The Blood Remembers

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Summary: The Blood Remembers
Review: The author succeeds in spanning 800 years as she tells the story of Rose, a jewelry designer who lives in Santa Monica, and Rosamonde, a medieval woman who has been sent to Sicily to be a surrogate mother in ther court of King William of Sicily. I don't want to tell too much more to spoil the story for any one reading this review. The author is like the magician, Michael Scot, a character in the book, as she tells Rose Kirkland's tale-part quest, part mystery, part romance. I also learned a lot about the history of the Normans and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. I was sorry when I arrived at the last page of this rich and satisfying novel.

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Summary: A perfect blend
Review: The Blood Remembers is a perfect blend of historical fact and fantasy. The imagery is detailed but not boring. The two story line is fasinating and the style of writing was smooth and almost musical. I was completely captivated by this novel and couldn't put it down. It is intelligent, well researched, and exciting. I won't let the story out because it is best told by the author!

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Summary: A superbly written debut novel
Review: Urged by her husband Matthew to find a surrogate mother to bear their child, Rose Kirkland experiences a medieval woman's voice invading her life and compels her to leave home and travel to Oxford England, and then to Vieste, her father's birthplace in southern Italy. Rose arrives at the Norman Castle of Pirou where she unexpectedly discovers a link to her own existence with that disembodied voice as past and present collide in a time-travel odyssey of self-discovery and desire. The Blood Remembers is a superbly written debut novel by Terry Stanfill and documents her from first page to last as a writer of great storytelling abilities.