The Wicked and the Just [Hardcover]

This was a hard book to review because I loved the writing but the unlike able characters limited my enjoyment

Setting: Wales 1293-1294
Wales has been conquered by the English. The Welsh are second class citizens and suffer under English rule.

POV:
Cecily- an English girl who is uprooted by her Father and moved to Caernarvon. She is a spoilt brat. Most of the book is from her POV. She is a hateful bully. She is cruel to her servant Gwen, and overall is a mean spirited child.

Gwen- she is a Wrlsh girl whose family was once prominent but now is a servant to Cecily. She hates Cecily, and struggles to help her Mother and her brother.

This book was beautifully researched and well written.
The author clearly is an expert.
The writing flows smoothly.
There is no true romantic plot

But Unfortunately the very, very unpleasant and horrid main protagonist limited my enjoyment of this book.
The ending however does allow for redemption for both the girls.

This is not a frivolous read.

Cecily's father ruins her life abruptly and irrevocably when he announces his plan to move them to Caernarvon in occupied Wales. The King needs good Englishmen to manage the newly-acquired Welsh lands and teach the primitive Welshman how to behave. Cecily wants none of it but at least she will finally be the lady of the house. Even if it is a house among barbarians.

Unfortunately for Cecily her initial misgivings about Wales are confirmed when she discovers the native Welsh speak something that barely sounds like a language as well as being impudent and rude. Though they are at least Christians--supposedly. In addition to being saddled with a surly Welsh servant girl she cannot dismiss, Cecily is also looked down upon by the local honesti who consider her little better than the Welsh peasants.

Gwenhwyfar is equally unhappy as servant to the brat. While she scrambles to find enough food for herself and her family, Gwenhwyfar watches Cecily leading the life that rightfully belongs to Gwenhwyfar and the other displaced Welshmen. The English took everything from Gwenhwyfar and her people. Now all she can do is watch and try not to starve.

As the English take and take, frustration grows among the Welsh. As tensions rise both Cecily and Gwenhwyfar will be caught up in the disastrous moment when the tension finally has to break and there will be justice for those who deserve it in The Wicked and the Just (2012) by J. Anderson Coats.

The Wicked and the Just is Coats' first novel.

Set in the years of 1293 and 1294 Coats expertly* captures a volatile period in history for Wales.

While I enjoy a great many historical novels, I usually do not gravitate toward medieval period books. In addition to being a period I know little about, it is also not always an area of high interest. That said, there was something about The Wicked and the Just that made me want to read it.

Perhaps you already know why 1293 marks an important time for Wales in history. I did not. I have to say going in knowing nothing save that Welsh is unpronounceable when I try to read it made for a dramatic finish to The Wicked and the Just. An ending, I might add, that completely took me by surprise.

With segments told from both Cecily and Gwenhwyfar's points of view, the book is well-rounded and examines the tensions within the Welsh town of Caernarvon from every angle. While that makes 'The Wicked and the Just' an excellent look at the period, it does not make for many likable characters. Every character has redeeming qualities, but each one is also very nasty. There is justice for those who deserve it, but there is also name-calling, pettiness, and plain old cruelty along the way making for a mid-point where almost no character warrants much admiration.

Coats' ends the book with a historical note explaining the politics of the period that Cecily and Gwenhwyfar either ignored or only alluded to during the actual story. While historical events are explained and relatively resolved, much is left up in the air for the characters. While the lack of closure makes sense given the content of the story, I must admit it does leave quite a few questions about what happens to Cecily and Gwenhwyfar as well as some other secondary characters.

Coats' writing is clear and hauntingly evocative of the period in this story of many, many displaced people. As much as any book can, The Wicked and the Just brings medieval Wales to life.

*I'm not kidding when I say expertly. In addition to being a fellow Master of Library Science, Coats has a master's degree in history.

Possible Pairings: Black Potatoes by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, 'Finnikin of the Rock' by Melina Marchetta, The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

THE WICKED AND THE JUST is about Cecily d'Edgeley, an English girl who in 1293 finds herself unwillingly moved to Caernarvon, in Wales, and Gwenhwyfar, the Welsh serving girl who refuses to surrender to the English invaders, as tensions between the English and the Welsh run higher in English-occupied Wales.

Cecily, the main character, is a brat. She's self-centered, arrogant, and generally unplesant, always whining about how much she wants to go home. She cares little about the situation in Wales, maintaining her air of English superiority, and she has little mind for the cost of things, caring only about her own wants. She is petty and selfish and childish, despite her protestations that she is a young woman. But Cecily is also brave and smart and determined with a sense of justice, and she grows through the novel. She never loses her arrogance, but you can see her gradually change as she spends more time in Wales and the situation worsens. Also, her voice is brilliantly written. Her arrogance and self-centeredness comes through on every page, but I found it more amusing than annoying, although I understand how particular readers could disagree. Although Coats unabashedly wrote Cecily to be selfish and conceited, there's nothing affected about how she tells her story. She's unbelievably real, and at times her immature conceitedness makes for a funny passage. She's one of those characters whom could have so easily been messed up, and instead, Coats created a memorable, three-dimensional, realistically faulted central character to explore the situation in Caernarvon. I find that a lot of first person narratives fail to have a distinct voice and the protagonists start to blend together; I appreciated that Cecily had a strong voice and a distinct - albeit not exactly warming - personality.

Ceciliy's chapters alternate with considerably shorter chapters told by Gwenhwyfar, whom Cecily calls "Gwinny". Gwenhwyfar is Welsh; she's a proud girl forced into a position of servitude to bratty Cecily. Meanwhile, her family is starving; there's not enough food or money to keep her mother healthy. Gwenhwyfar's chapters are printed in a different font than Cecily's, but Coats also shifts her writing style to reflect Gwenhwyfar's bitterness and desperation. There are many fragments, blunt sentences that perfectly convey Gwenhwyfar's anger and despair, and her chapters give readers a glimpse into the life of the Welsh.

I think the best thing about this novel is how impeccably historical it is. Coats has a master's in history, and you can tell. THE WICKED AND THE JUST is one of the best examples of historical fiction I've ever read. The English occupation of Wales is not a common topic in historical fiction (at least not in YA lit), and Coats makes the period come alive without ever losing sight of her two protagonists. There are no slips of modernity in dialogue or thought, and all the historical details are seamlessly woven into the story, so that it's a fully immersive reading experience, transporting readers to an unglamorized vision of the past. Some readers might find the lack of romance disappointing, but personally, I thought it was refreshing to read a book focused on a tense relationship-bordering-on-friendship between two girls.

I'd suggest reading the first few pages of THE WICKED AND THE JUST. If you find Cecily to be an insufferably annoying character from that brief excerpt and you're not a diehard historical fiction fan, you might want to skip THE WICKED AND THE JUST. I read the first sentence and was immediately taken in and delighted by Cecily's character and voice. If you do love historical fiction, though, and are dying for a good one whose focus is history and not romance, then I'd highly suggest THE WICKED AND THE JUST, regardless of your feelings on Cecily's character.