Samantha NormanCritiques

Gripping, if rather graphically violent, story.

Samantha Norman takes a stab at completing her mother Ariana Franklin's iconic mystery series starring Adelia Aguilar. Norman makes several strategic decisions with the plotting of the story to have it play to her strengths. The writing is good and the story is interesting. Unfortunately, it's the pacing that fails Norman and that shows, in a big way, that this book won't fully satisfy readers, let alone live up to the hype set by the previous novels. Overall, I highly recommend approaching this novel as a standalone story rather than as the finale to the Mistress of the Art of Death series.

Rather than take on the analytical and legendary Adelia, Norman opts to tell the story of Death and the Maiden from the point of view of her daughter Almeison "Allie". This choice is smart on the part of Norman; however, it does create a staggering tonal shift as the predecessor in the series A Murderous Procession ends on a dramatic cliffhanger. Allie is positioned as Adelia's protege in all things medical and macabre, but Allie is chafing at the monotony of her life with her mother. When fan-favorite Glytha falls ill and Adelia breaks her ankle, Allie is proposed as the replacement nurse. Unbeknownst to everyone, Allie is walking right into a village with a penchant for murdering pretty girls.

Allie starts out as interesting, but she soon petered out for me. She never shows any initiative to learn about the mystery of the disappearing girls or to explore her surroundings, even though she supposedly missed living in the Fens and everyone there. As a result, the mystery stalls, and all Allie really does is moon over her attractive neighbor whom her father is desperately trying to marry her to or sulk because she's not getting her own way. Even when a beloved character is kidnapped (and you see it coming from a mile away), Allie doesn't spring to action. The mystery only really picks up steam when Adelia's ankle recovers enough for her to show up in the Fens for the last third of the novel to save both the village and the story. Unfortunately, Allie's lack of agency continues. She neither finds her friend through her own efforts nor even finishes off the villain. Overall, she's not much of a heroine, but comparing her to her mother Adelia makes her even more disappointing. Then, Norman teases readers that Allie might find a future at court with Eleanor of Aquitaine, which would really be something, but that also comes to nothing because Allie can't make her mind up about anything.

My favorite character was Penda. Readers may recognize her as the little girl from Franklin and Norman's other novel The Siege in Winter. Penda was fierce, efficient, bold, caring in her own way, and just so much fun. She lit up the page. It makes sense since Norman finished Penda's novel too. She probably felt more familiar with her, and it showed. She was, by far, the strongest character. As for the other characters - Adelia, Rowley, Glytha, Ulf - they aren't as strong or vivid with the exception of Rowley. Norman managed to capture his dual life fairly well, I thought.

While there was a lot of promise, ultimately, this book is not one I'll revisit. I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just let the series end with the fourth book and let readers imagine everything turned out well for the characters at the end. I appreciate the attempt to conclude this famous series, but I really don't think the book added anything. It feels unnecessary, in my opinion, even as a standalone novel in its own merit.

A very well written tale. at times, the modern language and phrasing pull you out of the story, but you do come to care for all of the characters. Not moved to tears, but touched nonetheless.

Ariana Franklin carved a nice little niche for herself in the historical mystery corner of the literary world. Sadly she passed away before the last book in her "Mistress of the Art of Death" series was finished. Her daughter Samantha Norman took up the torch and ran with it. The story comes across nicely. Set in that early Plantagenet English atmosphere it may be a little predictable but only to a certain extent. It seems Franklin's daughter knew that readers might expect that, so while she put readers on that path she easily tears them away and says "This is how I am going to do it." Her curveball comes of out nowhere and strikes the skull with a pleasant.."Now you did not see that coming did you?"

A most excellent series. If you like historical (English) history and murder and mayhem, you would like this series. The last book was written by the daughter of the original author.

The first four books are absolutely wonderful. Skip the fifth.

Set a little earlier than the Mistress of the Art of Death series, this story follows a number of characters through a chapter of the war between Stephen and Matilda. A dying abbot tells the story, and it is not until relatively late in the book when we know who the abbot is.

Terror in the Fens of medieval times!

Young maidens are missing and drowned in the Fens of 1191. No one in authority is putting things together. The Fens! Truly some of my favorite medieval mysteries have been set here!
Adelia Aguilar is not the woman I remembered her to be. Admittedly she is now older and retired, but still as oblivious and yet at the same time as frenetic as usual.
Adelia has been training her daughter Allie in her craft, so when the call comes for help with an old friend's illness, she reluctantly sends Allie to Ely. Partly at the urging of Allie's father and her love, Rowley, Bishop of Saint Albans. He is worried about Allie's future and that she won't have the protection of a patron like Adelia did. (Of course the ugly spectre of healers being accused of witchcraft stands in the background)
One of the most interesting characters is Lady Penda of Elsford with her wolf cloak and skill with the bow. What we learn about her towards the end speaks for itself.
One interesting part of the piece was the Interdict imposed by the Bishop and the dire effect that has on innocent communities. As Father Edwards explains to his flock, it's an “order of the bishop of Ely ... that, henceforth, I am no longer allowed to celebrate mass or perform the viaticum, or, I fear, offer sepulture [burial] in this churchyard . . .” This is a massive punishment with all sorts of consequences for the faithful.
I had wondered about the culprit and wasn't surprised when my thoughts bore fruit. Still the getting to who was committing these awful crimes had a few likely contenders tossed in, so I was kept guessing almost to the end.
Ariana Franklin was one of my favorite medieval mystery writers. Unfortunately she died in 2011. I was excited to see this novel by her daughter finishing out the series.
It's an intriguing read, somewhat missing the cut and thrust of personalities I was looking for, or maybe that I had been used to. Despite this, a sterling read!

A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

I discovered the first Mistress of the Art of Death novel shortly after it was released, and I've followed the series eagerly since then. The series author, Ariana Franklin, died in 2011, so I knew I had no hope of another title. I was grateful for what she had written and resigned that there would be no more. Now, however, there is one more novel in the series, this one written by Franklin's daughter Samantha Norman. I don't know how much of Death and the Maiden is built on material Franklin left behind and how much of it originates with Norman—whatever the balance, this title brings us one more adventure with the series' characters, who remain very much the individuals they were, despite the change in authors.

The greatest strength of Death and the Maiden is the integrity with which Norman presents these characters who originated with Franklin. Its greatest weakness is the mystery lying at the novel's heart. The mystery is solved at the novel's end, but there's little sleuthing by main characters Adelia and Allie and almost no forensic observation, which was a unique part of the series' other titles. What we get, instead is a novel that lets us see the series' older characters—particularly Adelia and Rowley—aging, and the younger—Adelia and Rowley's daughter Allie, coming into her own.

This book will be a rewarding read for those already familiar with the series, but new readers would do better to start with one of the earlier titles. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

Really a 3.5 - the book surrounds Penda/Emma and Gwil with the best storyline of the entire novel and then it's wrapped up in less than a sentence. Not satisfying at all.

The real strengths of this book are the depths of the characters and the realism of the setting. The people feel real, the dynamics between them feel real, and the setting, well, Franklin knew her stuff. She brings the towns and castles and forests and realities of medieval life beautifully to life. The plot’s possibly a little thin and needs the frame story to really give it momentum in some places, but I don’t think it needs to be a whole lot more than it is. It’s based on real events, after all. There’s only so much you can do. The caricature villain is a bit unfortunate, and the inciting incident for the girl’s arc is … at least the rape itself isn’t on the page. I was also a little disappointed at the lack of diversity. The Mistress of the Art of Death books had Jews and a Muslim, in England in the 1200s. About a fifty years earlier there’s a group of Chinese acrobats who are name-dropped and whose act is replicated by white people. Sigh.

Do I regret reading this? No. Would I recommend it? No. It was kind of profoundly average, looking back, but enjoyable enough at the time.

5/10

I didn't want it to end so abruptly... would love more about Pen and her companions!!

An old abbot lies dying and, with the end near, he wants to lighten his burden and tell a story of murder and treachery, courage and love. One of the abbey's scribes will take notes to commit the tale to posterity.

In England during the Anarchy, with the population supporting either King Stephen or Empress Matilda, a bloody civil war rages, and the effects are being felt all over the country, by rich and poor, with events being set in motion that will see a young noblewoman from a castle in Oxfordshire and a wildfowler's daughter from the Cambridgeshire fenlands cross paths in the most unusual circumstances.

The novel is set in the twelfth century when Empress Matilda was fighting her cousin King Stephen for her right to sit on the throne of England after her father Henry I's death. It is set out as a frame narrative, with the narration alternating between the abbot of an unnamed abbey and the events nearly half a century before, while the action (at the beginning of the 1140s) changes between the viewpoints of Maud of Kenniford on one hand and Penda, a young girl from the fenlands, and the mercenary Gwil on the other.

The historic setting is flawless, and the harsh realities of a winter in the fenlands, with most of the men gone to build castles for this lord or the other, or a castle under siege were brought home to great effect. In contrast, the characterisation remains a little too bland for my taste, with the exception of Penda and Gwil (and possibly William), and the villain is so out-and-out evil that he appears almost as a caricature of himself.

Additionally, for most of the time the book uses time-appropriate language relating to features of the castle or an aspect of weaponry or armour, and then out of the blue more modern terms (such as "managerial", "gave up the ghost", "immune" and "willy-nilly"), unknown at the time the novel is set, appear, with specific characters being addressed as "Milly" and "Girly", respectively. Ahhh! Each time I flinched as the use is so incongruous and jars terribly.

When I picked up the book I was taken in by the tagline on the front cover: "One child holds the key to peace"; imagine my surprise when this "key" plays hardly any role in the plot at all! As a result, despite multiple sieges, murder, rape and betrayal, the pace rarely alters and there is little tension, while I remained detached from most of the characters. Ariana Franklin would be turning in her grave.½

I'm putting myself out of my misery with this one. It started out with a lot of "as you know Bob's," which, while I didn't care for, I could forgive and proceed. Then I got to the "willy-nilly" on page 14. Nope. Not gonna do it. Fortunately this means I just made the cutoff to return the book!

Gripping, if rather graphically violent, story.

It is the year 1180. A dying Abbot calls upon a scribe to tell a long hidden story that occurred nearly 40 years earlier during the Civil War between King Stephen and his cousin, Empress Maude. The story begins in the Fens where a young girl suffers unspeakable atrocities and is nursed back to health by a mercenary, Gwil. The trauma has erased her memory of everything that happened to her and even her real name eludes her. Gwill names her Penda, cares for her, disguises her as a boy, and teaches her archery, a skill in which she excels. Meanwhile, Kenniford Castle, led by the young Chatelaine Maud, is the site of numerous attacks, frequently under siege and Gwil and Penda find themselves in the midst of it.

I thought the book was marvelous, very well written and true to the period, a brutal, harsh time in England's history. I was truly sorry when I reached the last page.

You know the book is good when you don't want it to end, but it's too intense to finish. Fell in love with Ariana Franklin's novel of the war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen. Although parts are formulaic, the book is still enchanting and thrilling.

Highly recommended.

Ariana Franklin (also known as Diana Norman) was writing The Siege Winter when she passed away in 2011. It could easily have been lost forever, but her daughter, Samantha Norman, had a successful career as a columnist, and decided to finish her mother's work and publish it under both their names.

It follows two sets of characters. The first is Penda and Gwil, a mercenary and a young girl he rescues after finding her raped and near-death in a decrepit church in the murky fenlands. Penda doesn't remember what happened to her once she recovers, but she insists she isn't a girl and demands Gwil to teach her to be a warrior. On the other hand is Maud, a teen chatelaine of a small castle that is torn between a war between two armies competing for the throne of England. Maud's only care is for her people, but she is pressured to "choose a side" and she fears either choice will bring her people to harm.

This, for me, was a very character-driven novel, which is a huge plus for me. The plot doesn't really go anywhere, and from a literary perspective the authors do a poor job of highlighting the desperation of a besieged group of people. Being in a castle surrounded by a huge army is a desperate situation, but there is never a sense of isolation and the horrors of siege warfare (such as disease and starvation) never come into play in this book. Mostly they feel like a group of people stranded in their hotel while it rains on their vacation.

Still, despite all that, it's the character building that really sets this book apart. It's a brilliant demonstration of character development, and the ending is far more fleshed out and "complete" than most books I've read in the past. I'm probably being generous with my rating, but this aspect of the novel is so far above average I have a hard time not boosting it up into the 4-star range for that reason alone.

Set in the time of the war between Stephen and Empress Matilda over the English crown, the story of Gwil and Penda tracking down an evil monk, is told by an abbot on his death bed to his scribe. Enjoyable read

If you like historic fiction, this is a fantastic book. This is a final manuscript by Ariana Franklin, the author of the amazing, Mistress of the Art of Death series. It was completed by her daughter, Samantha Norman, so there is hope that there will be more books like this. This story is set in the late 1100's during the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin the Empress Mathilda. Although both royals appear, this story is more about the people caught in the cross hairs (or in this case, the cross bow) of a civil war. They don't really care who is the ruler, but they get caught up supplying arms, food, and lives for each side. As with her other books, Ms. Franklin created a vivid description of that period and some very captivating characters. This book has some great female characters - strong and feisty. Definitely recommended!

Once I got over my disappointment that the last book Ariana Franklin was writing when she died (which was finished by her daughter) was not a resolution to the cliffhanger in the "Mistress of the Art of Death" series, I was able to settle in and enjoy this one. Good historical fiction, sans bodice ripper element.

The 12th century is drawing to a close and a dying abbot feels the need to tell a story in order to cleanse his soul. Dictated to a young scribe his story is the accounting of the 1141 battle between Matilda and Stephen over who should rightly wear the crown. As in any civil war there are always secrets that must be kept, terrible tragedies on all sides, heroes are made, innocent victims suffer, villains plot and mercenaries sell their services to the highest bidder.

The unlikely heroes in this story are an 11 year-old girl named Emma – cruelly raped and tortured, then left for dead by a godless monk with a fetish for red hair, Maud, the 15 year-old chatelaine of Kenilworth – the castle that could provide Stephen with his much needed access across the Thames and Gwil – the mercenary reluctantly taking on the mantle of hero in the hopes that his past sins will be forgiven. The villain is so wicked you can almost picture him twirling his moustache (if he had one to twirl) in anticipation of his next dastardly act. Their paths cross at Kenilworth.

This book is rich in historical detail; particularly what life in a castle must have been like from the dungeons below and the drafty walls in the living area to the archers on the turrets and the steam in the kitchens. Ms. Franklin began the manuscript before her death then rather than leave it unfinished her daughter, Samantha Norman, a feature writer, columnist and film critic took up the pen (as it were) and finished the story. While reading I could discern no obvious transition from one writer to the other. I am glad she finished the story because she completed a very good book. This book is definitely self-standing with a more than satisfactory ending but I understand that it may be the first in a series. I am a fan of Ms. Franklin’s “Mistress in the Art of Death” series, in which the last book left the readers hanging a bit, so I cannot help but wonder if Ms. Norman has plans to tie up that series as well? I hope so, because she has certainly proven herself up for the task.

In 1180 AD, an abbot lays dying. He has a story to tell before he goes, though, and calls a young scribe to take dictation. His story takes place in the early 1140s in an England torn apart by the war for the throne between Empress Matilda and King Stephen.

Stolen from her family while gathering fuel in the fenlands, an 11 year old, red haired girl is found by an archer, Gwil: she has been raped, is nearly dead and is without any memory. He nurses her to health, names her ‘Penda’, disguises her as a boy, and teaches her to shoot both long and cross bows- to great success.

Meanwhile, Lady Maud, possessor of Kenniford castle, is married at knifepoint to a monstrous man who is in it for the money. He rapes her, while his none too stable mistress is installed upstairs in Maud’s castle. His men take over the castle; eating, drinking, and making free with the women. When the Empress Matilda shows up on their doorstep, Maud immediately makes her welcome. It makes no difference to her husband’s men; they’ll all fight for whoever pays them best. Meanwhile, Gwil and Penda have been hired into the Empress’s small force. There is a siege, along with battles, plotting, discoveries of secrets, and a second plot running in parallel with the siege. There isn’t a dull moment. The plotting is well done, especially the way the two plots finally merge. Things are described in a realistic manner- nothing is sugar coated here!

There are several strong women in this book: the Empress, Lady Maud, Penda, and Maud’s serving woman. These women do not wait for a handsome knight to ride in and save them- although it’s certainly nice when one does. They take charge. They are self-sufficient, as women would have had to have been in an era when the men could be gone for months or years. This historical fiction is a far cry from much of what was written in the past, when the women existed to be rescued. I’m so happy that this kind of historical is being written now. Sad that this is the last we’ll ever seek from Ariana Franklin, but based on this book I hope her daughter is inspired to continue writing as she has finished up her mother’s story very, very well. A new ‘Mistress of the Art of Death’ book from her would be excellent!

I really enjoyed all of Arianna Franklin's books and was very sorry to learn of her passing. It is really a very special gift to her mother that Samantha completed her mother's last novel - what a special gesture of love while at the same time being a perfect tribute and gift to her readers.
It took me a while to get into the flow of this book - I guess I kind of expected another story revolving around forensic science in the middle ages. Once the "hook" was set I really enjoyed the story - excellent character development, fast paced action, a rich historical backdrop, and a very engaging story. Very Well Done !

Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman is a great read!!!! I couldn't put it down!

A complex tale of the 1100s that you won't soon forget!

One of my "Musts" of a fantastic book is if the story lingers long after I have finished reading it....and Winter Siege has lingered with me for months!!

I received this book for free to review. I am a member of Library Thing, Net Galley, Good Reads, Word Press and the Penguin Book club.
D. Bettenson