Lady of Hay

by Barbara Erskine

This masterfully crafted first novel tells the spellbinding story of a contemporary woman who discovers her past life as a 12th-century Welsh noblewoman. Erskine's extraordinary romance has been translated into 17 languages and has sold well over a million copies worldwide.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Fantasy, Historical Romance

600 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

An historian by training, Barbara Erskine is the author of six bestselling novels that demonstrate her interest in both history and the supernatural, plus two collections of short stories. Her books have appeared in at least twenty different languages. She lives with her family in an ancient manor house near Colchester, and in a cottage near Hay-on-Wye.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where I got the book: bought retail. Full price. Seriously, sometimes I do that just for laughs.

I read this book back in 1985 when it came out. I was 25. I cannot imagine this. I thought this book was AMAZING back then. I was hoping to recapture the moment...

Sigh.

You can never go back.

Plot: beautiful, talented journalist Jo (STRIKE ONE) appears to have no other purpose than to be hypnotized back into a previous life. Because absolutely EVERYONE she meets can do this. Really? I could count the number of regression hypnotists I've met on one.... hair follicle. Minus one. But when it comes to Jo, NOOOOO everyone can wave a hand and send her back to the Middle Ages, where she's a beautiful, willowy (STRIKE TWO) Lady of Hay called variously Matilda, Matilde, Maud or Moll. If nobody else is around to hypnotize her, Jo self-hypnotizes, boom, back in time before you can reach for the Scotch.

And they DO reach for the Scotch, oh yes they do, when they're not reaching for the coffee. In the contemporary parts of the novel intensely-blue-eyed (STRIKE THREE) ex-boyfriend Nick, sinister ex-boyfriend-brother-who-may-or-may-not-have-blue-eyes-but-who-cares? Sam, wimpy wannabe-boyfriend Tim and slightly-slutty-ex-boyfriend's-girlfriend Judy narrow their eyes a lot, drink much Scotch and much coffee, sleep with each other and gaze at each other with intensely blue eyes. Most of them are reincarnated, natch. Because it's PERFECTLY NORMAL to find reincarnated royalty/nobility who happen to have cassette tapes of the EXACT SAME flute music from the Middle Ages in London in 1985.

But thank heaven for the reincarnations, say I. The Middle Ages plot is the only plot in the novel, the contemporary parts being nothing but the aforesaid Scotch drinkings and eye narrowings, with a bit of driving around foggy damp Welsh hills and the occasional punch-up thrown in. The Middle Ages characters do all sorts of exciting activities, either on horseback or at swordpoint or, I was going to say in bed but the sex is pretty perfunctory, his eyes narrowed and next minute they were smoking a cigarette or drinking a post-coital Scotch kind of thing. Oh no, wait, I was in the Middle Ages so perhaps no Scotch. Damned if I know.

This is the anniversary edition, so there's a sequel short story which is over-the-top silly with lots! of! exclamation! points! Interestingly, Erskine seems at times to refute the New Age beliefs which evidently gave rise to this idea that you could simply hypnotize yourself back into the past. Or fly, depending on which drugs you were taking. The 70s were awesome.

You know, if you just stuck to the Middle Ages story you'd have a great tale of love, loss, dynastic power-mongering, rogue kings and towering castles. I only felt like screaming every time we landed back in the 1980s. Of course, if you remember the 1980s you'll sympathize with that.

Verdict: a novel that is past its prime. A humungous hit in its day, but it doesn't travel well.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, don't bother. This was such a long book. It's basically a history lesson, turned into a story, wrapped in alcohol, sex and abuse. I didn't believe the characters at all. They kept telling you that Jo is a hard hitting strong person, but in EVERY instance she is completely helpless, submissive, needy and gets walked all over. There are no consequences for any of the bad things anyone does. All of her friends are living the most ridiculously scandalous lives.
But somehow the writing did keep me reading and reading...wanting to see what the ending came to, where this was all leading. Well...it doesn't lead anywhere. The story plays out. Nothing much happens. Still no one is accountable. I can't really see that anything changed - all this talk of coming back to overcome the past or change things - and nothing really changed except that she decided to stay with the guy who had done awful things to her. And of course they all live happily ever after. Why do I waste good sleeping hours on nonsense? I'll never know.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of her very best books. It will always stay on my shelves.

[``Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine reminds me of a Michael Bolton song.

Have you ever listened to one of his songs before? For those lucky ones that haven't been exposed to his over-wrought to the point of ridiculous screaming that passes for singing count yourself lucky!

Here's a link to one of his 'hits' for those into aural torture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFood...
If you can make it to near the end of this song that's where this outrage comes into its own.

"Lady of Hay" by Barbara Erskine reminds me of a Michael Bolton song because at times this author is over-dramatic to the extreme. Otherwise I did enjoy the drama and suspense and wouldn't mind reading another book by Erskine. For those into a whole lot of drama you won't be displeased with this one.

Fascinating plot for those into time-travel historical fiction/romance. I would class this as historical fiction since along with all the pathos, I learned a great deal about Wales and King John of England.

Yes, that nasty piece of work King John that Robin Hood and his merry men fought against and even his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine couldn't love. The cruel King that enjoyed torturing his enemies to death resulting in his noble barons joining together to force John to sign the Magna Carta.

The famous document that demanded that all Englishmen be brought before a jury of their peers when charged with a crime, instead of the Monarch killing a nobleman and stealing his property.

Reading Lady of Hay you will meet King John up close and personal as well as learn so much about the reign of probably the worst King of England ever.

The basic premise is that modern day Joanna undergoes hypnosis to see if there's such thing as past lives. She's is traumatically introduced to a past life as Matilda, Lady of Hay, who constantly rebuffs King John's amorous attempts. Sadly King John is not one to take rejection very well at all.

In real time Jo's boyfriend Nick's brother Sam, also loves Jo uses his hypnotic control over her in a Svengali fashion due to being insanely jealous of his brother Nick.

These same 3 men are also important men in Matilda, Lady of Hay's past life. Which one is her
unhygienic older husband, her lover Richard, or King John himself?

Believe me, you'll keep turning the pages to find out whether or not Jo can thwart and survive being victim to the murderous King John once again in her real life as Joanna. I hope this all made sense?

I couldn't have picked a better or more atmospheric book to read during the cold, rainy weather whilst curled up in bed wearing a warm flannel gown and with flannel sheets on the bed. I look forward to reading more of this delightful author's books too!

Someone please tell me that the English people don't chug down a bottle of Scotch every day and probably more when the going gets rough?

The first thing the main characters in this book did upon arriving home after a difficult day is frantically say to one another "Where's the Scotch?" I'm not passing judgement here but I'm just curious to know the customs of English speaking folks in England as compared to English speaking Americans - where this would probably be regarded as kinda sinful behavior and not something you'd want to reveal to the neighbors or friends from work.

It would be regarded as a moral weakness and grounds for being fired if someone indulges in a drink or 2 during lunch and returns to work with liquor on the breath.

I liked this book a lot, even though I think the drama could have been cut by a 100 pages or so. I had to question why Jo remained in an abusive relationship with one of these modern men too. Probably to advance the plot and suspense but the author relied on this device a bit too much for my taste.
Otherwise I would have given this book 5 stars.

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had all been in Matilda's past and skipped the stuff in the present time. The idea of regression was interesting, but it got to be a bit much after a while. I mean, how many people do you know that are experienced hypnotists? And Jo was hypnotized by was it four or five different people? That did become a bit of a stretch towards the end of the book. Also, unless I missed something, I don't think Sam's obsession with the whole Jo/Matilda thing was explained to my satisfaction. How did he become so evil -- to the point of harming his brother.

You should be advised that this is not your "true" historical fiction. Matilda, William De Braose, Richard, etc. were real people, but as the author notes at the end not all that happened in the book to Jo/Matilda actually happened to the real Matilda. I almost didn't read this book because of what really happened to Matilda -- yes she was held prisoner with her son and they starved to death but the story ended a bit more gruesome than that, if what I read in SKP's Welsh trilogy is true. I was relieved that Erskine left that part out. Otherwise an interesting read, I blew through it quickly. Four stars instead of five for the inconsistencies.

[Ingrid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've really struggled with this book. It's a little like Outlander which I didn't enjoy much either.If the abuse, rape and submission of women only happens in the 13th century I can live with it, but not today. Besides, the main female character acted as if she had no brains at all.

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a reread for me. I read this when it first came out, loved it then and still love it now.
It’s a typical Barbara Erskine book, dual time line but an interesting read. It holds you all the way through.

[Roselani · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time i read this i was blown away. Each chapter revealing more and more to me. The characters being swept up in this irrealistic plot, yet believably, and it was breathtaking. The female lead was bravely trusting her heart in explosive situations. The writing and settings swept me along. Revelation after revelation kept me turning the pages. years ago I would have given this a five.
Just read it for the second time and i found it to be the most offensive, misogynistic literature i have read in a while. And this story wants a happy picket-fence ending after all that. There was nothing learned, nor any consequences from any of their actions. The woman never defends herself nor make the men in her life account for thier violent behavior. What!? I think knowing where the story goes and who each character is, made me notice all of the drinking and abuse- ON EVERY PAGE. The reveals and plot twist were not enough to distract me from that a second time around, and now i can not in good conscience recommend this to anyone again.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. Interesting how most people really loved this book. Because I am a lover of historical fiction, Lady of Hay has been on my reading list for some time. I recalled it being a big bestseller back in the 80s when it was first published. I'm giving it 3 stars for potential, but it's really a 2-star. At first I thought perhaps I don't like time travel since I hated The Time Traveler's Wife, but I love Diana Gabaldon's books and it wasn't the time travel in Lady of Hay I disliked. It was just too long, too repetitive, and all the characters, who were supposed to be highly successful, "hard-hitting" professionals, were so weak-minded they could be thrown into trances in a split second by just looking at a glass of booze... in fact, I am not sure that they weren't simply besotted rather than entranced. They drank themselves into blithering idiots, absolute boozers, all of them. I was so sick of Jo's turmoil over Nick... he was a loser - THAT was romance? There were no surprises and the only time I was moved by the modern-day people or the 12th Century characters, was when I was moved to lay the book down and hope it got better. I hate to be a spoil sport but if you want to read great historical fiction, read The Fatal Crown by Ellen Jones, or The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healy - I assure you, you'll see Lady of Hay as pure tripe.

[liirogue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really struggled to read this. Like many others, I found the historical story, that of Matilda, much more interesting than the current-day events. But the current-day storyline is what really ruined it for me. All of the characters were completely unlikable and downright psychotic.

Nike brutally rapes and repeatedly attacks Jo, but he claims to love her. Jo conveniently moves past all that and they end up happily ever after.

Why was Sam completely off his rocker? No good explanation is ever given, other than spirit possession.

What was the point of Richard de Clare and Tim? Matilda falls in love with someone she can't have and royally screws her life up? Jo screws Tim because he used to be Richard, and then he conveniently melts away into the background to moan and rend his clothing in an appropriately helpless way?

And Jo... what a weak, co-dependent, neurotic "heroine."

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I read Lady of Hay was 1989. It was a best-seller then and the start of Barbara Erskine's career. I loved this book then and it is still as good as I remember. It is a book about past-life regression and reincarnation to make right the wrongs that were committed in the past. A lot more books on this topic have been written by BE and other authors and I have read and enjoyed them. This one is still one of my favorites. It is a long book with two intertwining story lines. The stories both have resolutions but not every question is answered so the reader is left to come to his or her own conclusions. The story has aged well. Of course technology has come a long way since it was first written but it would not have been the same book if written now. Highly recommended!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

I do love a Barbara Erskine book. In my opinion, I think she is an under-rated writer with not enough exposure. Whilst this was a lengthy read, I still enjoyed the historical journey that Erskine takes her readers on.

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Jo Clifford, a C20th journalist, who is regressed under hypnosis and finds she has lived before in the C12th, as Matilda, Lady of Hay. Matilda died a terrible death at the hands of King John. She also suffered the abuse of her husband William de Braose and had an illicit love affair with a knight, Richard de Clare.

The pain and suffering of Matilda's life threaten to take over Jo's, as she finds herself spontaneously regressing and reliving Matilda's life. The plot is complicated by the presence of three men in Jo's life who seem to be the reincarnations of John, William and Richard.

This book reminded me of Anya Seton's Green Darkness, with the way in which the characters in the present are affected by their lives in the past. I enjoyed the historical setting of the book - it is set during the same time and place as Sharon Penman's Welsh Princes trilogy and has many of the same characters.

I do think the book could have been much shorter. There seemed to be a lot of repetition that could have been avoided. A large number of characters are quite unlikeable but intriguing. Parts of the ending surprised me, being a lot darker than I had expected. It was an absorbing enough read but not a great book.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love historical fiction, and time travel books have always been favourites of mine.
This book... I don't know if the subject matter is horrendously dated because it was written in the 80s, but it was one of the most hideously offensive, misogynistic books I've ever had the misfortune to read.

The lead character (who's such a twit, I could scream) allows one of her love interests to beat, abuse, and rape her with zero consequences whatsoever, and she actually wants to be with him after that? Men mistreat women left, right, and centre in this novel, and all that happens is a bit of sighing here and there.

I'll be honest and admit that I didn't finish the book: I gave it back to my friend in utter disgust when I was about 3/4 of the way through, and suggested that if she wasn't going to use it as kindling, I would.

[Dimity · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. Time travel books are generally a favorite treat of mine and although this book is not technically about time travel, it is close enough to be included in that genre for book lists on Goodreads, where I first heard of it. I found the book’s reliance and description of hypnotism to be unrealistic bordering on cheesy. I also was bothered by the undertones of violence against women, as mentioned by at least one other reviewer. This book seemed to take forever to end and I thought about not finishing it several times but by then I was several hundred pages in and decided to slog through. I think the medieval Margaret of Hay (and the rest of the medieval cast of characters) is much better written and more interesting than the characters living in 1980s London. The contemporary characters read like caricatures of a 1980s soap opera cast and I found little to like or be intrigued by them. The segments of the book that take place in the twelfth century were much more interesting and enjoyable for me.

This book’s cheese factor increased with the page count and climaxed with what was to me, a completely unsatisfying conclusion. I am completely willing to suspend my disbelief for a book with a similar plot but this book was just too long for the story it told and too poorly written for me to like.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to talk about my favorite book, LADY OF HAY, by Barbara Erskine. I don't know if you have read it, and if you haven't, you need to. (spoiler alert!) It is the story of a woman who discovers that she has memories of a previous life. I won't go too far into it, since I hope you will read it, but let's just say that it's a great story. It is based upon the life of a real person, and that person is an ancestor of Barbara Erskine.




I understand that Barbara has a college degree in medieval history, and that gave her the background for a lot of the story. I'm sure she also did extensive research. What made the book so interesting to me is the level of detail included in the story. Before I read the book, I had no great interest in medieval history, and the book was so fascinating to me, that my whole attitude changed and I did extensive research into medieval history myself, after I finished the book.




That is one of the compelling reasons that I read, and I write. A writer can spark interest in a reader where there was none, and can, literally, change that reader's perspective, and, in some cases, change that reader's life.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made me seriously angry. I don't understand how we are suppossed to forgive the love interest's abuse of the heroine (I would have more to say but there would be spoilers). The characters spiraled out of control and the story went from somewhat beleivable to totally whack (if you will forgive the phrase). The parts that were written about the past were extremely interesting, but how it related to the present and the control of the past over the present were ridiculous.

[Paigersoccerfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a very hard book to put down, even though there were things i didn't like about it. I just had to keep reading to find out how it would all end. I had one big problem with it, however. It really bothered me that Prince John was supposedly in love with Matilda. Who needs love like that? That was more about wanting something he couldn't have, lust and ownership, than love. If he had loved her he would not have raped her, so brutally. There was no love in that, only rage. I had the impression that if he had been the least bit gentle and tried to seduce her instead of force her, she might have fallen for him. How could he have loved her without even trying to get to know her? It would have been a much more satisfying book to me, if the author had shown more of a relationship between them. It was a very interesting book, but Nick/Prince John was a little too creepy for me. It was an ugly obsession.
I much prefer Sharon K. Penman's King John, in Here Be Dragons, to this one.

[Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has been a long time since a book has made me so angry.

Barbara Erskine's attitude towards abuse and sexual violence is abhorrent. It wasn't the rape in the flashbacks that got to me - in a way that was to be expected, if gratuitous in its description. No, it was the justification of rape in the modern day. The inference that it's ok to rape someone if they've made you angry and you love them really. Particularly if you've lived together for a while - it's not even rape then, really. He's just confused, poor man. Oh and as long as your abusive partner and rapist can blame his anger management problems on someone else, you should totally marry him and bear his children. That's a really good idea, honestly.

What the fuck Barbara Erskine? 760 pages of this misogynist bullshit? Seriously?

Enough.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have had this book on my shelves for a long time, having picked it up in a charity shop at some point. I knew it was a huge bestseller in the 1980s which I think launched the author's career. On the face of it, it is a 'timeslip' story which alternates constantly between the 12th century and 1980s England through the medium of the female protagonist, Joanna. Initially, she is hypnotised as part of an experiment in pastlife regression and proves very susceptible. Eventually she becomes so adept that she self-hypnotises even when she doesn't want to immerse herself in the life of her 12th century alter-ego Matilda.

I hadn't read a great deal of the book before I discovered that it must be the 1980s equivalent of Three Shades of Grey. There is a huge amount of sexual and other abuse of women in which the women are compliant, even at times slightly turned on, whether that is in the past or the present. Joanna remains in love with the chief male protagonist, Nick, even though he has raped her at least once - I lost track in the end - and sliced her arm up on a broken vase or whatever and all sorts of other abuse. He also 'loves' her despite his behaviour. His evil brother Sam (and why Sam has a longstanding hatred of Nick is never explained) hypnotises Nick to convince him he is the reincarnation of Prince, later King John, of Magna Carta fame. In history, John condemned Matilda to a terrible death and Sam tells him he must kill her again, seemingly as part of a plot to have Nick certified as dangerously insane. By a vast coincidence it seems that Nick really is the reincarnation of John. His first - very brutal - rape of Joanna occurs before he is hypnotised. In keeping with the twisted attitudes displayed in this book, it transpires that John fancied Matilda like mad despite also hating her, and in fact still "loves" her 800 years later.

Amazingly Sam is the reincarnation of Matilda's abusive husband. He also inflicts various abuse on Joanna under hypnosis, and tries to manipulate the historical story although there is some doubt thrown on whether such encounters were truly part of it - at one point, Joanna finds the tape of flute music he had used as a background while abusing her and reflects that it would be anachronistic for the period when Matilda lived. But in his twisted way, Sam it seems also 'loves' Joanna and is certainly obsessed with her and her previous incarnation. Likewise, the man with whom he identifies is an unfeeling brute. To stretch the reader's credulity further, there is yet a third man who is another character from Matilda's story. Weak and ineffectual, he is the reincarnation of the man whom she really loved in the 12th century. At least the sex she has with him is consensual, which makes a nice change.

As if all this wasn't bad enough, the writing standard is poor. Huge numbers of sentences begin with the present tense with the character doing something, then continue with a whole series of actions which they can't possibly carry out while still doing the first action. This is a tic of the author's that jumped out at me all the time and was really annoying. You can't, for example, start a sentence with "Parking the car ...." then have the character climb out and walk off somewhere else - they would be doing this while still parking the car. Or they are brushing their hair while taking clothes out of a wardrobe, getting dressed and walking downstairs. There were masses of such instances. And on just about every page set in the 1980s, the characters are making and/or drinking coffee. On the ones where they aren't, they are knocking back scotch. No one even drinks tea for a bit of variety - something the British were well known for at the time. The modern day characters were all cliches out of 1980s soap operas, especially the London based 'professional' ones who drive the main pivot of the action of the framing story. We are constantly told that Joanna is a no-nonsense hard-hitting journalist, while in reality she is a wimp who is so pathetic she doesn't even get her locks changed when her ex-boyfriend and his brother keep letting themselves into her apartment. The two people on the smallholding who try to help Joanna are more sympathetic, but have a tiny part in the story and are probably based on the main characters in BBC's "The Good Life" programme which was very popular at the time.

I read on to find out how Matilda comes to her grisly end - we had been told at the beginning about the tragedy affecting her and her eldest son - and to see if the book was really as awful as it initially seemed. The historical parts are much more interesting than the multiple 'love' triangle/bed hopping, 1980s framework, which has a lot of repetitive driving around, booking into pubs and bed and breakfast places, and visiting castles. By itself, the 12th century material could have worked as an historical novel. However, my recollection is that at the time publishers were not receptive to the genre. The only such novels available were library copies of Jean Plaidy, Dorothy Dunnett and other such writers, because publishers believed there was 'no market' for such a genre and created a self-fulfilling prophecy by not publishing it.

The historical genre finally made a come-back thanks to the pioneering efforts of Edith Pargeter under the name "Ellis Peters" - her Cadfael murder mysteries set in medieval times were hugely popular, helped by the very good TV series, and created a whole subgenre of historical crime, with more and more publishers rushing to get onto the bandwaggon. I think maybe they still didn't think there was a market for actual historical or historical romance novels when 'Lady of Hay' was published but thought they would try something hybrid like this, and so it found an audience among a readership crying out for new historical fiction. That would account for its huge success at the time. Unfortunately there is just too much misogyny for the modern reader to overlook. So I can only give it a one star rating, and it earns that mainly on the slightly more interesting material about Matilda and a quite attractive cover.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this many years ago and gave it a five star rating, but it hasn't stood the test of time well unfortunately. Possibly Barbara Erskine's best known book, I would give it 3.5 for the historical detail, even though a proportion was fictional. But the horribly misogynistic male characters were just awful, using hypnotism and regression as an excuse to assault and abuse the females in the book. And the women weren't particularly likeable either. Glad that her more recent books are much better than this one.

[HÜLYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Müthiş bir kurgusu vardı.Bazı yerlerde gereksiz uzatma vardı...Yine de çok beğendim....Jo gibi bende zihnimi boşaltsam çağlar gerisine gidebilirmiyim diye çok düşündüm..

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a book of its time. It is a fascinating idea, but becomes a bit too silly when EVERY male character turns out to be someone related to Jo's past life. It gets to the point where it's funny because it's SO absurd, which completely undercuts what I feel the author is trying to do (a fairly complex argument about history and repetition). The real issue for me is that it needs an editor something chronic - it could have done all of this in about half as many pages (the writing itself also could use a tune-up, particularly in the opening passages of every chapter. This may be the publisher's fault, though.). It is certainly not one of the better historical novels out there by any stretch of the imagination (if you need truly good female-authored historical fiction about properly powerful heroines, you need to read Katherine Clements), but it is fascinating as a good example of where women's historical fantasy was in the mid 1980s.

Also, it's worth mentioning the book probably needs a TW for rape and sexual assault/abuse. It's not explicit, but it is there and it is constant.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping I would like this book, as it is my favorite genre of historical fiction. I did find it fairly enjoyable for that reason but with some large irritating flaws:
1 why is a strong modern woman getting raped past and present by the men in her life and then just getting on with these guys as if nothing much really happened, I understood why they got away with this in the past.. but in present day? it is just to hard to believe. Maybe this is the problem with 80's romance.
2 there seems to be very little editing and the book goes on and on. the scenes in past times are the most enjoyable.
3 why does it take sooo long to become obvious to her who the modern day version of the past men in her lives are- the heroines complete lack of insight is irritating.
It would have been helpful for the author to give more buildup of why John is in love with her, in love enough to last 800 years. Similarly, william is obsessed with her enough to follow her forward 800 years but in the past all we see of there relationship is his dislike and distance. Lastly the only romance that is built up in the past -richard is completely marginalized in the future-

[Adrie Ashford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Erskine has a great premise, but her characters utterly bludgeon it to death, both in this century and 800 years ago. The female lead is a paper doll that the male characters endlessly manipulate, and secondary characters jump into the action with introduction or precedence. I have no idea if the book redeems itself, because I got two-thirds of the way through before resorting to throwing it against the wall and not finishing. All in all, this is a huge disappointment of a time travel novel.

[Pauline Reid]

Okey dokey ... well I'm dnfing this audiobook, I'm loving the story, the concept, the story building, but I'm listening to this as an audiobook, and oh!! Ugggh the voice over in this just stinks, it's like hearing fingers run down a chalk board, its grating on my nerves and this is not what I invest in when listening to an audiobook... so ... this will still stay on my list as a re visit either ebook or paperback.

[Vanessa Wester · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not rated a book this low in a long time and there is a good reason for this. Some of you may not agree, but as a reader I am entitled to my opinion.

Basically, I just didn't connect with any of the characters or their situations.

It was way too long, the constant present-past flashbacks gave me whiplash, and the brutality of the men was harsh and cold. The build-up led you believe more would happen, but ended with a disappointing flat finale!

It took me 12-13 hours to read (thank you kindle) and they felt like such a waste of my time. I will not waste anymore writing a longer review, but ultimately when a story comes to a close I do not expect it to die a death like it did.

This might do it for others, but it did not press any of my buttons.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really struggling to write anything positive about this book. Please stay away from it if you are disturbed by rape scenes. Honestly, the amount of sexual/mental/emotional abuse going on is horrendous. I believe this was the norm in books written 30 years ago. I can only say thank god things have changed.

Lovely descriptions of Wales, somewhere I’ve been but don’t remember because I was too young. Erskine always writes haunting landscapes very well. The historical storyline is much more bearable than the 80’s one, but honestly, I can’t recommend this.

[Eadie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating story which switched from the present day to the 12th century. Barbara Erskine's writing is easy to read and brings history to life. The characters were very believable and their emotions were transferred to the reader. The plot was intriguing and allowed for a page-turner which was unputdownable until the last page. I look forward to reading another of Erskine's books and recommend this one to those who love historical fiction mixed with adventure and romance.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one should be measured in dog years: it took that much off my life, proportionally. Horrible. Can't spend anymore time on this one, even to complain about it.