"You will learn also how to serve God, the King, and your Lords."
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Katherine Spirit of the Dell by Pat Wells Trafford Publishing
book review by Donna Smith
In the 13th century, Katherine begins her young life at Denny Abbey along with her childhood friend, Isabelle, and Marie who is Queen Eleanor's cousin. While at the Convent, Katherine's education includes working in the infirmary where she learns about herbs and plants used for healing. Later, she meets and falls in love with the handsome Knight William Gifford. Throughout their life together, Sir William is busy with his duties to the King and Lady Katherine is left to run the household and raise the children. They struggle with finances, worries about their children, and political strife, but their loving commitment to each other helps them overcome any hardship.
Like a time machine, Wells' book takes the reader back to medieval England. The main characters in the book are based on real people, which add to the authenticity of story. She vividly describes a working manor with all of the villeins, servants, freemen and nobility. Conditions are harsh during the 1200s. Children, as young as five-years-old, did dangerous jobs such as putting sheaves of corn in a thresher. Food is scarce in the winter, communication is painfully slow, and war is always a possibility. According to Wells, devotion to God, loyalty to King, and dedication to governing Lords are the rules followed by medieval society, along with defending the honor of England, the church, and family. Katherine's sons take the knight's oath promising to "defend The Faith of Christ, to protect ladies, and the be faithful to his brother Knights."
While you read Wells’ story, you can smell the sage and lavender, taste the wild boar and ale, and hear the clashing of swords and the pounding of a horse's hooves. Anyone who is a fan of Edward Rutherfurd will enjoy Wells' book.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review.