tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘You’d better give some thought to your future. What are you going to do?’
This novel, by George Shipway, is a fictionalised account of the early part of Walter Tirel’s life. Walter Tirel is generally credited (or blamed) for the death of King William II (William Rufus) in the New Forest in England in 1100. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Who was Walter Tirel? Where did he come from? Little is known about the life of Walter Tirel. In this novel, young Walter of Poix grows up in Normandy at the abbey of Evreux, believing himself to be the son of Dean Fulk, the abbey’s superintendent. He is skilled at archery, and earns the nickname Tirel. Walter is sent away to the household of William the Conqueror to be trained as a squire. He also discovers his true lineage, and that he has been deprived of his inheritance. William Rufus becomes his friend, but by attaching himself to Robert ‘Curthose’, Count of Maine and heir to Normandy, Walter hopes to make his fortune and recover his inheritance.
‘Knights were made for fighting: why else did they exist?’
Because so little is known about Walter Tirel’s life, Mr Shipway has been able to develop a detailed and absorbing novel about him and about the life of Normans first in Normandy, and then in England. This novel includes a number of historical figures and some of them (according to the history I’ve read) seem to be every bit as dislikeable as they are portrayed here. There’s plenty of action, intrigue and violence.
I picked up this novel on a recommendation by a friend, and I’m glad I did. And now, for the sequel, ‘The Wolf Time’.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel, by George Shipway, is a fictionalised account of the early part of Walter Tirel’s life. Walter Tirel is generally credited (or blamed) for the death of King William II (William Rufus) in the New Forest in England in 1100. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Who was Walter Tirel? Where did he come from? Little is known about the life of Walter Tirel. In this novel, young Walter of Poix grows up in Normandy at the abbey of Evreux, believing himself to be the son of Dean Fulk, the abbey’s superintendent. He is skilled at archery, and earns the nickname Tirel. Walter is sent away to the household of William the Conqueror to be trained as a squire. He also discovers his true lineage, and that he has been deprived of his inheritance. William Rufus becomes his friend, but by attaching himself to Robert ‘Curthose’, Count of Maine and heir to Normandy, Walter hopes to make his fortune and recover his inheritance.
‘Knights were made for fighting: why else did they exist?’
Because so little is known about Walter Tirel’s life, Mr Shipway has been able to develop a detailed and absorbing novel about him and about the life of Normans first in Normandy, and then in England. This novel includes a number of historical figures and some of them (according to the history I’ve read) seem to be every bit as dislikeable as they are portrayed here. There’s plenty of action, intrigue and violence.
I picked up this novel on a recommendation by a friend, and I’m glad I did. And now, for the sequel, ‘The Wolf Time’.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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