Guest Review: A Knight’s Captive by Lindsay Townsend

In the year 1066, England struggles against Norman invaders and two strangers cross paths on a piligrimages fraught with peril – only to discover a love worth any danger.

Battle-weary knight Marc de Sens has never encountered a woman like Sunniva of Wereford: beautiful, brilliant, and miles above the curs who call themselves her kin. Alas, she is promised to another and Marc’s obligation is to his three orphaned nieces. But when Sunniva’s circumstances suddenly change, Marc learns the truth about her “betrothal”.

A rough-hewn knight so gentle with children intrigues Sunniva, who never knew a kind word or caring touch from any man until Marc rescued her from the grimmest of fates. When her loutish father and brothers are killed, Sunniva is finally free, but her troubles are far from over. Although Marc has appointed himself her protector, he has a dark secret – as well as an uncanny ability to disarm her completely…

A Knight’s Captive by Lindsay Townsend. Set in the time period of William the Conqueror (1066) this is a very readable novel about a battle-weary knight from France going on pilgrimage with his three young nieces, seeking release of his spirit because of all the gore and horror of the Crusades as well as his guilt over not saving his brother and sister-in-law in a recent fire–one that made their three daughters orphans. In the group of pilgrims Sir Marc de Sens encounters a cruel father and brothers of a young woman named Sunniva, one who is thoughtfully accepting the demands and curses of her male relatives while artfully responding in words of humor and good grace. Her maturity and persistent good spirits attract the knight and over a course of weeks they are thrown together more and more. He, of course, is not only attracted to her sweet spirit and apparently acceptance of her lot in life, but — what else — her lovely physique. He finds he is wanting to protect her from those who would have abducted her for sale to a brothel, and having done so, becomes her protector on frequent occasions, not the least of which is protection from her twin half-brothers who were beating her and attempting to rape her and who have learned their manners from their father, believing that women are there to receive and glory in physical and mental abuse.

This book is kind of different — it is thoroughly researched historically and for that I am truly appreciative. However, it seems cast in the mold of the classic Greek tragedy for a time — things just seem to go from bad to worse as the country seeks to accept and adjust to the defeat of King Harold, the Saxon ruler, to the begin of the reign of the Normans. (The people really didn’t accept that change for several hundreds of years in reality.) The book is well written in many ways and I would say that the culture and politics of the times carries the story along as well as the activities of the main characters.

I have to own up to liking this knight. He is a grand mixture of anger at the mistreatment of the fair sex while demonstrating a gentility of nature and expression toward his nieces as well as patience with the latent memories which cause them all to be subject to nightmares and the trauma of knowing that their parents died a horrible death. Townsend doesn’t back away from the avarice that is so well-documented among the courts of the Dark Ages and puts the main characters square in the middle. Their relationship is the bright spot in the book and I like that. de Sens, Sunniva, and the three girls really do form a family and their bond in the midst of some very trying circumstances stands out beautifully.

I really did like this book. I can’t say it was my favorite all time read, but I know that when I was called away because of my responsibilities elsewhere I did want to get back to the book as soon as possible. Of course, who wouldn’t like to read rather than do office work?

I would happily give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Zebra. You can buy it here or here in e-format.