![]() ![]() The way it seeks to evoke its period and the way it maintains its characters in context, the way it wears its research lightly and heavily at the same time, the way it makes no concessions to the cliches of its romance plot. Bower has an excellent grasp of the bonds of kinship, obligation, religion and biology that bind these women togetherFinally though, it is the way The Needle in the Blood stays true to the spirit of its endeavour that beguiles me. Characters are similarly well-made, composite pieces and shown rather than told. Languid and deliberate in its telling, vivid and tangible in its world-building. She has a gift for simile, and for descriptive language. I forgot that medieval historical 'romance' makes me twitchy and that the merest whiff of 'womens' fiction' gives me hives.her prose is honestly quite startling. I mean, I was so filled up with the pure joy of reading it, that I forgot that I'm ever a stickler or a critic or a cynic. ![]() ![]() ![]() I just want to say, honestly: measured on a scale of books that are good and books that are ok and books that suck, this book is mind-bogglingly good. I don't want to be coy about it I don't want to prevaricate. The Bayeux tapestry will never look the same again.'Patricia Duncker, author of 'Hallucinating Foucault'"First, before I write anything else, I want to tell you just how good this book is. 'A thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating historical novel which brings the period to life. ![]()
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