Rebecca Gablé

Closer to 3.5/5. Set in the 14th century in London [the "purple city" of the title] this chronicles the exciting life and times of a cloth merchant, Jonah Durham. He rises from mere apprentice to his unsavory cousin, Rupert Hillock, the villain of the piece along with his father-in-law, William de la Pole, a rich Yorkshire cloth merchant and schemer. He becomes, through many ups and down, an important man in London society and a rich cloth merchant of note. Jonah becomes an intimate of the show more royal family [Edward III and his queen]. She and Jonah devise a plan to improve English textiles, which he carries out by bringing Flemish weavers, dyers, and fullers from the Continent, to England to add their expertise to English textile manufacture. Upon the suggestion of one of his apprentices, David Pulteney, he puts a whole settlement of these people on the estate his wife Giselle had brought as dowry. David is appointed steward. We see Jonah and household survive a devastating fire of his London home and several business reverses, the last a bankruptcy. Also, there's a long section on the Black Death, from which Jonah's family and household don't escape entirely unscathed. Due to certain business documents [forged] he is declared a traitor to the Crown. Among them is the only original, an IOU from the King, which Jonah's adoptive son, Cecil, has stolen and given to the villains, because of blackmail and extortion over another apprentice Harry Willcox' seamy background. Harry is the son of the notorious leader of the underworld, the so-called King of Thieves, nicknamed "Francis the Fox", because of his red hair and also his cunning. Harry has wanted to "go straight" and Jonah has given him that opportunity. Giselle, the queen, and Harry Willcox, Cecil's only friend, seek to investigate and to prove Jonah's innocence and to find the missing Cecil.

This was a fascinating glimpse into London and court life of that period -- from a German viewpoint. The author, a leading German writer of historical fiction, seemed to know her English history. This whole story was spread on a vast canvas -- nearly 1000 pp.-- but kept me interested all through. I do wish the author could have shortened it a bit. The characters were a mixture of real historical figures, along with her fictional creations.

Recommended. show less

This is the first in a series recounting the lives of the Waringham family, a fictional earldom in Medieval England. The novel opens with Robin of Waringham, a young student at a monastery, learning that his father Gervais, Earl of Waringham, has been found guilty of treason and his lands and title are forfeited. Robin now has to decide how he's going to survive.

The title translates as "The Smile of Fortune" - with Fortune alternating between smiling and frowning over Robin. The book is set show more in England during the late 14th Century covering the later part of the reign of Edward III to the crowning of Henry IV. Robin spends most of his life as a loyal follower of John of Gaunt, and so the book is clearly on the side of the Lancasters.

The various adventures of Robin can be a little bit over the top - and he is naturally on hand for all of the big events of the late 14th Century. It's also a big thick door-stopper. But I love this book (and the series) in spite of that. It is slightly strange though, to read a book set in medieval England written by a German in German.

It seems to be historically accurate, at least as much as is possible in a book about the 14th Century. (I will complain however about Trim Castle being described as a seaside castle - it's miles away from the coast.)

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction. Unfortunately, it's only available in the original German edition at the moment, but hopefully it may get picked up by an English language publisher and translated.

Why I picked it up: I originally picked up the sequel Die Hüter der Rose because it featured the Wars of the Roses, and went back to this one later. (I have a tradition of reading series out of order) show less

Ich bin gar kein Fan von Hörspielen, aber da diese Folge als Geschenk angeboten wurde, dachte ich, ich kann ja nichts verkehrt machen, es auszuprobieren, zumal die Hörbuchversion (also mit einem Sprecher) nur als gekürzte Version vorliegt und ca die gleiche Länge hat wie dieser erste von drei Teilen -- da kann man sich ausmalen, wie verstümmelt das Buch ist, wenn 2/3 fehlen.
Die SprecherInnen waren alle hervorragend, die Musik zwischen den Kapiteln war ganz nett, und die show more Hintergrundgeräusche waren nicht übertrieben und überdeckten die Erzählung nicht.
Ich kann es von daher empfehlen, auch Leuten wie mir, die normalerweise einen großen Bogen um Hörspiele machen. show less

I got this book for free at GenCon for playing a certain number of Mayfair games.

I thought it was well written and the depiction of Viking culture was historically accurate.