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The Needle in the Blood

Sarah Bower

Why we're reading this: Sarah writes this novel set in the same period 1066. It is about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry and a …more
[close] Sarah writes this novel set in the same period 1066. It is about the making of the Bayeux Tapestry and a fictional romance.

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Dec 28, 2011 Paula Lofting rated it really liked it

When charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux decides to comission a wall hanging to celebrate his role in the conquest of Britain, he becomes embroiled in the lives of the women who make it, especially Gytha - handmaiden to the mistress of the fallen King Harold. Against their intentions they fall passionately in love and in doing so, Odo comes into conflict with his brother the king and God and Gytha with his enemies who mistrust her powerful hold over such a powerful man. Nothing in life or in the ha When charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux decides to comission a wall hanging to celebrate his role in the conquest of Britain, he becomes embroiled in the lives of the women who make it, especially Gytha - handmaiden to the mistress of the fallen King Harold. Against their intentions they fall passionately in love and in doing so, Odo comes into conflict with his brother the king and God and Gytha with his enemies who mistrust her powerful hold over such a powerful man. Nothing in life or in the hanging is what it seems.

When I picked up this book I believed it to be presented as historical fiction but as I read it, I realised it had less to do with history than it had with fiction. The author obviously has some knowledge of events of the time of 1067, it was after all quite well documented and she has managed to intergrate her fictional tale into the known factual accounts. However, her interpretation of how the hanging was made was entirely from her imagination and the author's creation was quite plausible. For those who care about authenticity, there was little of that, especially in the achronictical use of names such as Trudy, Meg, Margaret, Tom, Walter and Judith, which were used for English characters. I understand that the author used these more modern names for easy reading for those of her readers, however for me it was thoroughly annoying to read these names next to some authentically English names which jarred me. Some of the other authenticity points i picked up on were to do with descriptions of buildings or clothing and some major facts that were left out, however these were not that important in the grand scheme of things.

In the end, i read it for what I believe it was intended, as a work of fiction and I enjoyed it immensely. The bits I really liked were; the author's style of writing in the present tense, making it feel as if you are in the middle of the scene as the tale unfolds. The creative descriptions and use of adjectives was amazing and I have to say that there is no other author I have read that has done this quite as well as Sarah Bower. The story was a beautiful love story, the type you only ever read about and Sarah wrote this aspect of her book so well that even I fell in love with both of the characters! I particularly liked the ending where the reader is met with a nice little twist that so fits in with the story of the conquest. To conclude, this was an absorbing book I would recommened to anyone as long as you read it for a fictional work rather than a historical fiction novel.

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Jun 05, 2013 Carol McGrath rated it it was amazing

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