Adventure and romance set in Mediaeval times, originally intended for older children and teens, but I had never read this before. It's a good story, although so complex that I lost track of some of the details, and I liked the two children in the story: the page Theo, whose ancestry is gradually uncovered, and ten-year-old Magdalen who is courageous, intelligent, and rather a tomboy.

The writing is good, if dated, and probably gives good idea of the kinds of feuds and violence that was normal in this era. Children were beaten, traitors were hanged, prisoners tortured. There are no gory details, but the implications are there in what seems, to my mind, rather a callous way. The end of the book is rather disturbing too.

Perhaps three-and-a-half stars would be fairer, as it's certainly a good story which kept me interested right up to the end. ( )

I remember reading Violet Needham's medieval-style adventure stories set in imaginary lands when I was a child, though they were perhaps a little old-fashioned even then. I saw this title had been reprinted and ordered a copy; I can see why I found them appealing, as the children are the heroes and are quite strong. The ones she set in "contemporary" times however are not so good: Ruritanian adventures involving aristos, with some quite nasty racial stereotyping (eg "House of the Paladin").

I've only recently discovered Violet Needham's books - this is my second - and I'm enjoying them very much. This is an exciting, and moral, tale. I found it a bit hard to distinguish all the characters and their relationships to each other at the start but as the action got going it all fell into place. I think this may be my problem rather than the book's, as it seems to be happening to me a lot lately. It must be age creeping on... ( )