The Blood Remembers

In Santa Monica, California, Rose Kirkland feels she has lost the essence of being herself. Instead life is fulfilled through her relationship with others such as being the wife of Matthew or through her work as a jewelry designer. Even her greatest desire of having a child adds to her lost identity, as she knows she would become the mother of that infant. Alas, a saddened Rose cannot claim that identity as she fails to become pregnant. In her even deeper melancholy, Rose hears a medieval voice and begins having out of body experiences that display to her the posh inside of castles.Rose obsesses over what is happening to her and travels to Europe on a quest to silence the inner voice haunting her. From Oxford to Italy and finally to Normandy where in Pirou Castle, Rose recognizes the place but not in a Déjà vu sense, but as if she once lived there. For here the past and present converge, but only time will tell whether this proves the salvation or damnation for the "visiting" American.THE BLOOD REMEMBERS is a haunting time travel tale that is so rich with interwoven historical tidbits, readers will believe the author is writing an autobiographical fiction novel. The story line is loaded with action yet the key player Rose is a multifaceted individual struggling with her life and the intrusion of the voice. Readers will remember Terry Stanfill's deep tale because Rose haunts the audience by getting into your blood.Harriet Klausner

As a fan of Barbara Erskine and Sharon Kay Penman, I found this book right up my alley. I enjoyed the protagonist and how the author was able to keep her at the forefront of the story. The historical elements were wonderful as was the description of the locations. As a big fan of books with reincarnation/genetic memory plot elements I was so impressed with the depth of this story. That it kept my interest to the final pages makes this one of this year's best finds for me. I look for more from this talented author in the future. Historical fans will love this one.

Urged by her husband Matthew to find a surrogate mother to bear their child, Rose Kirkland experiences a medieval woman's voice invading her life and compels her to leave home and travel to Oxford England, and then to Vieste, her father's birthplace in southern Italy. Rose arrives at the Norman Castle of Pirou where she unexpectedly discovers a link to her own existence with that disembodied voice as past and present collide in a time-travel odyssey of self-discovery and desire. The Blood Remembers is a superbly written debut novel by Terry Stanfill and documents her from first page to last as a writer of great storytelling abilities.

The author succeeds in spanning 800 years as she tells the story of Rose, a jewelry designer who lives in Santa Monica, and Rosamonde, a medieval woman who has been sent to Sicily to be a surrogate mother in ther court of King William of Sicily. I don't want to tell too much more to spoil the story for any one reading this review. The author is like the magician, Michael Scot, a character in the book, as she tells Rose Kirkland's tale-part quest, part mystery, part romance. I also learned a lot about the history of the Normans and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. I was sorry when I arrived at the last page of this rich and satisfying novel.

Anyone who loves history and romance (in the most sophisticated sense of the word) must read this book. I didn't know what to expect when I ordered it: I was attracted by the cover, first of all, and by the intriguing title; and I must admit I wanted a fantasy that would remove me from the turmoil of our post Sept. 11th world. I was not disappointed. The tapestry-like story that unfolds within the pages of THE BLOOD REMEMBERS is simply marvelous: a brilliant, at times even searing, evocation of a little known era of medieval history -- Sicily in the 13th century --- intertwined with a modern day quest. At times, I had the chilling feeling that the author had actually KNOWN the emperors and Norman knights whom she so powerfully evokes. This would be enough: but the author also manages to create an endearing heroine, Rose Kirkland, as well -- a woman who is most definitely of our time. I can't recommend this book enough.