The Gallows Curse [Mass Market Paperback]

Like Karen Maitland's other two books, Company of Liars and The Owl Killers (both great, by the way), this is a complex, labyrinthine mystery set in medieval England. The Interdict of 1208 forms the background for the plot, which concerns two main characters. The first is Elena, a 15-year-old serving girl who becomes a runaway, and later finds herself tricked into prostitution, after she's accused of killing her own baby. The second is Raffaelle, a tortured, revenge-hungry lord who is forced out of his manor by the brothers he holds responsible for his own agonies during the Crusades, as well as those of his late best friend and master Gerard. There are twists, turns and deaths galore as Raffaelle and Elena, both separately and together, attempt to outwit the treacherous Osborn and Hugh, making plenty of friends and enemies along the way.

Having enjoyed the author's previous novels so much, I expected a lot from The Gallows Curse, and it didn't disappoint. The characters are wonderful. Elena seems to be a bit of a cliché at first (innocent, beautiful young girl who has just about every tragedy possible thrown at her and survives despite the odds) but I found myself warming to her more and more as the story went on. As you see the horror and loneliness of life as a runaway villein and an unwilling whore through Elena's eyes, you end up rooting for her to make it through and get revenge on her tormentors. In Raffaelle, meanwhile, Maitland has created a fascinating, flawed, contradictory antihero and probably my favourite character of all the books I've read recently. He's simultaneously repulsive and entrancing, hateful and heroic. He does some awful and some great things; he pays dearly for his sins and for attempting to selflessly help others, but it's impossible to ignore the fact that many of his actions are motivated purely by his lust for Elena. Yet I ended up feeling more sympathy for the character than I would had he been unbelievably 'perfect'.

The glimpses into the characters' pasts and memories are fantastic, and really make the whole story feel fleshed out. The plot has everything - violent deaths, sexual deviance, witchcraft, spying/treason, prophetic dreams, a collection of caged exotic animals, shedloads of dark secrets and plenty of daring escapes, all against the backdrop of a 13th-century England depicted so vividly you can almost taste it. I love the way Maitland works elements of the supernatural into the plot without fanfare, so seamlessly you can easily believe magical beings and powerful witches really existed as part of everyday life back in medieval times (the story is part-narrated by a mandrake, and one of many subplots involves a pair of cunning women with an ancient grudge). What's more, the action-packed ending is a knockout. If there are flaws, they're to do with repetition in the language. The characters utter the same curses over and over again (God's blood, Satan's arse etc...), and the words 'stench' and 'stink' are repeated way too much - we get it, the Middle Ages weren't particularly fragrant. But overall, such minor flaws didn't do much to dent my enjoyment of the book overall.

While at first I missed certain elements from Maitland's other books - the variety of first-person narrators from The Owl Killers, the wide cast of eccentric characters from Company of Liars - I think this new tale may be her best yet. I was riveted throughout the book, and upon finishing it my instinct was to jump right back to the beginning and start all over again. I would recommend Maitland's novels to anyone interested in historical fiction; as well as being compelling and obviously very well-researched, they're also darkly funny, full of surprises and undeniably entertaining.

It is 1210 and King John is on the throne - but this is no medieval bodice ripper, this is dark and dangerous historical fiction. Following on from the excellent "Company of Liars" and "The Owl Killers" is this latest outing by Karen Maitland. They are all stand alone books, but there are certain themes that run through them all. Superstition and magic abounds in a time when people believed truly in spells, relics and potions. People lived where they were born and most rarely travelled; so even when our heroine, Elena, visits the nearest town, it overwhelms her. Karen Maitland is a very descriptive writer, bringing the places, people and time to life. She also interweaves several storylines and characters. The book is not confusing, although you do have to concentrate and there is a list of characters to refer to at the beginning of the book until you have them all straight in your head!

We follow Elena, at first happy and in love, content with her lot, until she is plucked from the obscurity of manual labour to work in the manor house. Pope Innocent III has placed the kingdom of England under an interdict after King John refused to accept the pope's appointee Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Church's sacraments have been withdrawn from the people - including the last rights. Tricked into unwittingly and unknowingly taking a dead mans sins, Elena begins to have bad dreams. The whole situation begins to spiral out of control, as Elena becomes no longer sure about whether her dreams are real and what she is capable of doing. As life at the manor begins to fall apart, so does Elena's life collapse with it. There are French spies, crusaders, a wonderful madame at a brothel, a eunuch, a wise woman, a mandrake and various other characters who make this book a really evocative, enjoyable and exciting read. All I can say is that I am looking forward to Karen Maitland's next book - an author who will be automatically pre-ordered. Intelligent and imaginative, brilliantly written and exciting, with characters you both believe in and care about - I guarantee you will enjoy this. If you have not read any of Karen Maitland's books then download this immediately and then enjoy the first two books. You have a great time awaiting you.

Karen Maitland is an author who has an almost supernatural ability to transport the reader back in time to medieval England. Her descriptive prose is some of the very best which I have had the pleasure in reading. The sights, smells, atmosphere, culture, people, animals, buildings are brought to life in such a vivid manner that I completely lost myself in the book. Who needs a time machine when you have an author like this who has mastered the art of time travel with her inspirational and escapist books!

`Gallows Curse' has everything one could possibly wish for in an historical fictional novel: fraught feudal relationships, a grasping King, overworked peasants, murder, violence, treachery, espionage, local customs and white magic. What a recipe eh? The book's central themes involve injustice, desperation, love, brotherhood, hope and sacrifice. The themes and plot are weaved together in an inseparable tale of good versus evil. It is a story akin in magnitude to Ken Follett's cathedral novels.

There were several twists which I didn't see coming which really shifted the pace of the book up a gear or two. The narration by the `mandrake' also gave the book an added sense of mystery and intrigue giving the book an almost mythical veneer. This reinforced my understanding and perception that this was a book firmly grounded in an age of superstition and genuine ignorance. The characters were roundly formed emanating innocence, brutality, corruption and so much more. The cast of characters were diverse yet linked together by so many underlying invisible ties.

If you've never read a Karen Maitland book before, then this would be an excellent place to begin. The book is somewhat different in style to her two previous works `Company of Liars' and `The Owl Killers', but it is a move which has certainly enhanced her reputation as an extremely accomplished master storyteller.

Highly recommended.