'Out of field, out of fen, out of forest we rose
putting fear behind us. Foe fled before us:
hard-handed death-dealers, wolf-howling warriors,
fierce in fealty; our swords glittered in the sunlight . . . .'
- Edward the Confessor is dead, England is at peace and Hereward, son of Eorl Leofric, returns from exile to his ancestral lands. But peace is short-lived and when Norman invaders murder his foster-brother, Hereward turns from thegn to outlaw. As the Normans tighten their grip and uprisings fail, rebels flock to join his band at Ely, the Isle of Refuge. Soon the whole Norman army is on its way, to destroy Hereward and, with him, the last centre of English resistance.
Told from Hereward's perspective, Fen-wolf is both an intimate portrait of an enigmatic English hero and a harrowing account of the impact of invasion upon ordinary people .
'magnificent . . . a tour de force' J.G. Harlond
'Truly a Discovered Diamond' Helen Hollick 'Discovering Diamonds' blog.
