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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Book Alert - The Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland

I recently came across this book and thought that it sounded interesting and was something that I hadn't seen popping up on every blog around.  From a couple of the reviews I have read it sounds very dark and gothic, but sometimes you are in the mood for one of those reads.


The Gallows Curse by Karen Maitland
Paperback, 592 pages
Penguin UK
ISBN: 9780141047447
March 15, 2012

Book Blurb:

The thirteenth-century is just begun and King John has fallen out with the Pope, leaving babies to lie unbaptized in their cradles and corpses in unconsecrated ground. Across a fear-ravaged England, the people are dying in sin.
 
In the village of Gastmere, this has shocking consequences for servant girl Elena. Unwittingly drawn into a macabre scheme to absolve dying Lord Gerard of his crimes, death and betrayal haunt her dreams like a curse. 
And when Elena is threatened with hanging for a murder she did not commit, it is certain that unnatural conspiracy lies behind these dark deeds. But where can she turn? For in every face lies wickedness and in every shadow lurks treachery . . .
You can read a sample of the book here.

Penguin UK has also created a series of short videos with the author speaking about different areas of medieval life that you might find interesting:



Has anyone read this book yet?  I don't know if it is available in the US yet or not; Amazon has it listed but there are none available.





Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

13 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting......will go exploring! (I couldn't view the video).

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    1. Hmm I will have to take a look at the video when I get home. Thanks for the heads up. You can find the videos here http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL365E5E9277429971&feature=mh_lolz

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  2. I have this book on my TBR pile, but haven't dipped in yet. I LOVED her two previous novels! They were both dark and insanely atmospheric. I found both of them to be compelling reads. I'm waiting until I'm in the mood for another dark one before I take on the Gallows Curse.

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    1. I honestly hadn't heard of this author before. Glad to know you enjoyed her books. I will have to check them out at some point.

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  3. Hi, Heather - Went back a fiddled with the video. If I click on the arrow on the video screen, it says This video has been removed by the user. However, when I played around with the playlist at the bottom and skipped the first video, I could then view.

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    1. Thanks Joanne. If I remember correctly there was something wrong with the first video clip and I never thought about how it would just show up as a black screen. Thanks!

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    2. I have updated the video playlist to exclude the first video - they included a video labeled as private and that is why we couldn't see it. Should be all set now.

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  4. I have been meaning to read this author for years! Her books do sound so good!

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    1. I like how they are described as atmospheric and gothic!

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  5. I read this one last year and really enjoyed it. It is definitely dark, but well worth a read. I've also read The Plague Tales by this author and thought it was great, although it's another dark one.

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    1. It's good to know from the beginning that her books are dark - sometimes you just need to be in the mood for a book like that.

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  6. Oh I think we have a new author we need to try. thanks Heather :)

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