Godiva

by Nerys Ann Jones

The setting is Britain, 1045. The Normans are circling, waiting their turn to pounce on the English throne and wrest it away from the Anglo-Saxon barons who grudgingly support King Edward the Confessor, the childless, half-Norman "Virgin King." The royal court is a hotbed of rumor and political intrigue, and everything hinges on the succession. Godiva, wife of Lovric, Earl of Mercia, one of the most powerful barons—and a major landowner in her own right—is drawn into the court machinations. When Edward manipulates their son into a treasonable act and makes him a pawn in his power play, Godiva's ferocious maternal instincts rise to the fore. As the courtly scheming undermines Godiva's hitherto solid marriage and drives her to despair and confusion, the stage is set for a story so powerful its impact has survived for a thousand years. This tale of an independent, resourceful, and intelligent noblewoman tested to the limits of her endurance illuminates one of the great myths of British history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 18, 2008

About the author

Nerys Ann Jones was born and brought up in Bow Street, Cardiganshire. After graduating with honour in Welsh at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1983, she started her research on Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, and joining the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in Aberystwyth two years later.

Nerys Ann Jones is Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Arts in the field of Celtic Studies at Edinburgh University.

Reviews

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't really know her story...or much about 11th C Britain. Interesting that women were equal in all ways legally prior to the Norman Conquest and we're still fighting to get those rights back....


11.10.2013 1 of 22 books for $10 (fill a bag)

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable piece of historical fiction.

England in 1045 is an uneasy place. (Saint Edward) the Confessor (who reigned from 1042 to 1066, and was canonised in 1161) may have restored Saxon rule after the last Danish king but his policies boosted Norman influence and antagonised many of the powerful Anglo-Saxon barons. Edward’s marriage, to Eadgyth (Edith), daughter of Goodwin, Earl of Essex is childless, his court a hotbed of rumour and political intrigue.

One of the most powerful barons is Leofric (Lovric), the Earl of Mercia. His wife, Godgifu (Godiva) is a major landholder in her own right and as a consequence is drawn into the machinations of the court. When the eldest son of Lovric and Godiva is manoeuvred into a treasonable act, Godiva’s maternal instincts override her usual judgement and her desire to protect her family contributes to a series of events that threaten her and her family with disaster.

This novel draws on what is known about Godiva and includes the popular story that Godiva rode naked, hidden only by her long hair, through the streets of Coventry to save her people from oppressive taxation. Ms Jones’s Godiva is a powerful, passionate woman who is courageous and heroic. The setting is largely factual, the story is plausibly woven around those facts and the characters are human.

For those who like to distinguish what is factual from what is fictional, Ms Jones has included both a postscript and some suggested further reading. Sadly, Ms Jones herself died as this, her first novel, was being published.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether you like historical fiction or not, Godiva by Nerys Jones really is a very enjoyable book. I needed something a little less demanding after the last couple of books I had read, and this was good fun to romp through after a long day at work.

I’ve tagged it British Literature but Nerys Jones was Welsh, and it is very sad indeed that she did not live to see her first novel published. According to the blurb on the back of the book, she had a joint PhD in Celtic languages and literatures, and sociology. She was a lecturer at Harvard before she started writing fiction in 2004, but she died in 2007. So this is the only book we can enjoy by this talented writer. It’s a shame, because the only other authors I can think of who do this type of light historical fiction so well are Tracy Chevalier, Michelle Lovric and Sarah Dunant.
Read the rest at http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/200...

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite excited to find a novel based on the life of the infamous Lady Godiva but, sadly, this was rather disappointing. The story itself wasn't so bad but I found myself unable to finish due to the overly naff purple prose. When an author describes the Berkshire Downs as 'velvet breasts of earth', it pretty much puts you off.

[Misfit]

Put in a purchase request at the library and dang if they didn't buy a few copies.

[Sam Romilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable light read with a lot of good historical detail. In some ways the characterisations are a bit cliched and the style of revealing each of the characters thoughts as they talk to each other is a bit clumsy. The various plots come thick and fast and probably too many for such a short book. In some ways it has the rhythm of a Games of Thrones series with its sudden violence, sexual explicitness, and medieval intrigues. It would not come as a surprise to find that some of her ideas actually influenced the Game of Thrones. So if you like Game of Thrones but also want some real historical details then this is well worth a read. It is not a great literary work by any means but I found it fun and a good page turner.

What is original in the book is the understanding of leadership and command. The author regularly shows Godiva taking control, making decisions, organising, planning and giving orders. Godiva comes across as a high powered manager working within the constraints of the power hierarchies of the day. Perhaps the author is making a circular link between the role of business women in the year 2000s compared to their semi-independent role in life before the Norman conquests

[Martine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book interested to earn more about Godiva, her ride and her world in general. Unfortunately, this book did not manage to capture my interest. The first part of the book is dedicated to scenes that are highly significant and mysterious, judging by the characters' reactions. However, we as readers don't get enough backstory or knowledge about the world to know why. Then, in the final part of the book, we suddenly get all the answers and the events turn out not to be all that interesting. The mysterious not all that mysterious. In other words, this book failed to live up to my expectations.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found the prose a bit over the top at times, as some other reviews have mentioned, but I enjoyed the historical attention to detail about a time I didn't know much about.

[Ksenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a wonderfully written story about this myth/legend! I know it was historical fiction, but it did some insight as to how the event might have come to pass. I mean, it’s not everyday that the lady of the land walks through the town sitting stark naked on a horse.

Now traditionally, it is told that Lady Godiva rode naked at the request of her husband, saying he would do what she asked of him (to help the townsfolk) if she rode naked on a horse. Here, in this story, it is at the request of the king, King Edward the Confessor, in order for her to repent for her sins, and so that her people wouldn’t get taxed.

So what do we have here? A very clever, cunning, and really weird king who manipulates his subjects to his whims. I really did not know about Edward the Confessor so it was interesting to know that history, and to see how his actions, or lack thereof (however you want to interpret them, since he was a supposedly a virgin), affected the kingdom. There’s a lot of politics involved in this story but the author does a good job of not confusing you. But everytime Edward showed up, I got very uncomfortable, only because I didn’t know what he was up to! Oh, and even the nuns were conniving! Who can anyone trust?

Now, as for Godiva herself….well…my only problem was that I didn’t believe her to be as loyal and pious as the book was supposed to show. I feel like there wasn’t enough background on her as a character to show that it was within reason for Godiva to give in to Edward’s demands. I wanted to read the backstory about her and her husband, and the fact that Lovric was her second husband, not just get glimpses of it through a few sentences here and there. Plus, her little love tryst seemed a bit out-of-character, but it did serve a purpose for the story overall. Again, I wanted to know more about Godiva. I guess I wanted the book to be thicker and longer. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed what I read, but it left me wanting more of the beginning, and not the end.

The author also writes up at the end of the actual history and events and people surrounding these events. Not only does the book shed light onto the legend, but also on the general politics.

Not sure what else to say. So do I recommend it? Yes! If you need a change of pace from the other historical fiction out there, then this is for you.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so I'm going to preface this by saying that Godiva is my first piece of historical fiction. There was no particular reason I hadn't read any before, I guess it just hadn't really occurred to me to seek any out. I'm not sure why exactly I chose Godiva as my stepping stone since I'm not really up on my Anglo Saxon England, meaning this book could be jam packed with all kinds of historical inaccuracies and I wouldn't know it. I get the feeling though that this book stays true to its time setting.

Godiva, if you haven't already guessed, follows Lady Godiva and her husband Lovric, The Earl of Mercia in the years leading up to the Norman conquest.Godiva is a historical figure that I literally knew nothing about coming into this book, bar the whole legend of her riding naked through town on horseback.

I'm not sure if this book really taught me a whole lot more then that but what it did do was paint a picture of life during that time period in that region.

The religion, the poverty, the social practices, the education (or sometimes lack there of), it was all very eye opening. Reading a novel like this from a modern perspective was at times a little shocking and often quite confronting. The apparent barbarism and uncivilised practices left me feeling uneasy throughout at least the first half of the book. This being said it did take me awhile to get acquainted with the world I had willingly stepped in to.

Once I had come to terms with things and grown to know and like our main characters it was really just a downhill slide to the end.

Jones' prose was such that it drew the reader into the world instantly, a characteristic that contributed to both my difficulty in coming to terms with the book and my eventual enjoyal of the story.

Sadly Nerys Jones passed away while Godiva was in the middle of the publishing process and did not get to see how it was received, I'm sure she'd be glad to know that her book acted as a introduction to historical fiction to at least one avid reader.

Godiva turned out to be an enjoyable event. It widened my understanding of a period of time that was before closed off to me and made me curious to seek out other historical fictions in the future. Not bad at all.

[Felicity Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of several non-fiction works, this was a debut novel for Nerys Jones who sadly died as it was being published.

Apart from the legend of in Godiva's naked ride through Coventry I relished reading this novel in order to find out more about the woman behind the myth. A big fan of historical novels which combine fact with fiction, I confess that I become preoccupied with whether or not the author would deal with this aspect of Godiva's life.

Undoubtedly well researched, I just felt that, compared to some novels of this genre, the plot wasn't as well polished as I would have liked or expected it to be. Slow in getting started, the story, as a whole, was perhaps too 'wordy' for my tastes ........ a reflection of the author being firstly an foremostly an academic writer, an expert in Celtic languages? I don't know.

Still, certainly not without its merits, I loved the characters and especially so Godiva (in many ways a woman before her time, a landowner within her own right) and King Edward (outwardly very pious, he came across as a pervert who delighted in the discomfort of other) though it was the religious politics that I found most interesting, fascinating stuff, they gave a real insight into what I imagine life, with its then mixture of gospel teachings and superstitions, would have been like.

Though not up to the standards of the likes of Philippa Gregory, Godiva I'm sure will appeal to many fans of historical fiction.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This kind of historical chick lit is not something I usually read, but I bought it on a whim many years ago while first dabbling in historical fiction (it is now my number one genre) and therefore I wanted to give this one a fair go. It is set in an era I favour. 11th century England.
It was a no go though. Try as I might I could not appreciate this book. I did not find the writing particularly skilful and I did not find the story remotely interesting. And then there was the fact that this was very much a chick's book. In every way. I maybe be a woman, but I loathe stories written for chicks.
I am not putting that kind of book down, however. There are many good authors in the world of historical chick lit. There are readers out there for this book, only I am not one of them.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining telling of the Lady Godiva legend written with beautifully detailed imagery. What impressed me the most was the clarity in which the complicated political dealings and motivations were outlined for the reader. I sometimes get lost with these topics when reading novels. However, this book left me with a clear understanding of who did what and why by the end of the story. The author also did an excellent job of taking the limited historical information of the real life characters and the pre Battle of Hastings time period, and weaving a plausible storyline including royal manipulation and religious doctrine.

[JHM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging work of historical fiction about interesting, sympathetic, and complex characters who live in a vividly-portrayed world. I found myself turning pages eagerly, wanting to find out what would happen next.

[Rachael McDiarmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't a bad book at all - Godiva was quite an amazing woman and I liked the angle the author took regarding the penance and the naked ride through Coventry. It's a pity the author died before it was published, I would have liked to see what she might have done with other medieval tales...

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not enjoying it so far. Gave it to mum for Christmas & she loved it, been on my pile since January. May never finish

[Rebecca Huston]

I tried twice to get through this one and I failed. So it goes...

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Library book from MOE.

[Andrée · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great idea poorly realised.
Damn those Normans and their Bayeaux bludy 'tapestry'.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this. Its set in a period I know little about and I found it interesting to have a background to the legend/myth of Lady Godiva