Search - Ann of Cambray

This book by Mary Lide is an excellent historical novel. The timing of the novel is the mid-12 century around the time that Henry II became King of England. Ms. Lide places historical characters in tight juxtaposition with her own invented ones, and the writing is so seamless that it is hard to determine where history ends and fiction begins. It is very apperant that Ms. Lide is a learned medeival scholar. She knows this era and the colourful people of it. In the book we see Henry II and his infamous Queen - Queen Eleanor. We also meet many of the lords and ladies in his retinue, and we have Ann and her Lord Raoul. Ms. Lide does a fine job in her depiction of Ann of Cambray. What an indomitable figure she was. The legacy that she left should not be overshadowed by all the other things that happened during the Plantanganet reign.

Ann of Cambray was a good book... just that it was too long. There was a lot of historical references and detail that I didn't think was essential to the story-line itself; that sort of "got in the way" of moving the heroine's story forward. Still, it was better than a poke in the eye. :)