Hardcover, 625 pages
Published April 5, 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.
But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world―of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next―that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her.
Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable―unless …
In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.
But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world―of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next―that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her.
Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable―unless she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, for her family, for her loved ones, and for the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future.
Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early Middle Ages―all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith's luminous prose. Working from what little historical record is extant, Griffith has brought a beautiful, brutal world to vivid, absorbing life.
I’ll read the follow-up soon, but I don’t want to spoil it by binge-reading the whole (published) story
Very beautifully written. I love anything in the heptarchy period, so Hild was a clear winner. A bit disappointed the book didn't cover the later, more interesting parts of Hilda's life, but the author's note at the end hints at a sequel. Could have done with less romance / incest.
Good books, I find, are great for getting you through hard times. Hild fit that bill perfectly as I read it over three nights in front of an open fire.
Hild is set in 7th Century England, and based on the historical figure that later became Saint Hilda of Whitby. If you have an aversion to reading about the lives of Saints, set aside your preferences and delve into a rich exploration of character and a beautiful presentation of Anglo-Saxon England. From a short passage in Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History of the English, Griffith manages to conjure a fully realised, interesting character and give a real flavour of the time period.
The character of Hild is presented more as a natural philosopher, her thinking is almost scientific in her observation of the natural and political worlds she finds herself in. She sees patterns and frames her analysis of them in …
Good books, I find, are great for getting you through hard times. Hild fit that bill perfectly as I read it over three nights in front of an open fire.
Hild is set in 7th Century England, and based on the historical figure that later became Saint Hilda of Whitby. If you have an aversion to reading about the lives of Saints, set aside your preferences and delve into a rich exploration of character and a beautiful presentation of Anglo-Saxon England. From a short passage in Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History of the English, Griffith manages to conjure a fully realised, interesting character and give a real flavour of the time period.
The character of Hild is presented more as a natural philosopher, her thinking is almost scientific in her observation of the natural and political worlds she finds herself in. She sees patterns and frames her analysis of them in terms of prophecy – necessary for survival in a court with a fickle king and a priest of Rome who resents those with religious/mystical power, especially women. The Gods and later God seem to be a frame of reference that she moves within rather than a deeply held belief. I get the distinct impression that if the thinking of her time period allowed it she’d be an Agnostic.
It’s a coming of age novel, a tale of the rise and fall of Kings but the real tension comes from the precarious position of King’s Seer that Hild is groomed for by her mother. This tale should have something for everyone swords. I found it weighty and rich in its language but not dense. The kind of book that makes you notice the prose and leverages off it to provide an immersive experience.
While the book does reach a resolution, I felt that there was ample interest, story and opportunity for a companion work that detailed the rest of Hild’s life. If you’re a fan of Anglo-Saxon historical, Hild presents a fuller world beyond shield walls and oath making.
perhaps conjure is a little cliché and underwhelming - I want to invoke a sense of awe and magic that I know stems from shoulder to the wheel literary crafting.
I wanted to like this so badly. It's right up my alley: a tough smart girl carves out a place in the world in an interesting historical setting. But I've had this from the library for 6 weeks and I've made it 30 pages, and every one of those 30 pages has felt like a chore. I will do almost anything to avoid picking this up. The house has never been so sparkling clean.
So. Even though I want to like this, I also want to read books that I enjoy reading. And I don't enjoy reading this. I don't feel like I can give a good reason why I don't like it (I've only read 30 pages, after all, which isn't enough time to really get under the skin of the characters or figure out the dominant narrative arc or even get into the flow of the book's language), …
I wanted to like this so badly. It's right up my alley: a tough smart girl carves out a place in the world in an interesting historical setting. But I've had this from the library for 6 weeks and I've made it 30 pages, and every one of those 30 pages has felt like a chore. I will do almost anything to avoid picking this up. The house has never been so sparkling clean.
So. Even though I want to like this, I also want to read books that I enjoy reading. And I don't enjoy reading this. I don't feel like I can give a good reason why I don't like it (I've only read 30 pages, after all, which isn't enough time to really get under the skin of the characters or figure out the dominant narrative arc or even get into the flow of the book's language), but here we are, and 6 weeks is enough time wasted on a book I don't want to read. And so, back to the library it goes; no star rating, because I can't in good conscience give a star rating to a book I've read so little of.
This book swept me away. Griffith immersed herself in the 7th century, and the way she's written this book, she takes you with her. You feel, smell, see, taste Hild's world. She, and the characters around her, are vivid and 3-dimensional. I don't know how she's done this without me ever sensing an info-dump, but she does. There's drama and suspense from the King's political machinations and wars, but also the day-to-day challenges of enough honey for mead, and worries over the flax crop for this year's linen.
It reminded my of reading good science fiction, where the author does world-building that takes to a new place.
The other day, I was packing up to catch the bus for work, and looking for my Kobo e-reader. I realized that I wasn't thinking "Where's my book?" or "Where's my Kobo?", but "Where's Hild?". I can't recall ever doing that before.
