The Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

[EC2]

I enjoyed this novel a lot. It is told in the present tense, and I would call it literary fiction.
The above bald summary does not do justice to how richly textured this story is with nuance and meaning. In many ways it's not so much a historical novel, as a fantasy story like the Arthurian tales of high Medieval literature. You will find hermits and forests, women's magic that almost hints at the Shelagh Na Gig. It's like an illuminated manuscript glimpsed through trees. I don't think the author particularly engaged with the straightforward world of the 11th century, but it is still a world in which the reader can become absolutely immersed. There are some interesting comments referencing the content of the Bayeux tapestry and they made me want to get out my copy of the work and look at it.
It is not a fast read. The detail and richness of the language means that the reader needs to absorb it slowly and think about the ideas and layers between its pages. It took me nearly a month. Like bitter chocolate or strong cheese, it's wonderfully intense on the taste buds, but a little goes a long way. It's almost like poetry.
There are a lot of historical errors, but not of the kind that most people would notice. The references to brandy, friars, hourglasses, lockets containing hair, none of them known to 11thC society, would probably pass most readers by. Even more so the detail that dye is not actually set with urine - It's used as a mordant in the case of woad, or that woad actually produces a better blue-black colour than indigo. That's just nit-picking because I happen to know an Anglo Saxon dye and textile expert. If you don't know, it doesn't detract from the story.
In some ways, Sarah's Bower's richly detailed use of language, and indeed some of her characterisation, reminds me a little of Dorothy Dunnett. It also has a feel of Nicole Galand's The Fool's Tale in the way it treats the medieval content, but it's ten times better.
This novel is going to be entered for the Orange Prize, and it may well be a contender.
Verdict: Enjoyable literary fiction and well worth the read.

[Perdita]

This one has been lying on my bookshelf for about 4 months and I'd completely forgotten it was there :rolleyes: I'll definitely make a start on it now!

[Eyza]

I had rather mixed feelings about The Needle in the Blood. I think Ms. Bower had a wonderful idea, of a love story between Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and a fictional woman who is embroidering the Bayeux Tapestry. And I was willing, for this reason, to overlook the fact that it is written in present tense. But I kept wondering why Also, though I'd have to check back a bit, I had some real questions about the historical accuracy of what she came up with(as I said, I can't give details on this without checking back, because I can't quite remember the details that made me wonder since it's been a little while since I read it). I do think it's a good read, and though it's not a "fast" one, I had little trouble following what was going on. Ms. Bower is obviously quite talented, and it will be interesting to see how she develops as a writer.

Also, I wrote a review of it on my The Writer's Daily Grind blog, which you can find here

http://www.writersdalygrind.blogspot.com should any of you be interested in the thoughts I had closer to the time I actually read it.;)
Anne G

[Eyza]

All:

Addendum here:

I did notice some of these historical errors, and some EC didn't mention, like the one about imposed curfews. . . .the lockets with hair sounded more like a Native American "medicine bundle" to me, rather than an actual locket. I didn't "catch" the "brandy" one, but I can't claim to be the kind of expert EC is, though I've read a lot about this period for my own Great Medieval Science Fiction Masterpiece!:D
Anne G

[EC2]

Welcome back to the forum Eyza!
Sarah actually teaches creative writing at the University of East Anglia.
One of the major stumbling points for me re historical accuracy was the glass in the windows - of the women's sewing room. Absolutely not at this stage in history. But it's a nice literary conceit. I also scratched my head at the guy in Winchester (I think!) who was a survivor of Hastings but he'd lost both an arm and a leg. Eh? Why didn't he bleed to death? Again, I think one has to take it as allegory with imagery beyond the initial one. I suppose it's like an art historian reading a painting for clues behind the meaning of everyday objects - and that's part of why I would call it literary fiction.

[Misfit]

This one finally came from the library last month but I'm sorry to say I bailed on it at about 50 pages. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood, the there was something wrong in the constant sex references that was bugging the h*** out of me at the time. Although I think I recall diamondlil saying this was a tough book to get in to.

[michellemoran]

I just ordered this and it arrived last week. It's sitting on my stairs (where books tend to sit when I'm too lazy to carry them up to the library!)...

[Eyza]

EC2:

I didn't mind the glass windows in the sewing room. I've heard from several reliable sources that they actually had[I][B] glass windows then. They weren't very common then, and only the richest people could afford them. Which Odo supposedly was. What I [B][I]did mind was the sewing room being called an "atelier". That struck me as extremely unlikely, whatever else it might have been called. And if you(or anyone else reading this) are interested, I have a review on my blog The Writer's Daily Grind. You can find it by clicking here:

http://writersdailygrind.blogspot.com/2008/07/odo-oh-no.html

Some of you might find it worth your while to read,
Anne G



Welcome back to the forum Eyza!
Sarah actually teaches creative writing at the University of East Anglia.
One of the major stumbling points for me re historical accuracy was the glass in the windows - of the women's sewing room. Absolutely not at this stage in history. But it's a nice literary conceit. I also scratched my head at the guy in Winchester (I think!) who was a survivor of Hastings but he'd lost both an arm and a leg. Eh? Why didn't he bleed to death? Again, I think one has to take it as allegory with imagery beyond the initial one. I suppose it's like an art historian reading a painting for clues behind the meaning of everyday objects - and that's part of why I would call it literary fiction.

[diamondlil]

This one finally came from the library last month but I'm sorry to say I bailed on it at about 50 pages. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood, the there was something wrong in the constant sex references that was bugging the h*** out of me at the time. Although I think I recall diamondlil saying this was a tough book to get in to.


This is one of those books that I had to struggle to read. Not because it wasn't a good story, because it was, but more because the writing was so dense that while i was reading it I had to really concentrate on it, and then when I put it down other books were a little tempting to pick up instead.

In the end I did enjoy it because the story was interesting and ultimately rewarding.

[Vanessa]

The author has written another book - Book of Love (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/sarah-bower/book-of-love.htm). Anyone read that one? I like the cover.

[diamondlil]

I own it, but I haven't read it yet.

[Eyza]

Vanessa:This sounds almost exactly like her "theme" in Needle in the BloodAnne G


The author has written another book - Book of Love (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/sarah-bower/book-of-love.htm).* Anyone read that one?* I like the cover.

[diamondlil]

I swear I had already posted this, but maybe it was on the other board.

*************************


I first heard of this book when Dovegreyreader (a blogger) started raving about it earlier in 2007, and the story sounded so good to me, that I went ahead and bought it instead of waiting for it to come in to the library. Good job too, seeing as it still isn't on the catalogue yet!

Our main female character is Gytha. She was a handmaiden to the former Saxon queen. When William the Conqueror, for want of a better word conquered, Gytha was in some ways lucky to escape from the same fate of her queen who became a prisoner. In other ways Gytha was not so lucky, because she had to find some way to make a living and becomes a prostitute. Gytha is saved from this fate when the quality of her needlework is recognised and she is recruited by Odo and William's sister, a formidable woman in her own right, to join the team of embroiderers who are working on an embroidery which will tell the story of the Norman invasion of England. It is there that Gytha meets Odo, a charismatic churchman who is not, let it be said, all that chaste. The attraction between the two is intense, as is the hate that Gytha feels towards him, and she is not sure what action to take - to kill him or love him.

Odo makes Gytha his mistress, an action which in itself causes many issues for the couple, including with the all powerful king of England. As the two fall deeply in love, Odo must fight for both his political and canonical lives. The line between the church and politics has over the years has often been thin, and it is particularly thin during these early medieval days.

This is an extremely detailed book, and I would be stretching it to say that it is a book that I found myself swept away by. It took me a bit longer to read than I would have anticipated but having said that, I was immersed in the 11th century, and I was compelled to continue reading to find out what happened next. In some ways, the romantic side of this story was almost fairy tale like - a sweeping epic love story between two unlikely people. This aspect, along with much historical detail, meant that this was a book to savour and enjoy.

On the front cover the byline says 'A powerful tale of sex, lies and embroidery' and that about covers it!

[diamondlil]

In some ways, Sarah's Bower's richly detailed use of language, and indeed some of her characterisation, reminds me a little of Dorothy Dunnett. It also has a feel of Nicole Galand's The Fool's Tale in the way it treats the medieval content, but it's ten times better.



Totally agree that this book is definitely, definitely better than The Fool's Tale.