godmother seems unusually preoccupied. Her typing job seems pointless, despite her being told that every piece of information is vital.

In a London being reformed on a nightly basis, where nothing is certain, Charlotte becomes convinced that she is being watched, pursued from and by a shadow man. Terrified of what is happening around her, to her, she makes decisions, attempts to make connections, but is left distressed. The only hope seems to be with a young man who she sees feeding the birds, a habit which is frowned on in a time of increasing food shortages. Tom’s gentle, non-threatening actions provide an alternative for Charlotte as she desperately seeks to silence the voices, the disturbance she feels. Tom is the only other character given his own story in the book; hesitant but supported by his family, challenged in many ways, permanently wondering.

This is a novel that twists and turns, with surprises at every turn, with challenges for every character, with real pain on many levels. It contains so many ideas, of the nature of family, of friends, of the truth in a time of upheaval in so many ways. For me it had echoes of Sarah Waters’ “Nightwatch”, where expectations are overturned, where desperate young women try to exist in a world completely changed overnight. This is a painfully honest book, with a strong inner dynamic of a disturbed and disturbing character and surprising twists and turns throughout. I really recommend it as an enthralling and significant novel of women’s experiences of the Second World War in all the messiness and unpredictability.