Told in crisscrossing storylines, this novel displays the intricacy of the history and personality of the protagonists by turns revealing and concealing details, always teasing the reader with glimpses of this or that. Kingston is remarkably skilled in keeping the reader always on tenterhooks as her story wends its way through circumstances, events, and people.
The Welsh word hiraeth is what this book is all about. It is a deep abiding hunger for what one has lost and that means everything to who they are. Both protagonists are searching for a return to the days of their youth, when they were safe and protected, when life was simpler and wants were more commonplace. While he yearns for the home he left behind in Wales, she yearns to be reunited with her younger sister. Their journey together towards their destiny is one strewn with love and heartbreak.
Nan, lately of Morency, is an uncommon girl. Unearthly beautiful, resolute, and extremely talented in the fighting arts, she is journeying to Lincoln in search of her younger sister, whom she had promised on her mother’s deathbed to look after. Circumstances had separated them, but Nan is determined to be with Bea again. She rarely speaks, because she discovered early on, that as a serving girl, she was more eloquent with her silences than her words. She feels very fortunate that she has had two highborn ladies who intervened to save her life when she was in danger of losing her way.
Gruffydd ab Iorwerth ap Cynan Goch is a Welsh prince in exile who has sworn fealty to King Edward of England. He was taken hostage by the king as punishment for his father’s rebellion. Luckily, Gryff was raised in the tolerant home of Lancaster, a Norman baron and apprenticed to the falconer. Being of naturally patient and calm temperament, he was ideally suited to make a success in falconry. Unfortunately, his father’s further rebellion puts his life in danger and he escapes to a monastery.
Nan and Gryff meet with him chained to a post while she is surrounded by blood, not her own, as she saves his life and hers from a band of marauders. Noting how close to death he is, she takes him under her wing on the journey to Lincoln, where he goes to find a dear friend from his fostering years and she goes to find her sister.
The most attractive thing about Nan is her competence. No matter what she does, fighting with her daggers, roasting birds, or discovering byways to her destination, she is wholly self-sufficient and confident. She has no need of other people, so the only reason she chooses to have Gryff accompany her on her journey to Lincoln and thence to Wales is for companionship, and perhaps, because she can be of help to him. She likes being useful, and assuming the role of protector suits her inclination.
Both Nan and Gryff are both strong, and yet, when one is vulnerable, the other is stalwart. When one of them is disturbed, they draw comfort and strength from the other’s calm patience. When one is slow to trust, the other shores up their courage. They each help ground the other into the moment. That it is done unconsciously makes the bone-deep trust they have for each other all the more precious. Their relationship is not one where they try hard to come together or make it work. Their connection comes of its own accord, as unrelenting as it is inevitable. Their bond is at once steadfast and unshakable — their belonging to each other has no beginning and no end.
How Gryff manages to defy the king while keeping his head and how he foregrounds his love for his people, his lands, and Nan above all else is a tale worth savoring.
I could rhapsodize about this book for eons, but instead of reading my words, I urge you to read the author’s. It will be an experience quite out of the ordinary.