2021-05-21
Gleason’s second installment of the Carolingian Chronicles explores warring factions and families in 742 Laon.
The novel begins with Pippin surveying the city of Laon in northern Francia, where his brother Carloman has killed nearly a third of its soldiers. Pippin is preoccupied not just with the carnage that lies before him, but also with thinking about his love, Bertrada, who has “broken their courtship over the siege, stating she wanted nothing further to do with the brutality of his family.” In this opening scene, Gleason introduces three of the central plot points: sex, love, and violence. Pippin laments Bertrada’s departure, though, halfway through the novel, he will discover that they’re inextricably linked. Meanwhile, Pippin’s sister Trudi is pregnant and married to Odilo, a man she fell in love with despite being promised to Prince Aistulf of the Lombards. Trudi carries the secret that the child is not her husband’s, and she must safeguard herself for “the chance for a fresh start...a new beginning for the royal family in Bavaria.” But Odilo’s horrible half brother Theudebald soon descends on their household, bringing violence and chaos with him. And, finally, coquettish Miette becomes the mistress of Childeric, the future king of Francia. But Childeric’s increasingly violent, degrading behavior with Miette causes her to increasingly turn to Pippin, confiding in him and conspiring with him in ways that occlude her loyalties. Gleason doesn’t stint on soap-operatic melodrama and sex in a novel steeped in warfare and fight scenes. Though the cast is large and intricately connected, Gleason keeps the plot agile and propulsive thanks to ongoing conflicts. While the brutality feels accurate to the times, one rape scene is unnecessarily graphic, and the description of Miette’s desires can feel a bit outdated: “She knew she would comply, whatever he asked of her, her need was that great.”
Entertaining historical fiction overstuffed with bloodshed, drama, and desire.
