For this month’s TBR Challenge, I was tasked with reading a book by an author who’s new to me. Since I tend to browse the UBS and pick up random books that sound interesting, I have plenty of things in my TBR stack from authors I’ve never read before. I was I the mood for a medieval, so I grabbed Ann of Cambray by Mary Lide.

Lide’s novel was published in 1984, but it’s not the old school bodice ripper that its cover might suggest. In fact, while there’s certainly a romance intrinsic to the story, the historical side of things is so meaty that I suspect that this book, published as romance in the 1980s, would get classified as historical fiction nowadays. Set during the struggle between Stephen and Matilda for the throne of England, Ann of Cambray sweeps across several years in the heroine’s life. We see her first as an orphaned child sent from her beloved home at Cambray to live as a ward of her liege lord, Raoul of Sedgwick.

At the beginning, Ann presents as a bit of a brat. However, given that she lost her mother, father and brother, and then had to move from the somewhat isolated outpost along the border at Cambray to a wealthier home at Sedgwick where she doesn’t entirely fit in, her behavior makes sense. And as she grows up, she also grows less frustrating. During their first encounters at Sedgwick, Ann and the young Lord Raoul find themselves frequently at odds and I had the sinking sensation that this story would involve hundreds of pages of Raoul “taming” her (i.e. breaking Ann’s spirit) with punishing kisses, forced seduction and all the other usual tools in an alphahole’s arsenal. Thankfully, my assumptions proved incorrect.

This is a partial review. You can find the complete text at All About Romance.

 I had mixed feelings about this book.  On the one hand, I thought the author did a great job of giving it a real setting.  There is no mistaking that this book is not only a medieval, but that it is set in England shortly after the Conquest. The romance sits nicely front and center, but the backstory of the Normans establishing their rule over the Saxons after having won at Hastings runs continuously through the story such that the romance and the rest of the story are inseparable.

And then there was Giles.  I thought Giles was a lovely hero. He has good sense and is enlightened for his time without seeming ridiculously modern. As bastard son of a nobleman, he had little to expect by way of advancement in France but following William to England gave him the chance of a lifetime - a title and an estate.  I loved watching how he managed to treat those around him with kindness and consideration while also showing himself strong enough to rule over his new lands.

I'll admit that the romance caused me some trepidation at first.  After all, not only does the Lady Fayth so clearly NOT want to marry Giles, but the power imbalance between them was huge.  As the conquering lord, Fayth is pretty much completely at Giles mercy. However, Giles repeatedly has opportunities to abuse his position and chooses not to. Affection was a bit slow to blossom between these two, but what really frustrated me was Fayth's continuing refusal to trust Giles despite all evidence that she should. Even so, I did enjoy the book overall.