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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
This was my fist Karen Maitland novel and I really enjoyed it. Great characters with lots of intrigue. About a third of the way through I started to wonder where the heck the plot was. It seemed like individual story on each of the characters so I did find it took a while to get into the story but the fact that the characters were so interesting kept me reading. I love a good medieval novel.
After reading and enjoying Maitland’s Company of Liars I was excited to read her next book the Owl Killers, and I was not disappointed. In fact I think this book was even more of a compelling read than the first.
Set in the 1320’s in England, a group of Christian women known as beguines come to the small (fictional) village of Ulewic from Burges to establish a beguinage (a self-sustaining community of women). They are met with suspicion and are immediately targeted as the root of all evil (floods, famine, sickness and death) by the Owl Men, a group of men who rule the village through paganism and fear.
The story is told through 5 different voices which I did not have a problem following. In fact I thought it added to the story showing different points of view and enhanced character development. I know other reviewers did not like this technique but I did not have a problem with it.
Maitland is a master of this era and it is fascinating to learn so much about everyday life at this time (the Church’s power, what people ate, what types of herbs were used for medicinal purposes etc). She does not let her historical knowledge of this time period overwhelm her overall story though and does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. There are a couple of loose ends she leaves dangling (what happened to Servant Martha, the leader of the beguines, and Father Ulfrid, although we can guess he where is fate will lay), but these few details do not deter from the enjoyment of the story.
I also liked the touch towards the end of the book when she refers to the main character in the Company of Liars (set 20 years later) who will come along and find a book left by one of beguines.
Set in the 1320’s in England, a group of Christian women known as beguines come to the small (fictional) village of Ulewic from Burges to establish a beguinage (a self-sustaining community of women). They are met with suspicion and are immediately targeted as the root of all evil (floods, famine, sickness and death) by the Owl Men, a group of men who rule the village through paganism and fear.
The story is told through 5 different voices which I did not have a problem following. In fact I thought it added to the story showing different points of view and enhanced character development. I know other reviewers did not like this technique but I did not have a problem with it.
Maitland is a master of this era and it is fascinating to learn so much about everyday life at this time (the Church’s power, what people ate, what types of herbs were used for medicinal purposes etc). She does not let her historical knowledge of this time period overwhelm her overall story though and does an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged and wondering what will happen next. There are a couple of loose ends she leaves dangling (what happened to Servant Martha, the leader of the beguines, and Father Ulfrid, although we can guess he where is fate will lay), but these few details do not deter from the enjoyment of the story.
I also liked the touch towards the end of the book when she refers to the main character in the Company of Liars (set 20 years later) who will come along and find a book left by one of beguines.
Wow. Fascinating (time period, religious history, characters... purefinding, my friends, is alone worth the price of admission), enthralling, and just a whole bunch of fun.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An extremely dark but thrilling depiction of this tumultuous time in history. It brilliantly illustrates the struggle between the Church and the existing local beliefs.
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
Wow. This has to be one of the best historical fiction novels I have ever read. Set in place in a small village in 1321 England, the author does a stunning job at creating the setting and shaping the atmosphere. The story has many different POVs, and the author does an amazing job at making each voice sound different, and with giving them a unique personality with pluses and negatives. This story is about a village and a "house of women." It is a troubling time, full of famine and death, and people are starting to turn away from Christianity and towards "the old ways" when an Owlman ruled. I one hundred percent recommend this book.