Drustan the Wanderer a Novel Based on the Story of Tristan and Isolde

by Anna Taylor

Book by Taylor, Anna

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reworking of Tristan and Isolde goes back to the simpler roots of the tale, where the Romans are a not too distant memory and the Christia

n god is set to strike down the Old Religion. There's something about the language in this book that kept me turning page after page, long after I should have been in bed. The voices are at once modern and timeless. Drustan (Tristan) has a hypnotic way of telling his tale, which reminds us of his bardic training.

For the first time in the tale I questioned the efficacy of the love philtre - maybe they were meant to be from the start. There a innumerable levels love here - courtly, sensual, familial...

It saddens me that this is out of print.

[Ero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've reread this many times since I was a kid. (There's some interesting sexuality that went right over my head then- the main character is an odd mix of nonsexual and bisexual, and most the other characters seem willing to sleep with just about anyone who comes along). A nice blend of early-1970s romantic despair and well-researched Arthurian historical fiction. A good sense of place and time with intriguing period details (the onset of Christianity into pagan tribal Ireland, for instance), though the setting doesn't interfere too much with the storytelling, which is light and somewhat folktale-like.

I have a tendency to read this in one sitting. The book is very goth, focusing as it does on doomed poets and tormented love. What's not to like?