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- Romance - |
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By Possession |
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 By Possession byMadeline Hunter Bantam Books (Random House) 371 pages, 2000 ISBN 0553582216 Reviewed by our UK Editor Rachel A. Hyde Read our review of By Arrangement, the first book in this trilogy If you enjoyed Madeline Hunter’s first novel By Arrangement which came out earlier in 2000, you will be eager to read the second in this trilogy of stand-alone novels about fourteenth century London. Moira Falkener was born a serf but was freed several years ago by the old Lord who took her mother for a mistress. Moira is used to living in some style, since throughout her childhood and adolescence she was the "Shadow" to the beautiful Claire who married Addis de Valence, the new Lord. But he is surely dead in the Crusades. Now, Moira looks after Addis and Claire’s young son in her cottage, making fine baskets for a living. However, Addis is all too alive and comes back demanding his son. Witnessing what a beauty his wife’s "Shadow" has matured into, he wants her as well as tries to disprove that she is now a free woman. But Moira is no meek peasant to stand for all this. She wants her freedom, her own home and her own man, The trouble is, she has loved Addis for years. Set during the turbulent reign of Edward II with the backdrop of the strife England battled under, this is a lively and sexy book. Although the background may have been a bit too sketchy in By Arrangement, there is enough in this book to make the reader feel a part of the 14th century, yet not so much that the romance is pushed aside. This time, romance takes centre stage as it should, with enough historical detail and action to provide verisimilitude and excitement. Moira is an independent lady who knows her own mind but does not protest all the way. Addis likes to play the politically incorrect lusty lord. So this is not one of those novels with twenty-first century characters in period costume. Rather, it has an authentic ring about the way the protagonists (and others) behave, yet not so much as to appear unsympathetic. The back of the book provides excerpts for the earlier By Arrangement and the third forthcoming book By Design due out in the spring 2001. Visit the author’s website at www.MadelineHunter.com for more details. By Possession is a satisfying slice of romantic escapism. |
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