In 1036, a brutal massacre took place at Gildford, of Alfred the Atheling and his followers by Harold Harefoot, soon after to become King of England. That event, and the events of the thirty years following it, would lead up to one of the seminal moments of English history: the invasion of England by William of Normandy and his followers, in 1066. Gildenford is the story of both sides of the conflict over possession of the crown, with Brand Woodcutter, a retainer of Earl Godwin of Wessex, caught in the crossfire.

This novel is a very strong, real depiction of England in the years leading up to the conquest. Brand is a character to whom I became strongly attached: honorable yet conflicted over the decision he must make. As the novel mentions towards the end, Brand is the kind of person who wants to live his life with a worthy purpose, but nonetheless destined to behave deceptively. It’ll be interesting to see where the Conquest and Duke William take him.

Brand has every reason to hate and enact revenge upon Godwin and the Godwinssons, but he doesn’t, which I think says a lot about the quality of his character. I’ve not read a lot of fiction set in this period, apart from Helen Hollick’s portrayal of Emma in A Hollow Crown, so I was intrigued by this more rounded-out look of the period. In A Hollow Crown, Emma’s the protagonist, and obviously portrayed sympathetically; and she comes off less well in this novel, at least at first.

This is a very strong novel about the effects one person’s (or many people’s) actions have upon many, even many years after the fact. The characters in this novel are very real and believable (Anand toned down Edward the Confessor’s piousness a bit, however). It’ll be interesting to see how the story continues in the next book in the trilogy, The Norman Pretender (in some ways I already know, but that won’t stop me from reading the book). This book is rare and rather hard to find at a reasonable price, but well worth buying if you do. ( )

This book is the first of a trilogy written by Anand about the Norman Conquest of England and begins in 1036 when Alfred Atheling and 600 of his party were betrayed and massacred at Gildenford by Harold Harefoot, one of the claimants for the English throne. But, did Harefoot have help in the plot to betray the Atheling and lead him to believe he would be safe entering England? His mother Emma? Godwin, the Earl of Wessex? Brand the Woodcutter is innocently drawn into the plot and thus begins his years of service to the very powerful Earl of Wessex as the story then focuses on the reign of Edward the Confessor (Alfred's older brother), Godwin's great secret about the massacre at Gildenford and the events that eventually lead England toward it's destiny with Duke William of Normandy.

Since this is the first of a trilogy, William is a very minor character until the very end and I suspect the second book will have a lot more WOW factor as the story of Duke William and the 1066 Conquest of England unfolds. The ending of this book fell a bit flat for this reader and if one is only planning on reading this book it's not the greatest stand alone book on this period, I would recommend Helen Hollick's A Hollow Crown for a more thorough look at the era. While I very much enjoyed this book, and learning more about this lesser known period, I have to call this one good but not great, and definitely not worth the exorbitant prices being asked for the used copies of this book. ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel of pre-conquest England. Gildenford was the setting of the tragic massacre of the Atheling Alfred and his 600 followers. Most of the novel covers the reign of Alfred's brother Edward the Confessor and the conflicts between the royal court and the family of Earl Godwin. We experience the drama and the turbulence of this era through the eyes of Brand Woodcutter, a soldier/follower of the Godwins. As he learns to love and admire Earl Godwin, he is conflicted by suspicion of the role Godwin played in the Gildenford tragedy. A great story, great characterization, wonderful history, accurate research! ( )

http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/2008/10/gildenford-by-valerie-anand.html ( )

A very good novel, first of a trilogy. While not quite up to the level of her Bridges Over Time series, this is a very solid read, with interesting and engaging characters. ( )