I was so sad when I heard there were to be no more Hawkenlye novels as I think Helewise and Josse are such wonderfully believable characters. But now the story carries on, albeit with the younger members of both families coming to the fore, which unsettled me a little as I wanted to read more about the Abbess and the Knight, but the latter do command a goodly place in the book, thus delighteding my heart. The whole theme of the book, based on the penury and starvation which King John inflicted on his suffering kingdom, is excellently and thrillingly portrayed, but one's heart aches for Joanna's elder son.... Hopefully there will be another book to follow, which will tie up all the loose ends and relieve our minds about the main characters and their problematic situations. Well done, Alys Clare, for listening to your readers and producing more of this series.