Book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Krishna
Though I know the story is about Wales, seeing that there were John, Richard and Arthur in it, early in the game, I expected a Robin Hood type of story or an Arthurian story. But Richard dies, elevating John to the throne (he did not usurp it as in Robin Hood tales) and Arthur is imprisoned as a lad and dies in prison! Oh well, this is a different set of characters, I guess. Later, you realize that this is the story of King John of the Magna Carta fame.
It is an interesting book in certain respects and is based on true history, but it has, in my mind at least, one great flaw. More of that later, after we have taken a peak at the story itself.
Llewelyn, a Welsh boy with royal blood, is forced to leave Wales when his dad dies in a family feud and his mom Marared (“a variation of Margaret”) marries Hugh Corbet, a British nobleman. His coterie includes his brother Robert, Morgan who is a friend, teacher, and priest rolled into one. It also includes Rhys and Ednyved – his childhood friends. Llewelyn, even as a young boy, announces plans to stay back and fight his uncles for the freedom of his beloved Wales.
Meanwhile, Henry of Plantaganet is dying, and his son Richard is allied with French king Phillip to take over his kingdom, against Henry’s will. John the youngest, most ignored and darker son, deserts Henry for Richard, and plots against Richard with Phillip the French king, and when Richard returns, cravenly goes to ask for forgiveness.
Joanna, the bastard child of John, is reunited with him after his mother commits suicide. Arthur waits for the throne when Richard is grievously wounded but discovers that it has passed it on to John by Richard, despite the latter’s earlier treachery.
John is deep into intrigues and Arthur tries for the kingdom, winning some, losing some. At this point, the story goes into a boring series of wins and setbacks for all the major characters and you wonder if there is really a coherent story the author is trying to tell.
Arthur lays siege to a weak fortress, trapping both Eleanor, John’s mother, and Johanna. John arrives in time and in a great victory, captures both Arthur and his sister Eleanor, and also his other rival de Lusignans.
Then he is losing (see what I mean?), and Elenor dies without even a ‘goodbye John’ message and he is devastated.
Joanna is married for political reasons to Llewellyn by John, her dad, and finds him kinder than she expected. She falls in love with him but thinks he hates her. Goes back rushing to him but finds that he is in bed with a mistress and burns the bed!
Meanwhile John marries Isabelle for politics as well but to his surprise finds her a gorgeous, blond beauty who stuns all who look at her. She is, mentally, non political and happy to be a housewife (OK, queenly housewife) with no interest in affairs of the state and a blind devotion to John.
Joanna reconciles with Llewellyn, and Isabelle gives John a son while Joanna gives a daughter. Interesting characterization of both Isabelle and Joanna in the book, more than John and Llewellyn. Joanna gives him a son, Davydd after an earlier daughter (Yes, Davydd is David).
Joanna is intensely political, aware of the intrigues etc.
John humiliates his enemies and turns against Lewellyn but is thwarted by the ingenious ways of the Welsh chief. Llewelyns stature and the kingdom grows with each of his victories.
But John is not to be underestimated. He surrounds Llewellyn’s land, occupying land, building forts and castles to make it permanent and also having some Welsh kings switch loyalty to him. Utterly defeated, Llewelyn goes to surrender to John and leave his son, Gruffydd as hostage. His son, of course, believes it is all Joanna’s doing and feels betrayed by his own father. (Gruffydd is a son to Llewelyn by an earlier marriage and never ever reconciled to Joanna in the first place)
Llewelyn makes alliances with his feuding Welsh fellow princes and also with the French king, and John goes berserk with anger. A mystic predict’s John’s death ere two years from now.
Joanna warns John of treachery by his own men, thereby stopping the Wales invasion and saving either his or Llewelyn’s life. But when John kills all hostages except Gruffyd, her world comes crashing down. She has to separate from Lewellyn and goes to Richard, her brother, with Ellen the daughter, leaving Davydd with Llewellyn.
She comes back to reunite with Llewellyn and realizes the evil in John finally. And as if the story is not confusing enough already, it now goes in disjointed jerks of John’s triumphs and weaknesses and Llewellyns highs and lows and so on, ad infinitum.
The intrigues singly are interesting but there seems to be no pattern to them. Yes, history is chaotic and random but do you want to read these in a story? Then the ploy for any twist in the story is a messenger arriving or a relative arriving with terrible news! The storytelling could have been tight and coherent. The only time when things improve a bit is when John falls very sick and valiantly tries to close political matters before he dies.
John’s son Henry is nice but weak and powerless to stop others taking advantage of him. Llewelyn marries Joanna’s daughter off for political convenience against the wishes of his daughter. Llwwelyn rides an unbroken horse given by Gryffydd and falls.
When Davydd confronts Gryffyd, he is almost beaten, and Joanna, afraid for Davydd’s life, manipulates Gruffyd into an outburst and has him imprisoned. When Llewellyn learns of her part in it, he is furious and shuns her.
She starts an affair with Will. Breaks it off but is caught with Will in her bedchamber later by Lewellyn. She is exiled to a castle far away. The story finally ends in a kind of resolution for Joanna.
My other main complaint is that this book does not read like a historical. It reads like a chick flick dressed up in history. Nowhere near the historical stories like the Warlord Chronicles of Bernard Cornwell (Ending with Excalibur), for example. It’s all about emotions, pain, love, betrayal with history simply being a backdrop of the drama. If you expect, like me, a historical, you will also be very disappointed.
More about the feelings and emotions (not central to the story) and with people asking each other whether the one really loves them, it does take away the edge in the story and reduce the potency.
Let us say 3/10
– – Krishna