The Marsh King's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: A story without feeling
Review: This book started out very well and went downhill quickly. Meriel and Nicholas fall in love basically from sight only. This is not love it is lust. Meriel is far from being a heroin. Granted her husband Robert was a villain but she committs adultery with Nicholas thinking Robert is a nice man and doesn't even know he is evil almost till the end of the book. I found the heroine selfish and lacking any trait I find desirable in someone I am supposed to be cheering for. There was almost no dialogue between Meriel and Nicholas which makes it difficult for the reader to root for the two to get together. There is much more I could say I found lacking in this book but in general, the feelings a reader should be able to share with the characters in the book were nonexistant.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This one was as good as "The Champion", which says alot as I thought it to be one of the best novels I've ever read. If you like a bit of knowledge mixed in with your enjoyment, you'll love "The Marsh King's Daughter".

Rating:
Summary: Another 5 star Chadwick saga
Review: This one was as good as "The Champion", which says alot as I thought it to be one of the best novels I've ever read. If you like a bit of knowledge mixed in with your enjoyment, you'll love "The Marsh King's Daughter".

Rating:
Summary: True to life but not so
Review: This was a story that seemed to follow the way of life in the Middle Ages; during the reign of King John and Henry. It doesn't give romance or value to life that we have nowadays; anyone whos anyone is at deaths disposal. The story also reminds of womens rights back then; there were none. If you were born out of wedlock, or an adulteress, there was little recourse; esp. for the lower classes. The story strives for realism; but I feel the love story part between Miriel and Nicholas is a wee bit more fantastical than keeping with the rest of the story. Which is fine, right? So its well written.
Miriel has made some tough decisions and they are not always to her profit; however, as a woman---and a bastard runaway, she had little choice and her vision of the world is skewed. Her story is pretty sad. But I can see a sort of pattern of survival.
Its almost the same as Scarlett O'Hara's!
Nicholas' story is not as sad; I half wanted him to live happily with Magdalene. That part was bittersweet. Does Miriel really deserve him? I don't know. But does she deserve to be happy? YES.

The story: Miriel is sent to the convent against her wishes. She finds Nicholas, a survivor of Johns treasure train disaster and nurses him back to health. When he leaves the convent, she wants to go to. Is desperate to. He grudgingly allows her to come along and thus their adventure begins; together and seperately then together again throughout the novel. Very graphic in descriptions.