Newly posted 5* review to Goodreads (27th Feb) by Lisl for THE BELTANE CHOICE. My thanks to Lisl for taking the time to post such an excellent opinion of my historical novel.
In ancient Britain bitter weather, harsh conditions and tribal
inter-fighting conspired with other elements to make life difficult and
cumbersome. Beltane, therefore, was a welcome diversion, certainly for
many reasons, amongst them the community-wide celebration of oncoming
summer and the freedoms it ushered in. Occurring in May, modern peoples
could relate to the anticipation and joy of the season, replete with
symbols of new life, light and plenty. Lovers united, the sun waxed its
power and people prepared animals and household goods for the time when
winter would once more secure its chilly embrace. It is in expectation
of this time in A.D. 71 that Nancy Jardine sets her account of Nara of
the Selgovae, whose first words in the book are uttered to a wild boar:
“You have my spear and my sword, but you will not have my life.” Nara’s
declamation immediately tells of her strength as well as humor, despite
being wracked with frustration at her predicament—namely being stuck in a
tree, shortly to be felled by a boar she had the misfortune to
encounter.
As
The Beltane Choice opens Nara playfully
foresees reality when a handsome stranger rescues her, resulting in
immediate mutual attraction, despite her own inexperience with the
opposite sex. Nara, however, is reticent about divulging her own
information apart from her general identity, and the would-be lovers
discover they come from enemy tribes. Believing he may have a worthy
bargaining tool in Nara, Lorcan of Garrigill takes the girl as his
prisoner; over the course of several days the two head for the Garrigill
stronghold, where he plans to develop his strategy for repelling the
approaching Roman army. During this time the pair slowly begin to learn
about one another and both are beset by conflicting and confusing
sentiments. It is a journey rife with displays of anger and emotional
outbursts on the parts of Lorcan as well as Nara.
Here Jardine
expertly establishes in her narrative the method of cross perspectives, a
potentially tricky technique given the confusion that so often results
in the attempt to streamline characters’ perceptions into dialogue and
passages. No such difficulty here, partly because of the protagonists’
opposing viewpoints, but also owing to the smooth flow of their
dialogue. The author masterfully handles the speech with language that
feels genuine without being foreign. Months are measured in moons, age
in winters. She also maintains a masterful balance between a reader- and
writer-friendly storyline, utilizing such words as bannock and bratt,
terms that may be unfamiliar but which populate sentences that draw us
into the world they inhabit. Within this journey the reader so often
instinctively comprehends, frequently without the registration that this
was ever lacking in the first place.
As inhabitants of this
world, that is the 21st century, it would be difficult not to be aware
of the divide between representations of men and women in an earlier
era, and those of our own time. Men who treat women with respect often
are believed to have only recently popped into existence; before their
arrival, males of the world were cruel or indifferent, without exception
imposing their will onto the females of their societies.
Unfortunately,
in many or even most instances, this was indeed true. However, history
does tell of not a few women who broke from their received roles and the
men who valued their subsequent contributions. While these men and
women may be statistical anomalies, historically speaking, they are not
unusual. Therefore, to happen upon men in
The Beltane Choice
who show consideration towards women strengthens the story, especially
given Jardine’s treatment of them. They are in fact products of their
time, but the author is clever enough to recognize that an insightful
man intuits value where he sees it. None of the characters pretend to
pander to our sensibilities: Lorcan’s father is an irascible old man,
short and stinging with his words, but an able leader who is dismayed
and disgusted when he learns of another chief’s horrific treatment of
his own daughter. Tully is wise enough to know the worth of a gifted
woman, even if her own father did not.
But Jardine also keeps it
authentic: as in real life, it takes all kinds, and readers come across
able and productive men, as well as those who simply take from life
without thought to the consequences, for themselves or others. In
Garrigill Nara the Selgovae is attacked by two who resent her
presence—perhaps also her beauty—and are later punished for the deed.
While an important episode that highlights the suspicion of and
willingness to harm anything foreign, the episode and its aftermath
remain undeveloped, which is unfortunate owing to the import of
recognizing such episodes that mar or weaken unity against common
enemies. Nara’s beauty, recognized by all, exists on multiple levels,
and despite her sometimes-poor choices with regard to action or
response, she is shown to be keen and level headed, thoughtful and
deliberate.
Such is her way in how she considers the upcoming
Beltane festival and the choice she will have to make regarding a lover.
Will she have a choice? What of the Roman army marching on the
settlement where she is held captive? And her native estate? How does
all this impact the array of emotions she feels in response to Lorcan,
her captor? He is absolutely smitten with her, though he, too,
experiences conflict within and without. He is dedicated to his father
and the safety of their tribe, but wants to have Nara as well. He
realizes his plan has gone awry and he, too, considers the future with
apprehension.
Nancy Jardine has woven a tale as complex as the
Celtic knot that graces the book’s cover. Winding and illusory, readers
may see one circumstance, but events intercede to disabuse us of any
notion that this is a simple story. The endless and unified nature of
the cover illustration reflects the events occurring in the lives of
those in
The Beltane Choice, individually and as humans who
experience these occasions across time. And, like the winding knot that
appears as sheer simplicity but is much more beneath, the smooth
passage from Nara’s entrapment by the boar to her ultimate choice, the
author utilizes language in a way both straightforward and elegant.
I
would be remiss to omit any sort of detail about the sexual tension
that runs through the entire book and moments in which Nara and Lorcan’s
indecisive attractions teeter on a precipice. The suggestive nature of
the wording is very much like the Celtic knot as discussed above: on one
level very evocative and at times openly sensual. But to leave it at
that would be less than honest, because it is also lovely and metered,
occasionally blatant, as reflected in the pair’s actual experiences.
More suitable to the abilities of a mature reader—one who can rise above
mere titillation—it is the poetry of two bodies, articulated perhaps as
those of the era, with their sexual sensibilities, may have expressed
it. It is also crucial to note that Nara and Lorcan both see it as much
more than a mere physical act—though they are honest with themselves
(and us) and do not deny this aspect—incorporating into their possible
union the future at the heart of the Beltane choice—and
The Beltane Choice.
