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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
It is while I stitch together the Queen’s gown, on the night her eldest daughter is to die, that I first sense an uneasy power.
On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favours sets a devious plot in motion.
Here in the palace of Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem – and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.
It’s 1572 in Skygghavn and 12-year-old Princess Sophia is marrying Duke Magnus of Ostergotland to seal a peace treaty. When Queen Isabel tears her dress during the celebration, 17-year-old Ava Bingen is entrusted to repair it only to accidentally prick the queen. As punishment she’s banished to the nursery to act as a maid and assistant to Midi Sorte, a black mute slave gifted to Queen Isabel by the ambitious Countess Elinor.
But the nursery is the focus of a plot against the crown. The handsome Lord Nicolas works with Countess Elinor to secure advancement in the court. A cruel man, Nicolas includes Ava and Midi in his scheme just as the women are already at odds over court historian Arthur Grammaticus whose devotion to the truth poses as much of a threat to their lives as the deceptions they’re forced to navigate …
Susann Cokal’s historical fairy tale is marketed as YA but other than the fact that one of the protagonists is 17, I don’t understand why. Cokal’s attention to period detail and the lives of ‘ordinary’ people in late Medieval times is meticulous but the themes of sickness (particularly the gritty details of syphilis), insanity, sexual assault and rape and power don’t (for me) seem relevant to teen readers, neither Ava or Midi are particularly likeable (despite the fact that both are victims of other people) and the plot is somewhat predictable. The writing’s fine and if marketed as a literary read I think this would reach a wider audience who would appreciate it more.
There is a lot of syphilis in this book and most of the characters are concerned about getting it. There’s also a fair amount of sexual violence, which I found difficult to read, especially a rape scene which is all the more brutal for Cokal’s sparse description. Neither Ava or Midi are likeable characters – both are passive in that they are under the control of their ‘betters’ – they turn against each other for much of the book, trying to score small victories that are somewhat petty. Much better are the fairy tale interludes and those scenes where the ghosts of Isabel’s children seek to claim the living.
Ultimately this is an okay read and I’d check out Cokal’s other books but the YA categorisation does it no favours and I think its target audience are likely to find it unengaging.
The Verdict:
Susann Cokal’s historical fairy tale is marketed as YA but other than the fact that one of the protagonists is 17, I don’t understand why. Cokal’s attention to period detail and the lives of ‘ordinary’ people in late Medieval times is meticulous but the themes of sickness (particularly the gritty details of syphilis), insanity, sexual assault and rape and power don’t (for me) seem relevant to teen readers, neither Ava or Midi are particularly likeable (despite the fact that both are victims of other people) and the plot is somewhat predictable. The writing’s fine and if marketed as a literary read I think this would reach a wider audience who would appreciate it more.
THE KINGDOM OF LITTLE WOUNDS was released in the United Kingdom on 8th October 2013. Thanks to Walker Books for the free copy of this book.
On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favours sets a devious plot in motion.
Here in the palace of Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem – and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.
It’s 1572 in Skygghavn and 12-year-old Princess Sophia is marrying Duke Magnus of Ostergotland to seal a peace treaty. When Queen Isabel tears her dress during the celebration, 17-year-old Ava Bingen is entrusted to repair it only to accidentally prick the queen. As punishment she’s banished to the nursery to act as a maid and assistant to Midi Sorte, a black mute slave gifted to Queen Isabel by the ambitious Countess Elinor.
But the nursery is the focus of a plot against the crown. The handsome Lord Nicolas works with Countess Elinor to secure advancement in the court. A cruel man, Nicolas includes Ava and Midi in his scheme just as the women are already at odds over court historian Arthur Grammaticus whose devotion to the truth poses as much of a threat to their lives as the deceptions they’re forced to navigate …
Susann Cokal’s historical fairy tale is marketed as YA but other than the fact that one of the protagonists is 17, I don’t understand why. Cokal’s attention to period detail and the lives of ‘ordinary’ people in late Medieval times is meticulous but the themes of sickness (particularly the gritty details of syphilis), insanity, sexual assault and rape and power don’t (for me) seem relevant to teen readers, neither Ava or Midi are particularly likeable (despite the fact that both are victims of other people) and the plot is somewhat predictable. The writing’s fine and if marketed as a literary read I think this would reach a wider audience who would appreciate it more.
There is a lot of syphilis in this book and most of the characters are concerned about getting it. There’s also a fair amount of sexual violence, which I found difficult to read, especially a rape scene which is all the more brutal for Cokal’s sparse description. Neither Ava or Midi are likeable characters – both are passive in that they are under the control of their ‘betters’ – they turn against each other for much of the book, trying to score small victories that are somewhat petty. Much better are the fairy tale interludes and those scenes where the ghosts of Isabel’s children seek to claim the living.
Ultimately this is an okay read and I’d check out Cokal’s other books but the YA categorisation does it no favours and I think its target audience are likely to find it unengaging.
The Verdict:
Susann Cokal’s historical fairy tale is marketed as YA but other than the fact that one of the protagonists is 17, I don’t understand why. Cokal’s attention to period detail and the lives of ‘ordinary’ people in late Medieval times is meticulous but the themes of sickness (particularly the gritty details of syphilis), insanity, sexual assault and rape and power don’t (for me) seem relevant to teen readers, neither Ava or Midi are particularly likeable (despite the fact that both are victims of other people) and the plot is somewhat predictable. The writing’s fine and if marketed as a literary read I think this would reach a wider audience who would appreciate it more.
THE KINGDOM OF LITTLE WOUNDS was released in the United Kingdom on 8th October 2013. Thanks to Walker Books for the free copy of this book.
