The Handfasted Wife (Daughters of Hastings, #1) in Ask Carol McGrath

Sep 07, 2013 Anna Belfrage rated it it was amazing

I have a problem reading books where I know beforehand there is no happy ever after. In this particular case, I know Harold and his Elditha will never experience old age, seeing as he died at the battle of Hastings. It makes me sort of weepy, and I am ridiculously glad that, as per this book, they had some weeks together before the momentous events that would transform England forever.

Elditha Swanneck is an engaging character, mild but assertive, capable and wise. She handles her affairs in the I have a problem reading books where I know beforehand there is no happy ever after. In this particular case, I know Harold and his Elditha will never experience old age, seeing as he died at the battle of Hastings. It makes me sort of weepy, and I am ridiculously glad that, as per this book, they had some weeks together before the momentous events that would transform England forever.

Elditha Swanneck is an engaging character, mild but assertive, capable and wise. She handles her affairs in the way any wealthy noblewoman of the times would have done, she loves her children, her man. When Harold decides to marry – for real – she is understandably hurt, made fragile and invisible by his apparent disinterest. By choosing a new wife, Harold is sullying their union, relegating her to the role of mistress rather than mate, and I think Ms McGrath has done a great job in conveying all these feelings, further complicated by the fact that Elditha can’t stop loving Harold, the man she has loved for more than half her life. She wants to be angry and send him away, but misses him too much to do so when he finally comes to see her. Even after he is dead, Elditha will always carry this larger than life man in her heart, attempting always to remain loyal to his memory.

Ms McGrath does an excellent job in portraying all her central characters. From Elditha to Padar, from Gytha to Harold himself, these long dead people spring to life within the pages of her book, some of them so easy to love, some, like Queen Edith, portrayed as coldly pragmatic. To these vibrant characters must be added beautiful descriptive writing, pitch-perfect dialogue and a vivid historical setting.

This author clearly knows the period she is describing so well that her details and artefacts, the glimpses she offers of interior design, of food and clothes, never become stilted or affected. She weaves harvest work and bee-keeping, herbal ointments and period pastimes into her text with such skill that I am no longer here, but there, entering bower halls where women sit and gossip as they work, following Elditha into the chilly interiors of churchs, or into the welcoming warmth of a merchant’s house.

Further to this, Ms McGrath really knows how to write. POV is distinct throughout, Elditha quickly acquires a presence and a voice of her own, and I find it quite impossible to put this book down, so entranced am I by the elegant writing and the story as such. Is there a happy ending? Well, that is not for me to reveal, but I can more than warmly recommend this book, and I for one hope we will not have to wait long for the next one in the trilogy to come out.
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Jun 02, 2013 Paula Lofting rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Handfasted Wife is the story of the Norman Conquest from the perspective of Edith (Elditha)

Swanneck, Harold's common-law wife. The story begins with King Edward, the Confessor's demise. She arrives with her younger children at court for the Christmas celebrations only to find that the King, who has been on the throne for more than twenty years, is gravely ill. Edward has not even until now, proclaimed his successor but there is a name on everyone's lips - Elditha's husband, Harold, Earl of The Handfasted Wife is the story of the Norman Conquest from the perspective of Edith (Elditha)

Swanneck, Harold's common-law wife. The story begins with King Edward, the Confessor's demise. She arrives with her younger children at court for the Christmas celebrations only to find that the King, who has been on the throne for more than twenty years, is gravely ill. Edward has not even until now, proclaimed his successor but there is a name on everyone's lips - Elditha's husband, Harold, Earl of Wessex is ready to take the crown with the support of the Witan. Elditha dreams of being Queen, but Harold has other ideas. Although he professes to love her and only her alone, Elditha is shocked when her lifelong love chooses to put her aside, despite their marriage being legal in the eyes of the law, in order to marry Aldgyth, sister of the Northern earls, thus ensuring their greatly needed support. Elditha accepts this terrible slight with the resignation of a proud noble lady. She will always be loved, her husband tells her and sends her to one of his estates, Reredfelle, where she can live out her life with her children in peace and he will come to her when he can. Then something terrible happens that means that Elditha's life will never be the same again.

The opening chapters of this book entice the reader in through the gateway to another world, a world in which it is very much a man's world but told from the women of that world's point of view. Women in 11thc England were not necessarily the pawns and chattels they later came to be after the Norman invasion. They were permitted to own land and property independently from their husbands or menfolk, could bequest that property to whoever they so wished and could not be forced by law, against their will into undesirable marriages. And yet,it was the act of men who shaped their lives and because of this, their destinies would lay beyond their control, as we are about to see when Elditha's beloved Harold is killed upon the battlefield and she is forced to identify his body. From this awful tragedy, Elditha emerges a strong and determined woman, forced to flee the clutches of the Norman invaders and leave her precious youngest child in their grasp and her other children exposed to their designs for them. But Elditha will not give up her quest to ensure that they are given the freedom to determine their own lives and she conducts herself bravely without a thought to her own safety, in the face of danger which follows her wherever she goes, in order to fulfill her mother's instincts to protect her brood.

Elditha is a truly tragic heroine of her time. Based on the scant evidence there is for her, her story is surrounded in myth and legend and we can but only catch glimpses of her real story through the writings of chroniclers some years later. The Waltham Chronicle written in the late 12thc describes Edith Swanneck as being forced to search for the body of her beloved Harold through the wreckage torn and dismembered bodies on the battlefield. Imagine her distress. No doubt she would not have been alone in her torment. Women searching for their husband's bodies so they could bury them decently, would have covered the field of blood in the aftermath of that awful battle. It would have been enough to drive a woman insane to find her husband's body, bloodied, mutilated in the most horrific way and to be recognisable only by 'marks' known only to her. This is the poignancy of her story. The fact that she couldn't identify him any other way. What kind of trauma would that cause to the mind? It affects one so deeply and yet it cannot be comprehended by anyone who has never experienced such horror.

‘May my lord’s soul rest in peace .’ She took a cloth from her belt and carefully wiped away the blood from around the marks.

And yet, this noble lady is determined not to waver. She keeps her sanity and her dignity as life heaps more indignities upon her.
This book is full of courageous characters that throughout Elditha's story continue to support her and aid her in her quest for deliverance from whatever dastardly fate awaits her. Padar, her husband's own skald, who was Harold's most precious gift to her before he died, swears to keep her safe and never fails her; Connor, the Irish Earl of Meath, an old ally of Harold's too is there when she needs him; Alfred and his faithful wife Gertrude are simple folk who risk their own lives to save her, and there are many more. Above all, this is a book dedicated to the women of the day. For their men, their suffering ended on the battlefield, but for them, their suffering and trauma continues as England is spun into turmoil after that fateful day on October 14th 1066.
These are strong women, raised in an England, so alien to the Norman's sense of what womanhood was. It is a combination of their strength and humility that makes the characters human, capturing the readers hearts immediately. But the character who stands, aside from Elditha Swanneck, to the fore is Gytha, Harold's tragic and unfortunate mother. She will not let go of her city, Exeter, where she has built a safe haven from the Normans. When they are besieged by William and his army, she refuses to give up. Even when the merchants, worried for their livelihoods after William has seized their goods and ships, urge for peace and negotiations, does she stand strong against those that would betray her.

‘There will be no more of this. No agreement with the enemy. No talk with William. No fealty oaths. He’ll give your trade to his own. Your daughters will be raped and married off to common soldiers . Your sons will be pressed into their army, like those foolish traitors in their camps out there. The bastard son of a bastard mother will hang you all. And, if he doesn’t, when my grandsons arrive to relieve us come sailing time, if even one of you betray this town, you will all be dead men.’

For a time, her rousing cry convinces them and this formidable old lady, probably likely nearing 60, old for those days, remains stoic in her determination. The story increases in its excitement as the townspeople contemplate their futures and William and his army continue their onslaught.

The Handfasted Wife is a remarkable tale of courage, well researched and written by Carol McGrath. An epic tale of adventure, heartache and courage. Most of all, it is a tale about the aftermath of war seen through eyes of the women who it affected most, as rarely written about before. Men create their destinies, women create their future. Men die with their swords in their hands, women live with the consequences. ...more

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Jul 28, 2013 Nicky rated it it was amazing

A fantastic first novel concerning a much neglected era of English History. Carol draws us serenely through the lives of characters for whom she obviously feels empathy. She writes with a delicate touch and delves into the every day lives of those living in England in 1066, not just about the major politics of the day, but about the mundane normality of their lives, bringing them off the page.

The women are the strong ones here, the men do as they are told. King Harold is the only one who does as ...more

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Jun 07, 2013 Martin Lake rated it really liked it

I was attracted by this book because it deals with the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings and the early years of the Norman Conquest. This is a subject I have written about so I was especially keen to read a novel which focused on the strong women who were forced to come to terms with a world where the old values and certainties were daily being swept away.

This book did not disappoint. The central characters are brought vividly to life. Their motivations are complex and make the reader wonder j ...more

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Jul 17, 2013 Jenny Barden rated it really liked it

Exquisitely crafted and meticulously researched, 'The Handfasted Wife' takes a poignant look at the lives of some of the leading women affected by the power politics and turmoil at the time of the Norman Conquest. The novel has an original focus on Edith (Elditha) Swanneck, the love-wife of Harold Godwinson, last Anglo Saxon King of England, a lady who is set aside when her husband is crowned with devastating consequences for her and her children. 'The Handfasted Wife' deals sensitively with the ...more

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