The Champion

by Elizabeth Chadwick

Alexander de Montroi, a knight skilled in love and war, joins his brother Hervi in Normandy. He soon has a passionate night with Monday, a young girl in Hervi's guardianship, that leaves her pregnant and betrayed. By chance the two meet years later and must face the wrath of unexpected adversaries.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Medieval, Romance, Historical Romance, Fiction, British Literature

499 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 1997

About the author

Best selling historical novelist Elizabeth Chadwick won a Betty Trask Award for her first novel The Wild Hunt. She has been shortlisted for the UK's mainstream Best Romantic Novel of the Year Award 4 times and longlisted twice. Her novel The Scarlet Lion about the great William Marshal and his wife Isabelle de Clare, has been selected by Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society as one of the landmark historical novels of the last ten years.
When not at her desk, she can be found taking long walks with the dog, baking cakes, reading books (of course!) exploring ruins, listening to various brands of rock and metal music, and occasionally slaving over a steaming cauldron with re-enactment society Regia Anglorum.

Reviews

[Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Elizabeth Chadwick
Published: 01/12/1998 (first published 1997)
Recommended for: fans of historical romances

I absolutely loved this book! It was one that intrigued me straight away with its beautiful cover, it stood out on the shelf. This book is not my normal type of book with it being a sort of historical romance novel.
The characters that are featured in the novel are very well described so that when you close your eyes you can imagine them and image the places they live in. The novel is set in the 1100's in Normandy, and see's the adventures, the ups and the downs of a girl called Monday. This book quickly captured my mind and was one that I could easily get caught up in, the characters are all very likeable and realistic which makes it all that bit easier to get caught up in Mondays life and you feel for her when she has to suffer through hard parts of her life.
This is the first book that I have read by this author and..... it certainly wont be the last one I read by her, it has me completely hooked on this genre. I thought that this book was brilliantly written and keeps a great pace throughout making you want to keep on reading the novel.

[Lala_Loopsie [fire breathing B!tch Queen] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Elizabeth Chadwick book, so i didn't really know what to expect.

The book was good, but i got to a point where i was constantly confused. I didn't like the fact that it was written in 3rd person. I'm a fan of 1st person novels, but that wasn't the worst, it was the fact that Elizabeth constantly changed perspectives, points of view. I was getting an inside of Monday, and all of a sudden there was a description of a forest, and you're WTH, she was sad or what ever.

All in all the book was good, so was the plot, so not counting my being confused, i loved it!

If you are considering reading it, i urge you to do exactly that.


Phew. Now that that's out of the way, i can read Queen of Shadows!!

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is not Chadwick's best, her second best is far above many other writers of historical fiction. It is always time travel with one of her novels, wrapping you up in the sights, sounds and even smells of the period. An interesting concept using the tourney circuit as a back drop, giving you an entrance into an area most of us know nothing about. Of course the hero is wonderful, the villains truly evil and true love wins out in the end.

[Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Elizabeth Chadwick
Published: 01/12/1998 (first published 1997)
Recommended for: fans of historical romances

I absolutely loved this book! It was one that intrigued me straight away with its beautiful cover, it stood out on the shelf. This book is not my normal type of book with it being a sort of historical romance novel.
The characters that are featured in the novel are very well described so that when you close your eyes you can imagine them and image the places they live in. The novel is set in the 1100's in Normandy, and see's the adventures, the ups and the downs of a girl called Monday. This book quickly captured my mind and was one that I could easily get caught up in, the characters are all very likeable and realistic which makes it all that bit easier to get caught up in Mondays life and you feel for her when she has to suffer through hard parts of her life.
This is the first book that I have read by this author and..... it certainly wont be the last one I read by her, it has me completely hooked on this genre. I thought that this book was brilliantly written and keeps a great pace throughout making you want to keep on reading the novel.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book by Elizabeth Chadwick. I can tell, she seems a very good historical fiction writer. When I was reading, I was feeling the atmosphere of those times (the end of XII century). Great descriptions allow you to understand that world and those people. Most of all, you learn the truth, not some myths. For example about tourneys, knighthood, even about politics in those times. In short, it is a good historical fiction book.

On the other hand, it is a romance. In this case, I would say that most of the part a love story sucked me. There are a few twists, which I didn't predict. So, that was very refreshing. It isn't a melodramatic love story and therefore it seems so beautiful and real. In short, it is a good romance.

I have only one but. After reading about 80% of the book I began to feel bored, a little. I think, because plot was more predictable. There were many interesting scenes and facts yet. Nonetheless there was less tension, I guess.

Summarizing, I recommend this book to fans of a historical fiction and a historical romance.

[Lala_Loopsie [fire breathing B!tch Queen]]

What can i say? It was really confusing with the constant change of views (literally). Monday is living her life, and bam! a forest is what you see. Sorry, but even tho the atory was good and interesting, i'm not going to rate it for fear of the nothingness

[MAP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ultimately predictable and everything wraps up a little too neatly. I keep trying to give Chadwick a chance, but other than The Greatest Knight, I just can't get into her books.

[Elia Princess of Starfall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Champion is set during the tumultuous and vibrant twelfth century when the Angevin Empire was at its territorial height, controlling England and extensive parts of France, and when the kings of these proud nations were clawing at each other throats. An era where wandering knights and warriors daily battled each other in bloody, brutal combat for glory and riches. It was an era were women were often at the mercy of men, where status and wealth were lauded heartily above all other aspects and where the Catholic faith held a ruthless stranglehold over nearly every facet of everyday life.



This should make for a fascinating read should it not?

Unfortunately, Chadwick has decided to go down the rather cliched and lackluster medieval path of romance-with a capital R.

Granted this is one of her earlier, less well known novels so I'm probably being overly harsh....

Maybe romance isn't really my thing :/

Onto the review!

Our story concerns Monday de Cerizay, a young girl whose father is a wandering knight and mother a noblewoman he eloped with, and her sweet, tempestuous and rather bloodless romance with an arrogant and hot-tempered knight Alexander de Montroi, a young man who escaped his hated priory and ran away to join his dependable brother Hervi and become a knight errant. Monday lives happily with her much loved and loving parents in haphazard but never dull world of tourneys and soon becomes infatuated with the dark and handsome Alexander, who excels at the twins bastions of knighthood and at wooing ladies. Misfortune and heartbreak dog Monday with ceaseless remorse and in her desperation she turns to Alexander for support and he well.....

screws up BIG time.

I wont go further as that would go into spoilerville but I will say that despite an engaging start and fairly interesting characters to begin with, I found myself rapidly becoming bored as the story progressed and in the end had no desire to finish it.



What can I say? I'm clearly not the romantic or soft-hearted type. I like my historical fiction to mirror the dark, brutish hell-hole that was the medieval world at certain periods in its history. Sweet, saccharine sentimentality just turns me right off!

Spoilers!

This wasn't a bad book by any means. The writing was crisp, subtle and to the point, the historical setting was detailed, evocative with an almost cinematographic feel to it with no wired anachronisms in sight and the characters from loyal, dependable Hervi, sweet, dignified Monday, to hot-headed, resourceful Alexander were well-rounded, flawed and for the most part likable.

Why then didn't I finish it?
1. Predictability-it went the well-trodden and uneventful route of historical romance and never once steered its course. A let down if ever there was one.
2. Too romantic-really three years separation, a secret kid and a new boyfriend and you more or less make up in a matter of weeks? *SIGH*
3. Superman and Lois Lane waanabes in the case of Monday and Alexander. They were not that interesting in my honest opinion.




4. OK SUPER SPOILER ALERT
Monday after having Alexander's kid in secret goes on to become the mistress of the notorious Prince John, future king of England, and gives him a son. Now this baby later dies, Monday has a miscarriage, M&A get married and live happily after-THE END.

Now what irked me about this was that M&A got a squeaky clean break-Monday has no bastards by John and Alexander has been celibate since their last hook-up. How utterly perfect for them. Literally no angst or regret! The death of Monday's second son felt contrived and cruel-a way to ensure her and A's blissful ending *rolls eyes out of head*. To be fair the moment the suspicion popped into my head, the more certain I became about it merely being the ultimate stepping stone to M&A's undying happiness and Monday's gruesome miscarriage confirmed it.

It makes their lives perfect and they shouldn't be. Honestly could you have imagine the family dynamic if Monday's kid had lived? What if John told her to raise the boy with Alexander or kept him away her? How would Monday cope? How would she feel? Would she have treated her sons differently? Alas we shall never find out as Chadwick went with a more sanitized, less uncertain direction and IMHO the novel suffers for it.

Ok I've ranted way too much here.

Lets leave it at this

[Morena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just noticed this book promoted, so took a peek at the synopsis and realized that I already read it and did not like it because of the main characters. Elizabeth Chadwick fleshes her stories with rich details taken straight from high middle ages, her prose is enjoyable without grading on me but it gets all ruined with her plastic characters who sound like liberal atheists. I have a liberal mindset on some issues and I don’t pray to any god but why would I expect the same of the men and women who lived 800 years ago? Sure, they were the same species, had need for shelter, comfort, love, there was hate in their hearts as well as laughter but the world was different (just as it will be different in 1000 years) and as always the environment shaped both body and mind.

Medieval era was a time when Kingdoms were still establishing themselves and you could only do that through force and political machinations, add to that Christianity and you have a world full of extremes where compassion, fearlessness on the battlefield, noble bloodlines, and ivory skin were all admired. It was paramount that a wife you married wasn’t pregnant already with another man’s child and preferably had no other children because they could cause you trouble. (To some extent this matters even today though the reasons are more personal.) However, you never get a sense of it in Chadwick’s books.

The female protagonists are more concerned with being emancipated than with pedigree, or devotion to God. The male protagonists are paragons of perfection straight from 21st century western world. They are reasonable, tolerant and pretty much let their wives walk all over them oh and they are faithful once they get married. I don’t blame Elisabeth Chadwick. I blame the readers who only like the glitter on the outside and don’t care about the inside. So the author does the inevitable and fills the inside with what appeals to majority of modern readers. And voila here is your pseudo medieval woman who is independent, concerned with equal rights, and not very religious, and a pseudo medieval man who looks irresistible with his sword and chainmaille but who is tolerant and treats his wife as an equal who gets her way in most things (I do appreciate that not all of her heroes are literate.)

To be fair, there were many men and I assume also women who were not devout Christians. Take for instance emperor Frederick II who owned harem of women, who saw the pope only as an obstacle and who had muslim friends, or the Hungarian king Ladislaus who decided that shamanism was more interesting than Christianity, who cast aside his Christian wife and replaced her with his Cuman lover. I am sure there were many men who were faithful, but it wouldn't be so terrible in that time if the man wasn't. After all these men lived dangerous passionate lives and unlike women they didn't get pregnant. Crying that it wasn't fair, is just stupid. No one gets to pick their gender before they are born. Plus motherhood made women more valuable and their lives weren't as disposable as those of the men.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had it's bland moments, but all in all, once I waded through those parts that were bogging me down, I discovered that I had actually enjoyed it. I have quite a few E.Chadwick books and though I keep buying them I have a bit of a problem with her female characters. I find them lacklustre, depressing and pretty much devoid of personality. There are slight glimmers of endearing qualities or spirit, but they never persist.
It's probably just me. Everyone get's something different from each book they read, though I have to say, dull female characters seem to be a bit of a recurring pattern in Chadwick's books. And yet her male characters are so well done, that it is what keeps me buying her books off the shelves. The Champion's female character was up there with the blandest and yet the male characters were great to read about, so the balance tipped and made this book worthwhile. I gave it a pretty good star rating because I rated it only against other Chadwick novels I have so far read. A good book and worth your time, I'd say, if you are into historical fiction that is love story driven.

[DarkStar's Book Cavern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting change to most historical fiction, which usually evolves around historical figures we already know or can do research for and usually deals with the English court as that’s the history which is mostly recorded. This book bucks the trend for that, giving an insight into the medieval tourney circuit.

I really felt for Monday at the beginning, from what happened to her mother, her father’s decline, Alexander and everything that came with it and understood her flight to escape it all. A chance to change her life. Alexander, his background at Crowland was horrific to read and you really understand why he is the way he is. He constantly wants to do the right thing and in trying to be perfect he ultimately screws it all up. Then you throw a mercurial King John, old tourney rivalries and a bitter familial enemy into the mix and you wonder how Monday and Alexander are going to come through it all intact.

[Angela Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Elizabeth Chadwick's earlier books, but no less enjoyable. It has likeable characters and the story of Monday and Alexander is engaging. I was sad for the book to finish. Loved that Monday a fairly independent woman of the time rather than a simpering pawn.

Alexander De Montroi was bound for the priesthood. Running away from an abusive Prior with a taste for young novices, he joins his half-brother Hervi on the tourney circuit. He slowly recovers mind and body and trains to become a knight like his brother. He has a period of wenching but always has Monday in his heart and mind.

Monday De Cerizay, daughter of a lady and a tourney knight is left orphaned and is in the care of Hervi and Alexander De Montroi. She knows the brothers well, having been part of the tourney circuit all her life and she is sick of that life and the hardships it brings. After a fateful night and too much drinking, Alexander and Monday sleep together. Alexander does the honorable thing and goes looking for a priest to wed them. Monday cannot abide the thought of living her parents lives and she runs.

Fate and circumstances keep Alexander and Monday apart for years and when they meet she belongs to the most powerful man in England who does not give up what he considers his, easily.

I also liked there was lots of interaction with William Marshall and his family peppered throughout the book. The William Marshall books written by the same author are among my favourite books of hers.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that the slightly flawed plot line, stereotypical love story and predictable and somewhat tidy ending did not stand in the way of my enjoyment of this book on the whole.

This is the second Elizabeth Chadwick novel I have read. The first being 'The Greatest Knight' about the rise of William Marshall. While I enjoyed the details of that novel the narration was somewhat dry. And while the emotional aspect of this novel seemed more predictable the details of the setting and time were very enjoyable.

The first half of the book is written so well that I was completely unaware of the author. It was as if the events in the story were simply unfolding on their own and I was a witness to them.

I love reading about this period in history and enjoyed learning a few more tid-bits of history. I liked the back drop of the tournament life and enjoyed the characters Chadwick created. I also thought the thread of fertility and birth control woven into the story was a interesting one.

I will be reading more from Elizabeth Chadwick very soon.

[Barbara]

Read to page 55. Slow going. May give it another try. In the future.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Chadwick has beguiled me with a wonderfully wrought tale, of medieval life, romance and intrigue. She truly is a gifted author who never ceases to please. Her characters are excellent-very believable, although for some reason I tend to find the males much more interesting than the females. The plot veers on the side of predictable, whilst the frequent explanations of medieval life are hugely appreciatted.

Monday is the female protagonist. Her mother ran away from home to marry one of her father's knights and has been shunned by them ever since. In turn, Monday falls in love with a knight on the tourney circuit, bearing him a son. After being mistress to (the eventual,King) John, she is cast aside by him and is able to embark on her long overdue relationship with Alexander. Therein lie the bare bones of the plot. But the novel encompasses so much more. Many more characters are introduced-some of whom we love, some despise. The additional information re King John, and his predecssor, Coer de Lion, formed an important background to the novel, and I for one was grateful to learn more about this intriguing pair. Details of life in castles, and just the daily routine followed by peasant or king, gave this added depth.

Am glad to say that all worked out well-not that there was much doubt otherwise! But there were certainly some moments when we despaired that Monday would ever manage to be with her true love. As I've already said-once again, Chadwick has excelled.

[Sibylla Matilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been dying to read this one... and, YAY, it is finally in the library again! About 2 chapters in, and already hooked. I'm pretty sure that Elizabeth Chadwick is one of my favorite authors EVER!!!

This was a really great story, although the middle portion of the book was quite difficult because I so didn't want her to be John's mistress... All in all, it wasn't as emotional as a lot of Elizabeth Chadwick books (hard to beat Shadows and Strongholds, IMO), but still a great story!

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable book. Parts of the story were slow reading. The ending was the part I was drawn into the most. Was transported to earlier days, but felt like I was outside looking in rather than drawn into the times.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first time to read a book by Elizabeth Chadwick and it is absolutely riveting! It is as if I stepped into the medieval times myself. I hung onto every word, cried at every heartache and rejoiced in all triumphs. A must read for everyone!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written as always. I liked this story. One of her better ones.

[Apricity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Career advancement for knights:

‘Then it is likely true,’ Alexander said politely, and used his eating knife to cut his own portion of food into bite-sized slivers. He did not want to appear too finicky, but he also wanted to show that he was aware of the manners of the court as well as those of the camp.

Many young knights had been invited to sit at William Marshal’s board. Alexander had fought against some of them in the course of the tourney. One or two he had defeated; with others, the encounters had been less conclusive. There was high talk and boasting, there was bragging of blood lines and much name-dropping. Each diner tried to outdo the man beside or opposite him, and the level of noise increased as the wine in the flagons was drunk down to the lees. Alexander sat amidst this social mêlée and realised that it was just as intense as the fighting had been in the afternoon, and the techniques were no different. The man who kept his head was the one who would win. And so he bit his tongue, and remained genial without voicing any boasts of his own. ‘

Alexander turned to William Marshal where he presided at the head of the table with men fortunate enough to already be members of his household. ‘I ask your permission to sing for my supper, my lord,’ he said with a graceful bow. The Marshal regarded him with a twinkle in his eyes, and amusement curving beneath his moustache. ‘For more than your supper, I think,’ he said. ‘Well then, Alexander de Montroi, show me what an accomplished courtier you are.’ He gestured to the harp. For an instant Alexander was overcome by panic as all eyes on the high table fixed upon him and were joined by stares both hostile and curious from the other trestles. A false chord twanged from the harp, setting teeth on edge and raising scornful eyebrows. Alexander cleared his throat and his mind, and willed himself to concentrate on the harmony of the harp and the song. It had to be right. Like the tourney field and the battle ground, there was no room for error. Judging his audience, he struck up a fighting tune about the joys of tourneying, written by the troubadour Bertran de Born. At first his throat was tight and he missed the occasional note, but as the song progressed and he gained confidence, the true, golden clarity of his voice shone through, and men ceased to exchange mocking glances. Before the applause had died down, he began another piece, this time bawdy, about a tourney champion suffering from ‘jouster’s wilt’ both on and off the field. The song was received with loud guffaws and cries that it be repeated. By the time Alexander had sung it again, twice over, his throat was aching, but he was riding on a tide of euphoria, for he knew he had carried the day. To prove that he did have gentler sensibilities, he finished his debut on a poignant composition.





Career advancement for ladies:

Why should you want him to notice me?’ she asked frostily. Aline shrugged and looked at her fingernails. ‘You were wearing a rut for yourself ‘ she said, but her words carried no conviction. ‘Besides, you have a royal protector now, one who enjoys reading books as much if not more than Hamon does.’ There it was, the crux of the matter, Monday thought grimly. Aline wanted her out of the way so she would not be a threat to her marriage. The knowledge hung unspoken between them. They avoided looking at each other, each aware of the resentment they would find. ‘And if he tires of me when I am no longer a novelty, what then?’ Monday demanded. ‘Either you must make sure that he does not or if you think you can only keep him interested for a while, then you must save enough in the good times to outlast the lean. But at the back of your mind, you know that already.’ Monday fiddled with the clasp of her cloak and knew that she had more cause to be grateful to Aline than to bear a grudge. Already on her middle finger, beside her silver ring and the one that had been her mother’s, there gleamed proof of John’s largesse in the form of another one of faceted gold set with three garnets. She knew from her life on the tourney field that such a jewel would purchase food and lodging for at least a month. He had promised her a Spanish mare to ride upon, and her choice of the mercer’s booths in Rouen to fashion herself fitting garments for the mistress of a prince. But there was more to her situation than just the garnering of wealth and knowledge. She only had to think of the wine poured out on her body to shiver with sensuous remembrance. ‘I know you mean well for me,’ she said, turning to Aline, ‘and it is of my own free will that I am doing this now. You have been very good to me, and I will always remember your care.’ Without warning, there were tears in her eyes.

Monday opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again. She had been rather taken with a soft wool in a deep, rosy pink, but knew better than to say so. She had learned that although John liked to give her gifts, they were always of his choosing. She was his pet. Pampered and indulged because it was his whim to do so. She knew that the wider she opened her eyes and the more dumbstruck she appeared, the better John liked it. He enjoyed her answering back to him in the bedchamber or in conversation only if she played the precocious child. The moment she sparred with her intellect or attempted to speak as an equal, his interest waned. ‘He dislikes clever women,’ she had been told by the wife of an official attached to his household. ‘They remind him too much of his mother, and she has never made a secret of the fact that Richard is her favourite, and John an inconvenience, born when her body should have finished child-bearing.’ That knowledge in mind, Monday played the game of daughter and child, and knew that she was a fraud. She also knew that she could not perform either role for much longer. They were in Rouen at the moment and it was past Michaelmas. Barring mishaps, Monday was certain now of what the spring of 1199 would bring. John selected the pink wool too, because Monday fingered it wistfully. Oh yes, she was learning all the ploys but felt cheapened by their use.

‘Countess Isabelle said as much to me before you sailed,’ Monday murmured. ‘And I agreed with her that you were not only ripe for promotion, but eager to settle down to the yoke of government.’ ‘You did, did you?’ ‘Of course I did. Men might think that they move the wheels of progress but frequently it is their womenfolk who grease them for ease. Now Isabelle will speak to William in the leisure of their own chamber, as I am speaking to you. And he will be in a good mood and agree with her that yes, Alexander de Montroi should have a tenancy of his own as soon as possible. Her thoughts enforce his own and make him all the more likely to set the wheels in motion.’ He raised one eyebrow, but there was a half-smile on his lips. ‘God preserve all men from the manipulations of women!’ he laughed.

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elisabeth Chadwick always takes me for a trip through Middle Ages. This book takes place at the end of 12h century in France and England. I would recommend not reading the blurb about the book because I think it reveals too much. Again this is more of a historical fiction with strong romance in it then the other way around. Alexander and Monday are such a real down to earth characters that I can can't believe they didn't live. Their love takes time to blossom and for that sounds even more believable. Supportive characters like Alexander's brother Henvi and King John make this 500 page long book fresh and a plot exciting to read.
Some reviewers noted that Monday's character seem a little bland so I was dreading it going into this book but it was not true at all. I loved how Monday was observing other ladies in her times and how they manage to live their lives not succumbing to social norms. She is young and she is learning. She stands up for herself over and over in the best and most realistic way possible.
What I loved the most is that neither Monday, nor Alexander are idolized. They makes mistakes, they fall down and get up again. They even sleep with other people but in the end they love only one another.
It was nice honest historical story without to me so annoying bells and whistles.
On the side note: I got really interested in King John after reading it. I think he was bad but also deeply misunderstood by history.

[kathleen r. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Chadwick's books are always the same. The story features a modest but mostly impoverished soldier of fortune who rides the tournament seasons and tries to survive. The women are insipid and flighty, mostly getting their heads turned by cheap jewelry, cheap clothing and cheap food.
I didn't find anything particularly interesting in this book-I do think Chadwick's stuff is interchangeable based on the head of either the church or whose arse is perched on a throne. It cannot all have been about such simple ways and means. There's always a bad guy who is in some sort of way responsible for the semi-tragic life of the woman, and the few women who seem to have enough common sense to not drop a kid every other year.
I think Chadwick wants to clean up what had to have been violent and extreme life situations, and make them pretty and fluffy-bunny stuff-hence they become wooden, vague and silly.
I believe I am done reading this author.

[Ruth Harwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fantastic fiction from one of the ace's in historical fiction! The only plot device I had trouble with was the convenience of a baby dying to a mistress a king is not on record as having - I can see the reason for showing the ease of becoming pregnant in a time when even the rhythm method was rudimentary (and, as Chadwick does display, seen as witchcraft by the pious monks), and many children died as babies, I just wonder whether another man could have been chosen by the author as her protector (thus allowing the child to live, perhaps?)
Not much of a gripe, but I had to have one!!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great exploration the realities of Tourney life in the Early Middle Ages. A world that was dependant on the skill of those participating in the jousts, mock battles and competitions that made up that life. A man could rise to become Regent of England like William Marshall or die on the field and be forgotten. A life that was full of risk for the women who followed their men into that life. The story of Monday and Alexander is the story of life on the Tourney field. It's perils and it's rewards. I found it fascinating.

[NayNay · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE CHAMPION by Elizabeth Chadwick - The book takes a romantic ideal and gives it life in the story of two lovers that go through a great deal before fate gives them a chance to be together, in a wonderful medieval setting. Chadwick is one of my favorite authors in historical fiction. Her writing style is exciting, it sounds and feels right for the time, and is realistic. Her use of actual historical figures who shaped that world is a delight to read about, they come alive again within the pages of her stories. I highly recommend all of Elizabeth Chadwick novels.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite book of Elizabeth’s but still a good read.
This book is a romantic story at its core. The characters are well written and I liked them all but found the book a bit too simplistic. Conflict was created to move the book forwards but actually the second half of the book needn’t have happened without one of the decisions made by one of the main characters.
Not a bad book just not my favourite.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, love all Elizabeth Chadwick books. There's just something bugging me about this one as to why I can't give it five stars. I know the version I have might be old but did they not care about mistakes? There were a lot of transition errors and other small mistakes that kinda took away from the book. Sometimes I had to keep going back to make sure I didn't miss anything because the transition was so random.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book, so many twists and turns I couldn't predict the end, even with 3 pages to go.

One of the best Elizabeth Chadwick books I've read. So easy to link real places and things you learn in school history lessons to the story as you read it. Can't wait to see where the next one takes me

[Jessie Fenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

As usual, EC's story, set in medieval times around the culture of the tourney knights of the era, is enchanting as well as riveting. Her writing style is so evocative and captivating, that I often think she is a poet in an author's skin! I'm an avid fan of her work and this offering did not disappoint. Highly recommended.

[Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched, but I wasn’t too enthralled with the plot or the author’s voice. She also used a lot of adjectives and often tried to impart too much knowledge of the time period into one sentence. However, if you’re looking for a quick historical fiction romance, filled with knights, monks, and maids — this is for you!