Review ~ Dacre's War by Rosemary Goring

Polygon
16 June 2015

Dacre’s War is set in the border lands between England and Scotland. It’s a shadowy place where old memories lie deep, and when Adam Crozier, the head of a powerful border family learns that Thomas Dacre, now Warden General of the English marches and one of the most powerful men in England, is responsible for his father’s death, the possibility of vengeance lies heavy on Crozier’s mind.

                                                                         

Dacre’s War is the sequel to the book ‘After Flodden’ and sees a welcome return of some of the characters who featured heavily in the first novel. The writing is good, the plot complex and convoluted and the vivid portrayal of life in the early part of the sixteenth century is well explained. Beautifully reminiscent of a dark and dangerous time, the novel cleverly combines fascinating story-telling with acknowledged historical facts, and immerses the reader in a tale of revenge and retaliation on a grand scale. Whilst, at the same time, the story brings to glorious life, the dangerous heartlands of the border country, a land used to brutal and bloody fighting, and a place where life was cheap and the settling of old scores was the overriding principle of survival.

Overall, this is a commendable continuation of the story and although easily readable as a standalone novel, for greater enjoyment the books are best read in sequence.

My thanks to Lovereading.co.uk and Polygon for my copy of Dacre's War

I read this book as part of the Lovereading review panel and other reader reviews can be found

here

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