Poetry of Reading

In 899, King Alfred the Great dies. His son Edward becomes the monarch of a land at war between the Saxons and the Danes. Several like Uhtred, the Pagan warlord was in favor when Alfred ruled Wessex only to find themselves in trouble with Edward on the throne as the new King of the Saxons purges Danish influence. This is made clear to Uhtred after a particularly violent incident in which Alfred would have applauded him while Edward declares him an outlaw. Fleeing the monarch’s wrath, Uhtred turns home to take back Bebbanburg. His brave, inane action places him during a war between the Danes and Saxons. Feeling comfortable in combat, Uhtred plans to strike back at those who outlawed him regardless of what happens to Britain, especially those people subject to Danish control. This is a great tenth-century historical that centers on competing multiple cultures (Danes vs. Saxons and Christians vs. Pagans) fighting for control of England. The premise is built from the hypothesis that much, if not all, the island could have become Scandinavian as easily as it became Saxon.

The author does seem to have taken a few liberties with the historical records. For instance, Chester (Ceaster), the old Roman legionary fortress of Deva, seems to have been reconquered by the Saxons a few years before the battle of Tettenhall, and, as Cornwell mentions, the Danish warlords that he includes in his story are mostly fictional. This, however, does not detract from the story in any way and, because of the paucity of the sources, the novelist has quite a lot of room to weave his story in between the few known facts that they mention.

Fans of the Saxon Tales will appreciate this strong entry as Uhtred’s angry acrimonious aims impact the world around him.

I was captivated by the story from start to finish. The ending was perfect, leaving me with a good feeling. The past and the present are beautifully woven together through Vivian and Molly while spinning a tale of twisting emotions.

Seventeen-year-old Molly, a foster child who is about to be too old for foster care, is given fifty hours of community service for trying to steal a book. In the past nine years, Molly has been in over a dozen foster homes, some for as little as a week. She’s become very defiant. The one thing Molly hates most about the foster care system is the dependence on people you barely know, and her vulnerability to their whims. She has learned not to live a life of expectations. She’s not too keen on devoting fifty hours of her life to Vivian in a drafty attic, going through endless boxes of stuff. Ninety-one-year-old Vivian Daly lives in a fourteen-room Victorian mansion and wants to have her attic cleaned out with the help of Molly. There are many boxes to be opened and Vivian’s past is soon revealed. Vivian’s family left Ireland for America in 1929 in hopes of a brighter future, thinking they were on their way to a land of plenty. But they failed miserably, ill-suited for the rigors of emigration. The family meets with tragedy and Vivian is soon on her way to the mid-west on the orphan train - headed for the unknown.

I was not at all familiar with this strange and little-known episode in American history. The orphan trains existed from 1854 to 1929. Every child has a heartbreaking story. They are told that they are lucky to be on this orphan train. They are leaving an evil place, full of ignorance, poverty, and vice, for the nobility of country life. They had simple rules to adhere to and if they didn’t obey these rules, they would be sent back to where they came from and discharged on the street, left to fend for themselves. Adoptive parents gathered at the train stations looking for a child to adopt. A child is selected for free on a ninety-day trial, at which point, they had the right to send the child back. But, too many times, the children were abused. Babies and healthy older boys were typically chosen first. Older girls were chosen last. If a child wasn’t chosen, they’d get back on the train and try again in the next town.

The author brings richness and life to this interesting story - completely absorbing and wonderfully written.