Godwine Kingmaker

The story of the early years of the life of the father of the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, is convincingly re-imagined by author, Mercedes Rochelle. Godwin lived in a perilous time - Anglo-Saxon England was invaded by the Vikings; political alliances constantly fluctuated between native ruler and invader, and survival depended solely on one's political acumen and sword-arm. Though often maligned, Godwin was a survivor and a man of his times, and a man who would come to take a prominent role in the changing political direction of Anglo-Saxon Egland. I cannot recommend this book enough as I enjoy history's "villains" being brought to light, and look forward to the next installment.

I do love early English history. Many of the books I’ve read from that time period focus more on the kings and many have told the tale of Harold, Godwine’s son and the last Anglo Saxon king of England but this is the first book I’ve read that has told the story of Godwine. And told that story for the sake of Godwine not as a back drop to Harold’s tale.

It starts when Godwine is just a young boy and finds a warrior lost in his woods. Even at such a young age he figures out how to take the best advantage of a situation which shows off the sharp wit and intelligence that would carry him through his life as he befriends and becomes important to the Danish King Canute and ultimately becomes the first Earl of Wessex. He walks a fine show more line throughout his life making decisions that sometimes seem questionable.

I dove right in to Godwine’s tale – in fact I read this book in a day. Ms. Rochelle does an excellent job of bringing the reader into Godwine’s world whether he is in that forest with a lamb or on a ship at sea. A great man has been create and brought to life from the scraps left to history. I will eagerly await the next installment in this series show less

This was the first book I read that has Godwine as the main character and it was great to see things from his perspective. We see how he manages to rise from a commoner to one of the most influential men in England.

I’m in two minds how I felt about this book and probably the biggest reason is that I couldn’t relate to Godwine. He’s like I met this total stranger in the forest, he seems like a nice fellow so why don’t I join him and turn traitor to my country? Simple as that. And off to kill your countymen you go. Hmm…

He falls in love with Gytha, who refuses his proposal and acts all haughty anyway, and king gives permission to marry her after Gytha’s brother is killed. She suspects Godwine is involved in the murder. Does it show more surprise that the marriage starts bit rocky? I just couldn’t understand why he wanted to marry her in the first place. I did like to see how they could turn that into a love match later on.

Godwine was a good hero for the book and it was fascinating to see how he manages to maneuver between difficult political times and different alliances. Later in the book we get another view of him when Edward the Confessor comes into picture. show less

This book is well written and well researched. It could be a very good book but some elements are lacking in the characters that seemed to be more a historical book description that coming alive on the page.
Many thanks to Top Hat Books and Netgalley