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The Wistful and the Good
The mighty are undone by pride, the bold by folly, and the good by wistfulness.
Elswyth's mother was a slave, but her father is a thegn, and Drefan, the man she is to marry, is an ealdorman's son. But though Elswyth is content with the match, and waits only for Drefan to notice that she has come to womanhood, still she finds herself gazing seaward, full of wistful longing.
From the sea come Norse traders, bringing wealth, friendship, and tales of distant lands. But in this year of grace 793 the sea has brought a great Viking raid that has devastated the rich monastery of Lindisfarne, only a day's journey north of Elswyth's village of Twyford. Norse are suddenly devils incarnate in Northumbria, and when Elswyth spots a Norse ship approaching the beach, her father fears a Viking raid.
But the ship brings trouble of a different kind. Leif has visited Twyford many times as a boy, accompanying his father on his voyages. But now he returns in command of his father's ship and desperate to raise his father's ransom by selling a cargo of Christian holy books. There could be no more suspect cargo in the days after the Lindisfarne raid and when Drefan arrives, investigating reports of the sighting of a Norse ship, Elswyth must try to keep the peace between Drefan and Leif.
But Elswyth's wistful heart has found a new and perilous object.
Elswyth's mother was a slave, but her father is a thegn, and Drefan, the man she is to marry, is an ealdorman's son. But though Elswyth is content with the match, and waits only for Drefan to notice that she has come to womanhood, still she finds herself gazing seaward, full of wistful longing.
From the sea come Norse traders, bringing wealth, friendship, and tales of distant lands. But in this year of grace 793 the sea has brought a great Viking raid that has devastated the rich monastery of Lindisfarne, only a day's journey north of Elswyth's village of Twyford. Norse are suddenly devils incarnate in Northumbria, and when Elswyth spots a Norse ship approaching the beach, her father fears a Viking raid.
But the ship brings trouble of a different kind. Leif has visited Twyford many times as a boy, accompanying his father on his voyages. But now he returns in command of his father's ship and desperate to raise his father's ransom by selling a cargo of Christian holy books. There could be no more suspect cargo in the days after the Lindisfarne raid and when Drefan arrives, investigating reports of the sighting of a Norse ship, Elswyth must try to keep the peace between Drefan and Leif.
But Elswyth's wistful heart has found a new and perilous object.
345 pages, Paperback
Published March 31, 2022
5 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
G.M. Baker
7 books21 followersBorn in England to a teamster's son and a coal miner's daughter, G. M. (Mark) Baker now lives in Nova Scotia with his wife, no dogs, no horses, and no chickens. He prefers driving to flying, desert vistas to pointy trees, and quiet towns to bustling cities. As a reader and as a writer, he does not believe in confining himself to one genre. He writes about kind abbesses and melancholy kings, about elf maidens and ship wreckers and shy falconers, about great beauties and their plain sisters, about sinners and saints and ordinary eccentrics. In his newsletter Stories All the Way Down, he discusses history, literature, the nature of story, and how not to market a novel.
This author is also published under Mark Baker.
This author is also published under Mark Baker.
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June 27, 2023I am not sure what star rating to give this book. In most ways it was fantastic. The character development, the romantic chemistry, the tension, and the exciting climax were all amazing. The ending was absolutely perfect and left me thinking about the themes long after I closed the book.
There was one thing about the book that really bothered me and made parts of it hard to get through. All of the characters have an over-the-top, almost comedic obsession with sex.
It completely makes sense that some of the characters would be this way, especially since a number of sexual themes are explored in the book. However, the fact that it is all the characters all the time feels unnatural.
About three seconds after Leif sees Elswyth, he’s craving sex with her. Fine. She’s attractive and his character has a strong sex drive. But then literally all the other characters are the same way. They just have to glance at Elswyth and they are imagining “laying her down among the dunes.” She’s the same way with the men. There isn’t really a build up of sexual desire. It’s all there all at once for every character. Given how real and emotionally diverse the characters are in every other way, this felt awkward.
In addition, a number of the descriptions of Elswyth are very sexual. We hear a lot about her figure, her hips, her “bosom”. I found this very uncomfortable since she is fifteen and I didn’t feel like those kinds of descriptions were necessary to the story. I think it’s possible to imply that certain characters are looking at her that way, without forcing the reader to look at her that way too.
There were a number of sexual themes handled very well within the book. For example, Elswyth’s mom had to seduce her dad to escape slavery. It’s something that pains her mom a lot and has ramifications on her children. Also, Elswyth’s fiancé expects her to come to him a virgin even though he has been sleeping around, showing how the burden of purity is so often pushed on the woman.
My favorite kinds of books are the ones that leave you mulling over the themes for days afterward and this is definitely that kind of book. What I loved about it, I REALLY loved. The only thing preventing me from giving this book an easy five stars is the cartoony libido of all the characters. But there is so much I love about it, I can’t really give it less than five stars either, so I am just doing a review instead of a rating.
There was one thing about the book that really bothered me and made parts of it hard to get through. All of the characters have an over-the-top, almost comedic obsession with sex.
It completely makes sense that some of the characters would be this way, especially since a number of sexual themes are explored in the book. However, the fact that it is all the characters all the time feels unnatural.
About three seconds after Leif sees Elswyth, he’s craving sex with her. Fine. She’s attractive and his character has a strong sex drive. But then literally all the other characters are the same way. They just have to glance at Elswyth and they are imagining “laying her down among the dunes.” She’s the same way with the men. There isn’t really a build up of sexual desire. It’s all there all at once for every character. Given how real and emotionally diverse the characters are in every other way, this felt awkward.
In addition, a number of the descriptions of Elswyth are very sexual. We hear a lot about her figure, her hips, her “bosom”. I found this very uncomfortable since she is fifteen and I didn’t feel like those kinds of descriptions were necessary to the story. I think it’s possible to imply that certain characters are looking at her that way, without forcing the reader to look at her that way too.
There were a number of sexual themes handled very well within the book. For example, Elswyth’s mom had to seduce her dad to escape slavery. It’s something that pains her mom a lot and has ramifications on her children. Also, Elswyth’s fiancé expects her to come to him a virgin even though he has been sleeping around, showing how the burden of purity is so often pushed on the woman.
My favorite kinds of books are the ones that leave you mulling over the themes for days afterward and this is definitely that kind of book. What I loved about it, I REALLY loved. The only thing preventing me from giving this book an easy five stars is the cartoony libido of all the characters. But there is so much I love about it, I can’t really give it less than five stars either, so I am just doing a review instead of a rating.
October 16, 2023
This is the first volume I have read from the pen of G.M. Baker but it will not be the last. The prose remind me of those of Alistair MacLeod and a little of Robertson Davies. This is a story filled with romance, risk, intrigue and a string mix of faith, family and loyalty. The description of the story is:
“The mighty are undone by pride, the bold by folly, and the good by wistfulness.
Elswyth's mother was a slave, but her father is a thegn, and Drefan, the man she is to marry, is an ealdorman's son. But though Elswyth is content with the match, and waits only for Drefan to notice that she has come to womanhood, still she finds herself gazing seaward, full of wistful longing.
From the sea come Norse traders, bringing wealth, friendship, and tales of distant lands. But in this year of grace 793 the sea has brought a great Viking raid that has devastated the rich monastery of Lindisfarne, only a day's journey north of Elswyth's village of Twyford. Norse are suddenly devils incarnate in Northumbria, and when Elswyth spots a Norse ship approaching the beach, her father fears a Viking raid.
But the ship brings trouble of a different kind. Leif has visited Twyford many times as a boy, accompanying his father on his voyages. But now he returns in command of his father's ship and desperate to raise his father's ransom by selling a cargo of Christian holy books. There could be no more suspect cargo in the days after the Lindisfarne raid and when Drefan arrives, investigating reports of the sighting of a Norse ship, Elswyth must try to keep the peace between Drefan and Leif.
But Elswyth's wistful heart has found a new and perilous object.”
The main story focuses around a small village on the shores of England. A young woman Elswyth is to marry Drefan and thus secure her family’s safety and in some cases freedom. And then there is Leif the childhood friend and now young man trying to raise a ransom to rescue his father. There is much that can be lost. And for all there is risk and danger.
In the historic note at the end of the volume Baker begins with:
“This book contains historical errors. Some I am aware of, some, doubtless, will be painfully obvious to scholars of the period, but most of them will remain unknown or at least unprovable. The Anglo-Saxon period lasted over 600 years and yet we have less data about it than we do about a single modern day. How the daughter of an ordinary thegn would have lived and thought and hoped and strived, we can really only guess at. The written records we have relate mostly to royal and monastic houses. The archeology is full of hints and suggestions, and a great deal of wonderful jewelry and art, but little to suggest the specifics of the life of what we might best describe as a middle-class young woman. An enormous amount of Anglo-Saxon scholarship has been done and is being done, but it yields little in the way of consecutive historical narrative such as we would associate with other periods of history. Rather, through the interpretation of scattered documents, excavations, and placename studies, combined with analogies to other times and places, certain patterns of life and practice emerge, though tentatively at best. Reading histories of the period, one often gets the impression that one is reading a book made entirely of footnotes, since most books devote most of their text to discussing specific sources and their possible interpretations, rather than constructing what we might usually think of as an historical narrative.
Even where we do have written records, the meaning of terms is often hard to pin down. A “hide” of land seems to mean different things at different times and places. What “peaceweaver” meant does not seem entirely clear between the sources in which I have encountered it. I have interpreted it to suit my dramatic purposes.
For a novelist, this is in part frustrating and in part liberating. To assemble a whole picture of the life and thought of my characters, I have had to borrow elements from different times and places, select from various interpretations what best suits my dramatic purposes, and fill in the gaps with things borrowed from later times (the tugging of forelocks as a sign of respect, for instance).”
The characters are well written. And the story has a great plot with many twists and some surprises. It was intriguing watching as Elswyth came to understand her true feelings, and where her heart laid. Lief’s loyalty to his code is valiant. And to be honest Drefan seems like a spoiled rich kid you can meet in any day and age. Elswyth’s mothers and fathers trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons might not be enough.
If the prose reminded me of Davies and MacLeod the story reminds me of the historic fiction of Jack Whyte. It was a great first novel. And I would look at others in the series or from Baker without thought. I can easily recommend this volume for those who like historical fiction, or those who just love a good story.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!
“The mighty are undone by pride, the bold by folly, and the good by wistfulness.
Elswyth's mother was a slave, but her father is a thegn, and Drefan, the man she is to marry, is an ealdorman's son. But though Elswyth is content with the match, and waits only for Drefan to notice that she has come to womanhood, still she finds herself gazing seaward, full of wistful longing.
From the sea come Norse traders, bringing wealth, friendship, and tales of distant lands. But in this year of grace 793 the sea has brought a great Viking raid that has devastated the rich monastery of Lindisfarne, only a day's journey north of Elswyth's village of Twyford. Norse are suddenly devils incarnate in Northumbria, and when Elswyth spots a Norse ship approaching the beach, her father fears a Viking raid.
But the ship brings trouble of a different kind. Leif has visited Twyford many times as a boy, accompanying his father on his voyages. But now he returns in command of his father's ship and desperate to raise his father's ransom by selling a cargo of Christian holy books. There could be no more suspect cargo in the days after the Lindisfarne raid and when Drefan arrives, investigating reports of the sighting of a Norse ship, Elswyth must try to keep the peace between Drefan and Leif.
But Elswyth's wistful heart has found a new and perilous object.”
The main story focuses around a small village on the shores of England. A young woman Elswyth is to marry Drefan and thus secure her family’s safety and in some cases freedom. And then there is Leif the childhood friend and now young man trying to raise a ransom to rescue his father. There is much that can be lost. And for all there is risk and danger.
In the historic note at the end of the volume Baker begins with:
“This book contains historical errors. Some I am aware of, some, doubtless, will be painfully obvious to scholars of the period, but most of them will remain unknown or at least unprovable. The Anglo-Saxon period lasted over 600 years and yet we have less data about it than we do about a single modern day. How the daughter of an ordinary thegn would have lived and thought and hoped and strived, we can really only guess at. The written records we have relate mostly to royal and monastic houses. The archeology is full of hints and suggestions, and a great deal of wonderful jewelry and art, but little to suggest the specifics of the life of what we might best describe as a middle-class young woman. An enormous amount of Anglo-Saxon scholarship has been done and is being done, but it yields little in the way of consecutive historical narrative such as we would associate with other periods of history. Rather, through the interpretation of scattered documents, excavations, and placename studies, combined with analogies to other times and places, certain patterns of life and practice emerge, though tentatively at best. Reading histories of the period, one often gets the impression that one is reading a book made entirely of footnotes, since most books devote most of their text to discussing specific sources and their possible interpretations, rather than constructing what we might usually think of as an historical narrative.
Even where we do have written records, the meaning of terms is often hard to pin down. A “hide” of land seems to mean different things at different times and places. What “peaceweaver” meant does not seem entirely clear between the sources in which I have encountered it. I have interpreted it to suit my dramatic purposes.
For a novelist, this is in part frustrating and in part liberating. To assemble a whole picture of the life and thought of my characters, I have had to borrow elements from different times and places, select from various interpretations what best suits my dramatic purposes, and fill in the gaps with things borrowed from later times (the tugging of forelocks as a sign of respect, for instance).”
The characters are well written. And the story has a great plot with many twists and some surprises. It was intriguing watching as Elswyth came to understand her true feelings, and where her heart laid. Lief’s loyalty to his code is valiant. And to be honest Drefan seems like a spoiled rich kid you can meet in any day and age. Elswyth’s mothers and fathers trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons might not be enough.
If the prose reminded me of Davies and MacLeod the story reminds me of the historic fiction of Jack Whyte. It was a great first novel. And I would look at others in the series or from Baker without thought. I can easily recommend this volume for those who like historical fiction, or those who just love a good story.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!
April 23, 2023
This book was recommended to me by my mother, who was reading it as an E-book. After reading the first few chapters, I was impressed enough that I decided to buy the paperback and read the rest.
Now that I've reached the end, the book feels much more like a drama than a typical novel. The structure is that of a classic tragedy, playing out over a short period of time in a single place. I was expecting some more travel and sea voyages, but (minus the short horse ride to Foxton Wood) everything took place in a small village, and among a small cast of people.
The book is also a drama in the sense that it is driven by the characters' choices. The plot is simple, but the characters are complex. The main character's tragic flaw leads to sorrow and death. Yet, in the end, it is partly a misunderstanding that pushes things over the edge.
Usually I don't enjoy plots about misunderstandings. It can make a story frustrating and disappointing, turning drama to melodrama. One can see so easily how things could have turned out differently, and one feels like the characters are fools, or the mere toys of fate.
In the case of this book, I'm not sure the criticism applies. There is a sense in which the misunderstanding is actually the truth. The main character Elswyth is accused of something she did not do - but we know, and she knows, that she *would* have done it if not held back by Lief. So the terrible outcome is not purely bad luck, but a sort of harsh and merciless karmic justice.
Characters in the book also discuss the idea that you are responsible not only for what you do, but for how it appears to other people. In this sense, the main characters are fully responsible for what happens. They had been clearly warned how it would appear to others if they continued to meet, but they chose to do so nonetheless.
Nonetheless, in the ending, I felt a great deal of disappointment and regret, a feeling of "if only..."
At certain points, the book was difficult to continue reading - because I felt the shame and vulnerability of the characters very clearly, and dreaded what was coming next. A cloud of forboding hangs over everything that happens, from beginning to end. I felt great relief at times when it seemed peace would be restored.
All in all, I am glad that I read the book, but I'm not sure if I will read the sequels or not. The ending was so bitter and cold. Perhaps it is just me, and the precise angle at which the book happened to strike me, but I didn't feel the same emotional release that I have at the end of some other tragic books (e.g., "The Broken Giant"). I didn't break down and cry, just ached. It's definitely a book that leaves one thinking, turning the story over and over in one's mind.
I was most impressed by the author's sensitivity. I appreciate this a lot (and it is a quality I think is somewhat rare among male writers). By sensitivity, I mean that the writer was able to capture the differences of feeling and perspective between very different characters without any of them feeling like exaggerations or mere stereotypes. The book shows plainly the differences and difficulties between men and women, and between parents and children, without seeming to be moralizing or taking sides. Almost all the main characters are sympathetic - the exception being the hot-blooded Drefan, who refuses to see reason and whose rash actions destroy all hope for a happy ending.
If I were to fault the author's style, it would be for his tendency at times to spend too long analyzing the characters' choices with an omniscient voice. I enjoyed seeing inside the characters' heads, but at times it felt too much like the narrator was taking an outside perspective and classifying their actions within certain categories, rather than really showing us what they were thinking. For example, at one point, the narrator says something along the lines that Elswyth had no fears about marriage aside from the usual fears of a young woman. But this is the sort of generalization which she could not possibly make about herself while still a young woman within the grasp of those fears. Framing emotions like this brushes them aside rather than bringing them to life.
Nonetheless, in other passages, the author effectively evokes the feelings and inner struggles of his characters.
The book depicts a society with pre-modern attitudes towards sex, violence, and everything else. These attitudes may naturally feel somewhat benighted to a twenty-first century reader. Indeed, one possible reading of the book would be that the real root of evil in the village is its obsession with virginity. But the book generally refuses to admit such a simple interpretation. The people in it feel real and relatable, like moral agents not like mere victims of their time and circumstances. They have meaningful choices to make between right and wrong, and they can see pain and injustice just as clearly as we can. For example, the book stops to dwell on the mother Edith's pain and regret as she struggles with the morality of using her daughter as a bargaining chip to save the rest of her family from slavery. We may wish for a world that would spare people such choices, but we lack simple answers to the choices themselves.
The book is set at the dawn of the viking age, but the vikings themselves are always out of sight, a lurking menace. The people we see in the village are farmers and merchants, lovers and families. The horrors of rape and pillage are only reported in story and rumour, and treated with the fear and revulsion they deserve. One comes away feeling newly aware of the vulnerability of human lives in a world of unrestrained evil.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the book's ending is that, in order to avoid further bloodshed, Attor and his family are forced to make scapegoats of the innocent Norse traders. From the beginning of the book, the main characters struggle to make and preserve peace, knowing that the truth is on their side. But in the end, they must betray truth and peace to protect other innocent lives. It's a sobering story of how hatred and conflict can spread even despite the efforts of good people.
4/5 - Recommended
Now that I've reached the end, the book feels much more like a drama than a typical novel. The structure is that of a classic tragedy, playing out over a short period of time in a single place. I was expecting some more travel and sea voyages, but (minus the short horse ride to Foxton Wood) everything took place in a small village, and among a small cast of people.
The book is also a drama in the sense that it is driven by the characters' choices. The plot is simple, but the characters are complex. The main character's tragic flaw leads to sorrow and death. Yet, in the end, it is partly a misunderstanding that pushes things over the edge.
Usually I don't enjoy plots about misunderstandings. It can make a story frustrating and disappointing, turning drama to melodrama. One can see so easily how things could have turned out differently, and one feels like the characters are fools, or the mere toys of fate.
In the case of this book, I'm not sure the criticism applies. There is a sense in which the misunderstanding is actually the truth. The main character Elswyth is accused of something she did not do - but we know, and she knows, that she *would* have done it if not held back by Lief. So the terrible outcome is not purely bad luck, but a sort of harsh and merciless karmic justice.
Characters in the book also discuss the idea that you are responsible not only for what you do, but for how it appears to other people. In this sense, the main characters are fully responsible for what happens. They had been clearly warned how it would appear to others if they continued to meet, but they chose to do so nonetheless.
Nonetheless, in the ending, I felt a great deal of disappointment and regret, a feeling of "if only..."
At certain points, the book was difficult to continue reading - because I felt the shame and vulnerability of the characters very clearly, and dreaded what was coming next. A cloud of forboding hangs over everything that happens, from beginning to end. I felt great relief at times when it seemed peace would be restored.
All in all, I am glad that I read the book, but I'm not sure if I will read the sequels or not. The ending was so bitter and cold. Perhaps it is just me, and the precise angle at which the book happened to strike me, but I didn't feel the same emotional release that I have at the end of some other tragic books (e.g., "The Broken Giant"). I didn't break down and cry, just ached. It's definitely a book that leaves one thinking, turning the story over and over in one's mind.
I was most impressed by the author's sensitivity. I appreciate this a lot (and it is a quality I think is somewhat rare among male writers). By sensitivity, I mean that the writer was able to capture the differences of feeling and perspective between very different characters without any of them feeling like exaggerations or mere stereotypes. The book shows plainly the differences and difficulties between men and women, and between parents and children, without seeming to be moralizing or taking sides. Almost all the main characters are sympathetic - the exception being the hot-blooded Drefan, who refuses to see reason and whose rash actions destroy all hope for a happy ending.
If I were to fault the author's style, it would be for his tendency at times to spend too long analyzing the characters' choices with an omniscient voice. I enjoyed seeing inside the characters' heads, but at times it felt too much like the narrator was taking an outside perspective and classifying their actions within certain categories, rather than really showing us what they were thinking. For example, at one point, the narrator says something along the lines that Elswyth had no fears about marriage aside from the usual fears of a young woman. But this is the sort of generalization which she could not possibly make about herself while still a young woman within the grasp of those fears. Framing emotions like this brushes them aside rather than bringing them to life.
Nonetheless, in other passages, the author effectively evokes the feelings and inner struggles of his characters.
The book depicts a society with pre-modern attitudes towards sex, violence, and everything else. These attitudes may naturally feel somewhat benighted to a twenty-first century reader. Indeed, one possible reading of the book would be that the real root of evil in the village is its obsession with virginity. But the book generally refuses to admit such a simple interpretation. The people in it feel real and relatable, like moral agents not like mere victims of their time and circumstances. They have meaningful choices to make between right and wrong, and they can see pain and injustice just as clearly as we can. For example, the book stops to dwell on the mother Edith's pain and regret as she struggles with the morality of using her daughter as a bargaining chip to save the rest of her family from slavery. We may wish for a world that would spare people such choices, but we lack simple answers to the choices themselves.
The book is set at the dawn of the viking age, but the vikings themselves are always out of sight, a lurking menace. The people we see in the village are farmers and merchants, lovers and families. The horrors of rape and pillage are only reported in story and rumour, and treated with the fear and revulsion they deserve. One comes away feeling newly aware of the vulnerability of human lives in a world of unrestrained evil.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the book's ending is that, in order to avoid further bloodshed, Attor and his family are forced to make scapegoats of the innocent Norse traders. From the beginning of the book, the main characters struggle to make and preserve peace, knowing that the truth is on their side. But in the end, they must betray truth and peace to protect other innocent lives. It's a sobering story of how hatred and conflict can spread even despite the efforts of good people.
4/5 - Recommended
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2022
Elswyth, the beautiful vivacious daughter of a former Welsh slave and a Northumbrian thegn is carefree and beloved by all in her village. On the cusp of womanhood, her life is mapped out for her. She is betrothed to the heir to Bamburgh and her future is the route to security and freedom for her whole family. In the aftermath of the devastating Viking raid on nearby Lindisfarne Monastery, Norse traders—sworn oath-kin to her father—arrive to trade exquisite and rare books to settle a blood feud. Variously misunderstood to be feared raiders or admired as trusted friends, the seafarers set pulses racing and hearts pounding in the small community.
The cast of warriors and thegns, wives and servants are well drawn, rounded and eminently human. This story of romance and thrilling passion, domestic rivalries and kindred loyalties, bloody football and bloodier battles, is a tale unusually without a villain –in the main, they are all entirely likable (or at least relatable) characters. Yet the tight plot allows the small human errors and emotional misjudgments to layer up producing a rattling good tale of love and adventure.
This is a proper page turner of romance and adventure – all in all a rattling good read!
The cast of warriors and thegns, wives and servants are well drawn, rounded and eminently human. This story of romance and thrilling passion, domestic rivalries and kindred loyalties, bloody football and bloodier battles, is a tale unusually without a villain –in the main, they are all entirely likable (or at least relatable) characters. Yet the tight plot allows the small human errors and emotional misjudgments to layer up producing a rattling good tale of love and adventure.
This is a proper page turner of romance and adventure – all in all a rattling good read!
August 22, 2022
3.8⭐️’s Rounded UP
(I received this book in exchange for an honest review)
I enjoyed and recommend this book. Thor is very lovable, especially in his patience with Elswyth. Leif as well, because Elswyth and her petulant child ego made me want to scream. Filled with salty coastlines, swordfights, and singing; it was a good read.
A deeply historical tragic romance is the best way I can describe this story. I love history so I’m not complaining, but a lot of times it distracted from the storyline and felt more like a documentary. I like documentaries, but it gave it a cold quality. Loaded with flowery inner dialogue yet simple conversations, it felt off balance yet easier to read. Overall good, and I recommend.
(I received this book in exchange for an honest review)
I enjoyed and recommend this book. Thor is very lovable, especially in his patience with Elswyth. Leif as well, because Elswyth and her petulant child ego made me want to scream. Filled with salty coastlines, swordfights, and singing; it was a good read.
A deeply historical tragic romance is the best way I can describe this story. I love history so I’m not complaining, but a lot of times it distracted from the storyline and felt more like a documentary. I like documentaries, but it gave it a cold quality. Loaded with flowery inner dialogue yet simple conversations, it felt off balance yet easier to read. Overall good, and I recommend.
October 24, 2023
The last 50 pages of this book are very good. But what about the preceding 280 pages? Well, it's not so much historical fiction as it is a Harlequin romance novel. A coming of age story with copious amounts of stream-of-consciousness and needless banter between lovers. At times it becomes wearisome.
I will acknowledge that the author bravely took on a little-understood period of English history, and in his postscript spoke of the knowledge gaps that exist. Further, the specific period surrounding the Viking raid on Lindisfarne is little understood. Baker does weave a backdrop to Northumbria at that time that is believable. But those lengthy passages where Elswyth is arguing with either herself, Leif, Drefan, or her mother Edith become repetitive and spoil the story.
I will acknowledge that the author bravely took on a little-understood period of English history, and in his postscript spoke of the knowledge gaps that exist. Further, the specific period surrounding the Viking raid on Lindisfarne is little understood. Baker does weave a backdrop to Northumbria at that time that is believable. But those lengthy passages where Elswyth is arguing with either herself, Leif, Drefan, or her mother Edith become repetitive and spoil the story.
August 18, 2022
The Wistful and The Good is a book that you can't get enough of reading and rereading. The story is fascinating in many aspects - its characters (I enjoyed Elswyth, just her way and her love for ships), its plot, and the meaning of Knarr and longships, among other details, caught my attention like no other. The story is super, satisfying and thrilling. I had the sensation as though I was watching a movie. The most impressive thing was that a lot of moments came to my mind: The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. Thus, I liked this book and I recommend it. Thanks to the author and Voracious Readers.
May 14, 2023
Baker's The Wistful and the Good shows how people who stubbornly hold to preconceived notions about other peoples and cultures can destroy things. When a misunderstanding is blown out of proportion and preconceived notions are applied to it the world crashes down around the main characters lives and leaves them unrecognizable. Baker has adroitly portrayed this in his novel. It serves at the very least this reader as an opportunity to rethink some of my misconceptions and strive to rid myself of them to create a better world.
September 3, 2022
Superbly written story ser in the Anglo-Saxon period. Even though not all historical facts can be proven to be accurate, the author is very logical in his assumptions. A delightful read. A page turner, enjoyable from beginning to end. I eagerly wait for the next one.
June 27, 2022
“Not a child.”
Elswyth certainly isn’t any more, as she sits on the clifftops of Twyford, dreaming of adventure, travel and the attentions of young sailors from the sea and plowboys from her father’s fields. All men look at her with lust (except for the resident monk) though none can touch, for she is no slave as her mother once was, but the future bride of the heir of Bamburgh. Hands off, say the rules of society. Hands off say the rules of trade.
Two weeks after the Viking raids on the monastery at Lindisfarne, the entire coastline is alert for trouble. And when a Norsk ship brings old friends to Twyford, and the thegn Attor’s hall, with treasures to trade and tales of their own attacks by the Viking, fear from Bamburgh runs deep. No traders are to be trusted, especially ones with eyes for the heir’s future bride. Despite Elwyth’s peaceweaving skills and her parent’s attempts to explain that the sailors are oath-kin, not their enemies, Drefan isn’t convinced.
Leif, captain of the ship, in his father’s stead, has worries of his own. He needs to raise the ransom for his kidnapped father and restore faith in their people. He has no time for love or lust, even though Elswyth is no longer the child he remembers. But he knows the rules of trade. Hands off the daughters of the men you trade with. Yet how will it look to others when she steals away with him to look at the treasures he carries aboard his ship?
G. M. Baker’s, Wistful and the Good, is filled with everything that makes a great story legendary. Love and adventure, greed and pride, peace weaving and deception, fire and a tragic, bloody and fatal battle. He weaves a story as intriguing and captivating as any man’s tale in the great hall, and he does it with the most delightful characters, all of whom will have you laughing, and crying, and anticipating the next tale in his Cuthbert’s People saga.
In the company of Ken Follet’s Kingsbridge Series and Bernard Cornwall’s The Last King, G. M. Baker’s stories are magnificently written, carefully crafted tales that will leave you wondering how soon you can get your hands on the next one.
Elswyth certainly isn’t any more, as she sits on the clifftops of Twyford, dreaming of adventure, travel and the attentions of young sailors from the sea and plowboys from her father’s fields. All men look at her with lust (except for the resident monk) though none can touch, for she is no slave as her mother once was, but the future bride of the heir of Bamburgh. Hands off, say the rules of society. Hands off say the rules of trade.
Two weeks after the Viking raids on the monastery at Lindisfarne, the entire coastline is alert for trouble. And when a Norsk ship brings old friends to Twyford, and the thegn Attor’s hall, with treasures to trade and tales of their own attacks by the Viking, fear from Bamburgh runs deep. No traders are to be trusted, especially ones with eyes for the heir’s future bride. Despite Elwyth’s peaceweaving skills and her parent’s attempts to explain that the sailors are oath-kin, not their enemies, Drefan isn’t convinced.
Leif, captain of the ship, in his father’s stead, has worries of his own. He needs to raise the ransom for his kidnapped father and restore faith in their people. He has no time for love or lust, even though Elswyth is no longer the child he remembers. But he knows the rules of trade. Hands off the daughters of the men you trade with. Yet how will it look to others when she steals away with him to look at the treasures he carries aboard his ship?
G. M. Baker’s, Wistful and the Good, is filled with everything that makes a great story legendary. Love and adventure, greed and pride, peace weaving and deception, fire and a tragic, bloody and fatal battle. He weaves a story as intriguing and captivating as any man’s tale in the great hall, and he does it with the most delightful characters, all of whom will have you laughing, and crying, and anticipating the next tale in his Cuthbert’s People saga.
In the company of Ken Follet’s Kingsbridge Series and Bernard Cornwall’s The Last King, G. M. Baker’s stories are magnificently written, carefully crafted tales that will leave you wondering how soon you can get your hands on the next one.
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