I recently read Within The Fetterlock for the second time, about three years after my first read. I found it every bit as compelling and downright brilliant as the first time.

Reading this novel is the closest thing to time travel I've ever experienced. It didn't feel as though I was reading, but rather that I was there, in the late 14th/early 15th century, with Constance, Thomas Despenser, Henry of Bolingbroke and the rest. Every time I put the book down, it took me a little while to adjust to the modern world again! I've never read any historical novel that felt so three-dimensional and so utterly real.

The description is just right, the characterisation spot on, the dialogue completely convincing. The characters, Constance especially, feel exactly right, medieval people behaving in medieval ways - not, as you so often find in histfict, modern people with modern attitudes dumped into a medieval setting.

There is a huge cast of characters, and the first chapter can be a little disorientating if you don't know who they all are, but Mr Wainwright trusts his readers' intelligence to get it and go with the flow. I'm not an expert on this time period, but all the characters are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the nobility of Edward II's era, my own area of interest, so I was fascinated to read the continuation of the 'family saga'.

What an astonishingly good writer Brian Wainwright is! I am in awe of his talent. I do hope he's planning another novel - preferably lots more, and I'll certainly be pre-ordering anything else he publishes. I urge you to read Within The Fetterlock. Historical novels just don't get any better.

I opened this book with such high hopes only to be frustrated and disconcerted by oddities that seemed out of time. Perhaps it is my own bias, but I do not like such phrases as "like he was confronted with an alternate universe" when the time period is 14th century. I found Constance portrayed as a modern woman rather than a woman at a time when the women were not considered equal to men. This out of time feeling was unnecessary from my perspective and off-putting...to such an extent that I stopped reading halfway through, something I very rarely do. I will be more wary in future, and will certainly not spend money on this author again.

524 pages to hold you in a Fetterlock. A wonderful story, well researched and well written.

enjoyable.

The life of Constance of York was little known until Brian Wainwright brought her from her place of obscurity on the Plantagenet Family Tree into our living rooms in this epic novel, Within the Fetterlock.

Wainwright does a worthy job of explaining the political and familial complexities which littered the Welsh Marches and dodged the English Throne during the early 15th Century. (This is no small feat given that nearly everyone was given one of five names, generations were close, and men were called by any one of thier numerous titles or land holdings!) Through Constance we observe the impotence of two Kings, the selfishness of many, and the maneuverings of all those around them who struggle for power while deluding themselves it is "for the good of the country."

Wainwright's style reminds me a bit of Sharron Kay Penman (Here Be Dragons; Falls the Shadow; The Sunne in Splendour; etc) but with less sex or romance. His writing is well researched and his understanding of the complex political webs between different sympathizers is obvious. The flaw to this novel is that any medievalist, Anglophile, or amatuer student of the British Monarchy likely knows the outcome of the story he tells. This took away from my ability to feel the emotions one generally enjoys while reading a juicy historical novel: hope, suspense, disappointment, fear, etc.

That said, amateur historians who prefer to glean their factual knowledge from well researched novels rather than biographies or history books will appreciate this contribution by Wainwright. This era is less "sexy" than that of the Tudors, the end of the Plantagenets, or the early struggles between Wales and England. As such, fewer details are known. Wainwright has woven together thorough details with the necessary human traits which make historical fiction such fun to read - the relationships, dialogue, and inner thoughts which enable readers to gain some sense of who these people may have been.

Though not the main story line, Wainwright gives readers a treat by writing about the relationships between the three sons of King Edward III in their advanced years & those of their children in such familial terms (complete with rivalry, jealousy and true affection). Wainwright provides great detail about the political fall out which resulted from John of Gaunt's infamous relationship, and eventual marriage, to Katherine of Swynford explains the conditions which lead to the splintering between the House of Lancaster (those who decended from his children with Katherine of Swynford, the Beaufort's) and the House of York (those who descended from Edmund of Langley, or the Duke of York for most of this book). These family divisions are the basis for what eventually became known as "the Wars of the Roses."

As an avid reader of fiction set in medieval England & her surrounds, I am quite glad Mr. Wainwright is so knowledgeable on the topic and proficient with his pen. He is a wonderful addition to the cadre of authors in this genre, and I eagerly await his next publication.

A great read -- not your usual true love and battles and a happy ending -- this is a complicated tale of intrigue, treachery and conspiracy. This is not a quick and easy read. The "cast of characters" is large and complicated, it was well into 100+ pages before a grasped it all but well worth it. The author provided a list of characters to refer to which I found very helpful.

All in all a great read about a period I knew little about. As a side note, this book begins about the period that Katherine leaves off -- but is not related to that book and does not favor Henry of Bolingbrook that well. I did love the final scene between Constance and Henry's Queen. LOL. At the same time, I did enjoy reading about what become of Henry, as well as Katherine and John's two sons. Highly recommended.

As a side note, check out this author's other book, The Adventures Of Alianore Audley. An hysterical send up of historical fiction, I doubt that Mel Brooks could have done better. Set in the period of Edward IV and Richard III. I recommend having a passing knowledge of the period or you'll miss half the jokes.