The Conquest

England, 1065-1088. Ailith, a young married Saxon woman, had no idea how much her life would change when William, the Duke of Normandy, conquers England. At first, she meets her Norman neighbors, Aubert and Felice de Remy, and befriends them. But neither she nor her husband knows that Aubert is William's spy. Then when the war begins and William becomes the new king, tragedy befalls Ailith. Her newborn baby dies, followed by her husband, and her world falls apart. She wants to end her life, but Rolf de Brize, a handsome and womanizing warrior and buyer/breeder of warhorses, stops her. He is attracted to the voluptuous blonde and wants her at all cost, which is why he saves her from the unwanted advances of a sleazy suitor and offers her a job at his new English estate. She keeps her distance, but he will have her, and he won't let a small matter like his marriage to a noble lady stop him from having the woman he has desired the most... Years later, past mistakes and tragedies fall on young and spirited Julitta. Having grown up working as a maid at a bathhouse (brothel) with her mother, she has known a great deal of hardships. When she finds her way back to her father and stepfamily, Julitta is also reacquainted with Benedict de Remy, her childhood love. Benedict had been betrothed to Gisele, Rolf's legitimate daughter, when he was still a child and he has to fulfill his contractual obligations. But his feelings for Julitta grow as he spends more time with her. Julitta will learn about star-crossed love, growing up a woman and the unfairness of an arranged marriage before she even turns fifteen. Wow. That is all I can say about this book. So many people have praised Elizabeth Chadwick and how wonderful her medieval-set novels are. They said that she knew her medieval history, and that she makes the time period come alive. They also say that you are transported to the time period and see the scenes in your head as though it were a film. Well, it is true. I read one of her novels once. I think it was Lords of the White Castle, and thought it was wonderful. But that was years ago and I forgot about this author for a while. The Conquest is a beautiful historical read. It has a great backdrop of the Norman Conquest, but it also tells a wonderful and bittersweet story with lots of romance, adventure, tragedy and intrigue. You will love these characters. Ailith is a tragic heroine that I will remember for a long time, and Rolf, though flawed and at times insufferable, is also a great character. The story of Ailith and Rolf enthralled me more than Julitta and Benedict's, but only because it is so sad. I cannot recommend The Conquest enough. I will definitely read Chadwick's other novels, even if they have to be shipped from the UK.

Another exceptional historical from Elizabeth Chadwick! The writing paints a picture of medieval England in the time of William the Conqueror that makes you feel as if you are truly there. The story starts out with Ailith, a Saxon wife who suddenly finds herself a widow after her husband attends William's coronation. Her two beloved brothers have already been slain in the Battle of Hastings defending their country and King Harold. Additionally, to make matters worse, she has lost her feeble baby son to the grave.With sweeping descriptions of the battlefield to domestic life in medieval England, relationships ebb and flow, with Ailith finding herself alone except for the newly met Norman neighbors. She reluctantly agrees to nurse their son as the Norman Felice is too weakened by childbirth. She then becomes Norman Rolf de Brize's chatelaine at his English estate, after having met him previously, and eventually becomes his mistress and bears him a daughter. Meanwhile, Rolf already has a wife and daughter in Normandy. Their love endures many twists and turns but cannot survive what Ailith considers the ultimate betrayal. Their child Julitta, after having been a cherished and indulged daughter, is taken away from it all and her love for Benedict, her mother's Norman friend's son, is fraught with many trials and barely endured hardships.All in all, this book is a page turner that I found difficult, at best, to put down. It grabs your attention and holds it throughout the entire story. If you haven't read anything by Elizabeth Chadwick you are missing out on some great medieval historical reading! Do yourself a favor and read this and all of Elizabeth Chadwick's books! You won't be sorry!

I am a new fan of Elizabeth Chadwick's. After reading this book I have bought her others. Loved the continuity in both love stories: Ailith and Rolf's and their daughter, Julitta, and Benedict's. Couldn't put this book down. I felt like I was in Medieval England. Can't wait to read her other books.

Ms. Chadwick writes a beautiful, romantic story with the Anglo-Saxon-Norman era as the backdrop. She has done an excellent job of historical research... from the vivid, graphic battle scenes at Hastings to the societal culture of the period. The love stories of Ailith & Rolf, and Julitta & Benedict would stand alone regardless of the time period. However, the setting of 11th century Britain makes these & all the characters that much more intriguing.

Set during the tumultuous times of the hostile Norman invasion of England, "The Conquest" paints a dramatic picture of what it would have been like to live through the end of the Saxons' reign in England. This story gives the reader insights into the thoughts of both Norman and Saxon characters. Chadwick does this through the intertwined actions of Rolf, a Norman lord given a fiefdom in England; and Ailith, a wealthy but strong Saxon woman who's life is greatly effected by the war. All in all, "The Conquest" is a medieval masterpiece that epitomizes the conflicts and oppressions that the Saxon people endured as a result of Norman aspirations.