Cherie Lunghi Books

The plot has been described by other reviewers. The one point I want to add is that the behavior of the medieval characters is extremely brutal. Although in that way, the story is much more true to the past than most historical novels, if you are sensitive (as I am) you may find the descriptions disturbing. In any event, not something to read while you are feeling blue.

This was the first Barbara Erskine book I read, and remains one of her best. Even though I'm not a huge fan of really long books I found the characters engaging and the storyline thrilling. Bettered only by Midnight is a Lonely Place.

If you're looking for something similar whilst waiting for the new Barbara Erskine novel, you might like to try MASTER OF THE SCROLLS by Benjamin Ford. It's well worth a read!

I enjoyed this, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had all been in Matilda's past and skipped the stuff in the present time. The idea of regression was interesting, but it got to be a bit much after a while. I mean, how many people do you know that are experienced hypnotists? And Jo was hypnotized by was it four or five different people? That did become a bit of a stretch towards the end of the book. ***Spoiler*** Also, unless I missed something, I don't think Sam's obsession with the whole Jo/Matilda thing was explained to my satisfaction. How did he become so evil -- to the point of harming his brother.

You should be advised that this is not your "true" historical fiction. Matilda, William De Braose, Richard, etc. were real people, but as the author notes at the end not all that happened in the book to Jo/Matilda actually happened to the real Matilda. I almost didn't read this book because of what really happened to Matilda -- yes she was held prisoner with her son and they starved to death but the story ended a bit more gruesome than that, if what I read in SKP's Welsh trilogy is true. I was relieved that Erskine left that part out. Otherwise an interesting read, I blew through it quickly. Four stars instead of five for the inconsistencies.

It seems that the reviews for this book are all over the map. This is totally understandable to me, as I just finished the book and spent a while sorting my feelings about it out.

That said, I really like this book. I'll tell you why in a moment.

Jo Clifford is nineteen years old and volunteers to be a patient in a hypnosis experiment taking place at her college. While under hypnosis Jo becomes extremely agitated and then, her hands begin to bleed. The professor conducting the experiment is thrilled, he thinks Joanna is showing signs of stigmata, but his assistant Sam Franklyn, is scared. Then, Jo's hearts stops and she nearly dies. Sam manages to bring her back to life. This is the prolog.

Fast forward fifteen years. Jo has recently broken up with Nick, who is Sam's younger brother. She is a freelance journalist and is starting to write a series on nostalgia, one of the articles is about past lives and reincarnation. At this point she has no idea what happened to her all those years in the college experiment because the doctor conducting it gave her a post hypnotic suggestion so she wouldn't remember.

Nick does know, and try's to dissuade her from writing the article, but she is too mad at him for cheating on her to care. So she begins to write the article, and is hypnotized by a doctor she goes to interview.

Immediately Jo is flung back into the past. She is Matilda de Braose, women who is married to a twelve century marcher lord in Wales, but is love with the handsome Richard de Clare. And King (currently Prince) John of Robin Hood fame is in love with her.

As Jo continues her trips to the past via regression it becomes obvious that the three men in Matilda's life, her husband William, her lover Richard and her lord John are all involved in Jo's life as well. The men, Sam, Nick and Tim (a photographer Jo frequently works with) begin to act strangely.

This book was very exciting. The story line is going at a break neck speed until about page four hundred, when it slows down it bit. It does seem like some of it could be cut, but I couldn't tell you what parts.

My only gripes with this book are few. The scenes in the past can be a little boring, the evil man in Jo's life seemed to becomes very evil very fast, and I don't think you can really hypnotize someone over the phone. Also I was a little confused about the scenes where Jo thought she was Matilda talking to her husband but really she was being hypnotized, and something like the conversation she was having never really took place in Matilda's life. (You'll understand that if you read the book.)

Spolier alert!!

Also given everything that happened in the book the ending was a little un realistic. I mean, after having a man rape you in not one but two incarnations it seems like you'd have trouble trusting him again, much less loving him. But the destiny aspect of the book sort of makes it all seem ok (not that its ever acceptable to rape someone, it just sort of explains it) and hey, its fiction.

I give this book a very solid four point five stars and I would definitely try something else by this author.

I am an avid reader of historical fiction, with the emphasis on the "historical" rather than the "upthrust breast" variety. This catastrophe fails at both. I have read many many entries in this genre from the extraordinary to the putrid. Lady of Hay falls somewhere below this last category. As other readers have commented, this book is about 200 pages too long. The author has managed to confuse tedium with suspense by dragging out the conclusion long past the point of reader exhaustion. Ms. Erskine's attempts to interweave the present day "plot" with historical narrative is a complete failure, as she only manages to disrupt both story lines resulting in a herky-jerky narrative flow that became quite annoying. Compounding the problem, not a single character is the slightest bit sympathetic, and although I began the read with curiosity and interest, I ended feeling frustrated and cheated. There are many red herrings dropped along the way that kept me reading, but I got no satisfaction at the end. Why do we meet everyone's mother? How many literary agents, photographers and editors need to be introduced by their names, only to drop from sight 20 pages later? What about nurse Jeanne's foreshadowing of Matilda's illegitimate daughter ultimately giving her secret away resulting in calamity? Did I miss that scene as I waded through episode after repetitive episode of modern Jo swooning in the rain as she "channels" Lady Matilda? There are too many superfluous characters, seemingly all of whom are interested in and experienced with past life regression, who I kept expecting would have some role in the overall "meaning" of this morass, but they never did. Not to mention, most of the players seem good candidates for Alcoholics Anonymous. I cannot recall another novel which features wine, ale, scotch, Pimms and their ilk as the central focus in seemingly every scene. The insane behavior of all principals appeared to be nothing more than the result of years of alcohol poisoning - a Medieval Lost Weekend. I became so exasperated with their antics and cruel misdeeds that I actually found myself rooting for them all to be sent to the pokey or a rehab facility.

This book was a major disappointment in every way. It is short on history and long on artifice. If there were some way to award negative stars, this is the ideal candidate. Save your money.

This book gave me goosebumps! The storyline is compelling and the characters believable even in the unbelievable situations... you just believe it could be happening. I lent this book to my mum and got her hooked on Barbara Erskine as well. Can't wait for the follow up featuring Kate Kennedy - Daughters of Fire, which is due out in late 2005.

Whilst you're waiting, if you want to read something similar, try MASTER OF THE SCROLLS by Benjamin Ford. Well worth a read!

I really liked this book, except for the end. I understood early on that the anger and jealousy would end up being replayed in Kate, Greg, and Jon but I couldn't figure out which one of the guys would be Marcus or Nion.

But, the ending really confused me. Is Kate now 'possessed' by Claudia or is she still Kate, in love with Jon? Is Jon now 'possessed' by Nion or is he still Jon, in love with Kate? Is Greg now 'possessed' by Marcus and will pursue Kate/Claudia and Jon/Nion? Or is the ending saying that he let go of Marcus out of his love for Kate?

Very confusing. But, aside from that, I loved the book. Read the first half one night and stayed up until 2:00 AM the next night reading the last half. Could not put it down. Would have liked a lot more clarity for the ending though.

Story drew me in and kept my interest until the last quarter of the book when it seemed like the same thing was happening over and over. Lady of Hay by Ms. Erskine was a favorite of mine and I will read others by this author, but this title didn't do a thing for me and I ended up skimming pages to get it over with.

*Yawn* What a night! I found this book yesterday while rummaging through a used book store looking for something good to read. The blurb on the back really caught me. I was not certain if I were buying a scary book or a supernatural romance or both - this is my first book from Ms. Erskine. I started reading a little after 9 last night. I usually read most books very quickly, but with this one, I found I was forcing myself to slow down to enjoy the style, despite wanting to know what happens next. I read through until 6 this morning and finished as dawn was breaking. There was no way I could put this book down halfway through. I had to know what happened. To be honest, I was kind of afraid to turn out the lights. I kept glancing up at the doorway to my bedroom to make sure no one was standing there...

I can't tell you the last time a book captured me like this. It combined history, lore, human emotion along with a good dose of goosebumps between the covers. I came to Amazon today to look for more of Ms. Erskine's work. She has me forever as a fan.

-- Dolores

I feel I took a risk in reading this book. I had loved Barbara Erskine up until reading On the Edge of Darkness, which was very disappointing. But this book was a pleasant surprise.

After breaking up with her boyfriends Kate needs an inexpensive place to stay and write her new book on the poet Byron. So she rents a small cottage in northern England from a family who needs the money because the father (Roger) is dying of cancer. The elder son of the family, Greg, is pissed about the renting of the cottage-where he previously lived and painted. The daughter, Allison, has recently discovered a roman burial site on the beach that is about to be washed away by the tide that she thinks she'll excavate. But then creepy things start to happen.

This book is much more action packed than past books of Erskine's. The middle two hundred pages are non stop creepy action, and quite enjoyable. The ending however, was not so hot. It was very abrupt and kind of a let down from all that led up to it.

So this book rates a solid 3.5 stars. I wouldn't advise reading it for your first Erskine book, but if you enjoyed her other books you'll like this one.