"A delightful Medieval from the Resident Genius of Bad Boys"
Anne Stuart has a habit of conjuring dark and dangerous
men, men who are not your normal heroes, and then compels
you to fall for them. She has given us supposed killers, a
hit man, a mercenary, madmen, a practitioner of the black
arts, impostors, and even a cult leader. It's as if she
adores to tweak the readers' noses and say, "I can make
you love the devil, when you tell me you won't". And she
does it, time and again, like none other. This time, the challenge was to make you love a fool. Not
an idiot, mind you, but a real fool, a jester for the King
Henry of England. Nicholas Strangefellow is the fool for
the King, but being a contrary Stuart character he's not
your average fool. He is tall, handsome and much brighter
than anyone stops to see. The King sees some of it, thus he trust Nicholas on a
special errand for him, fetch back a holy relic, a challis
of the blessed Saint Hugelina the Dragon; and he will
reward Nicholas for doing his bidding. Nicholas has long
used the mask of the fool to his advantage, and sees
Henry's task as the end of the road. A son of a baron, he
saw the family lands taken, and his father killed, when he
chose to fight on the wrong side of the struggle with
Henry and his sons. Nicholas was forced to survive on his
wits, and what better way to curry favor than by playing
the buffoon? The Challis of Saint Hugelina the Dragon is
in the keeping of Lord Hugh. Hugh is to marry Lady
Isabeau, so Henry seizes the opportunity to sends Nicholas
to the couple under the guise of a "gift". Nicholas is to
entertain at their wedding feast, when actually it's the
opportunity to steal the sacred cup. Nicholas travels to Lord Hugh's in the company of Lady
Juilanna, the estranged daughter of Lady Isabeau. A young
widow Nicholas sees a means of passing the time, but soon
is intrigued by Julianna. She was wed when she was only
eleven years old to a sixty-year-old man. For ten years,
she has hated her mother for allowing her father to marry
her off. Returning for her mother's marriage and their
reunion is not something Julianna views with joy. Her
short temper is exacerbated by the irritating fool, who
make jests of all, wears annoying bells on his sleeves,
recites riddles that have deep meanings and is much too
handsome for her peace of mind. She cannot help but be
attracted to the sharp-witted fool. Nicholas sees
something in Julianna he has not seen in the countless
other women he has bedded: true innocence. Nicholas Strangefellow is a very complex man, not your
typical hard as nails Stuart Bad Boy, but he still is pure
delight. Stuart always writes with the realities of
conditions and life for women in the Middle Ages, without
pulling punches, and gives you a rich set of characters
for her merry tale. This is Stuart at top form - but when
is she not? Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted August 19, 2004
Reviewed by Deborah Macgillivray
Posted January 14, 2007
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