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Gatty's Tale by Kevin Crossley Holland

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EC2
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Gatty's Tale by Kevin Crossley Holland

Post by EC2 » Fri January 30th, 2009, 8:37 pm

Paraphrased from the back blurb on the paperback:
'In the year 1203, nine companions set out from Wales on a great pilgrimage across Europe to Jerusalem. Not all of them will come home. At the heart of this story is Gatty, the field-girl. Eager, bold and resolute, wipe open to new experiences, she has an extraordinary journey of her own to make'

Gatty - short for Gertrude - is a character who features in Kevin Crossley Holland's Arthur trilogy, about a 12th century boy with a link to the Arthurian legends. I have read the first one - The Seeing Stone - and enjoyed it, but not the other two. This one is a spin off about one of the characters in the trilogy, but it does stand completely alone. Gatty is an ignorant, but not unintelligent peasant girl who is having to fend for herself because all of her close relations are dead. She is taken as a female companion by Lady Gwyneth, who wants to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Gatty, who has only been as far as the next village in her short life, suddenly finds herself crossing oceans and land masses in the company of Lady Gwyneth and other members of the community. There's Lady Gwyneth's spoiled, petty attendant, Nest. Snout, who has a cleft palate and hopes for a cure in Jerusalem, Nakin the wily merchant, and several others, each with their idiosyncrasies. The pilgrimage takes them over the Alps and to Venice and Cyprus and for some of them, the Holy Land. After that, there's the matter of the journey home....
This is the story of Gatty's journey, the physical, the emotional, the spiritual. From being a delightful but somewhat thoughtless and foolish adolescent, she learns wisdom and grace, but without ever losing the shining quality of innocence she has about her.
The novel is aimed at the Young Adult market. I would say that a good reader from age ten onwards would have no trouble with it, but it is written in such a way that it will appeal to adults too and it is certainly of an adult length. For readers wanting non explicit historicals this one will absolutely fit the bill. There's an accidental pregnancy and there are moments of violence, but everything of a graphic nature happens off screen and there is nothing in the content to frighten the horses so to speak. It's a companionable, page-turning narrative, although not edge of the seat. Having recently been mired in the vile and bizarre goings on in Ariana Franklin's The Serpent's Tale, this novel felt like a sparkling, refreshing shower in comparison and was just what I needed.
Kevin Crossley Holland is a poet and it shows in his descriptions and thinking processes. There are some beautiful moments of prose in the narrative and some lovely observations. Someone says that a pen drinks the darkness (ink) in order to create illumination on the page.
Quibbles? Just my usual accuracy ones. I was pulled out of the story by the ship they used to cross the channel having cabins and a wheel house - ummm not in 1203 it wouldn't! Come to that, it wouldn't have a wheel to put in the wheel house! There's a scene in a livery stable where everyone is mounting up on horses of all different breeds - some of which would have been very expensive an Arab stallion for e.g. or an Andalusian. Somehow I think not. The interraction between the classes is also a little too fluid and modern. Gatty is accepted by her social superiors with far too much ease and familiarity. However the above are nit-picks. Most of the time the author makes a good stab at Medieval mindset and I thoroughly enjoyed travelling with Gatty and her companions and watching her grow and change.
Four and a half stars and 8.5 out of 10. Very well worth the read.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

annis
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Post by annis » Fri January 30th, 2009, 9:31 pm

i really enjoyed "Gatty's Tale", Gatty is a delightful, forthright character. I did have the feeling that she was a bit too familiar for a servant, but her personality makes feasible a positive rather than negative response from those with whom she is being familiar.
"Gatty's Tale" can be read on its own, but is a follow-up to Kevin Crossley-Holland's "Arthur" trilogy, beginning with "the Seeing Stone" and if you've read those you'll recognise quite a few characters.

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diamondlil
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Post by diamondlil » Fri January 30th, 2009, 10:25 pm

I don't recall having heard of this author before, but this does sound like a good review.

I have added his books to my very long TBR list.
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sat January 31st, 2009, 12:21 am

Thanks EC, this seems to be a series. Does this stand alone well or must one commit to reading them all?

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Sat January 31st, 2009, 1:09 am

Just dropping by on my way to bed! It can easily stand alone Misfit. It's a few years since I read the first in the series and I've not got around to the second 2, but it didn't detract from my reading of this one.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Sun February 1st, 2009, 9:47 am

Hmm, about wheel houses in medieval ships -- uh, no. Whacking big rudders, sometimes one on each side of the stern, but no wheels. That's a much later invention -- about 1450 or so.

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