Sorry kids, no feet.

Apparently I've been reading this book since October. I guess that's not really surprising since I was reading it using the Kindle app. I struggle to read e-books. I have no logical reason for it. I just do. It takes me months to finish books that might normally take me weeks or days. 

There was nothing wrong with this book. At the same time, I didn't think there was anything great about this book either. Honestly, I think it's difficult to expect much from a book told about people we know so little about. That being said, I think the author was able to describe the conditions and emotions of the English people in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings and the rise of Duke William to King of England. 

The book is about Edith, wife of Harold Godwineson (Harold II). She's Harold's wife but not really. The church never recognizes their marriage as legit so she is only ever referred to as his handfasted wife. Roll credits. *If any of you watch Cinema Sins on YouTube, you get that reference.* The author refers to Edith as Elditha to keep the reader from being confused. Names like Edith and Emma are to the 11th century what names like Mary and Elizabeth are to 16th century. I'm not going to lie, I have zero issues with an author who elects to change the spelling of a name for the sake of the reader. I really hate having to draw out a character map while I'm reading so I can keep track of everyone. For the most part, I liked Elditha. After Harold's defeat at the hands of William of Normandy, she does what she feels is necessary to keep herself and her children from the Normans. This involves some sneaking around at night and several close encounters. 

All in all, I found Elditha to be courageous and admirable. Then I made the mistake of reading the author's notes. I understand that history is written by the winners. I understand that very little is known about people of the time, especially women. I understand that our greatest source of information is the Doomsday Book which is only slightly biased. I understand all that. However, it still felt like a complete slap to the face to read the author admit that while she did immense amounts of research, she still had to make up quite a bit of Elditha's story. While it's possible these things did happen, it's highly unlikely that they actually did. Again, I understand this is a risk I take when I read historical fiction from a certain time period. It doesn't make the blow any easier to accept.

All of that being said, I'm going to read the other two books in the trilogy. I have them in e-book format so expect it to take me the rest of 2019.