Category: Reading Challenges

#BookReview The Iron Way by Tim Leach

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The Iron WayAbout the Book

In the hard, unforgiving land at the northernmost point of the Roman Empire lies a great wall. Once, the edge had been but a thing of thought and dreams, but one day the great Emperor from across the water had grown tired of borders made from thoughts and dreams. So, a wall was raised from the earth at his command. From afar, it looked invincible.

Yet every wall has its weaknesses – if one looks close enough.

In its shadow, gather five thousand fearsome soldiers. Men bred to fight and kill. The Sarmatians have suffered capture and defeat, but under a new command they are prepared to fight again.

For of the other side of the wall there are rumours. Of men closer to giants, of warriors who fight without fear or restraint. And the Sarmatians are called to defend against them.

To stand and fight, to die for Rome.

Format: Hardback (320 pages)        Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 4th August 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I really enjoyed Tim Leach’s The Last King of Lydia when I read it way back in 2013 and I loved The Smile of the Wolf, published in 2018, which I reviewed as part of the blog tour. Therefore I have no idea how I missed the fact he had a new series on the way – The Sarmatian Trilogy – or the publication of the first book, A Winter War, in September last year.  The Iron Way is the second book in the trilogy, set in 2nd century Britain. It can definitely be read without having read the first book – as I did – however, although there are references to events in the first book, I felt I missed out by not knowing more of the back stories of the main characters. (Reader, I may just have ‘happened’ to be in Waterstones yesterday and found myself at the till with a copy of A Winter War.)

I confess I had never heard of the Sarmatians before reading this book but it seems I can be forgiven because in his Historical Note the author reveals that very little is known for certain about them. A nomadic, warlike people, they left no written records and minimal archaeological evidence. However, the events in the first book – their defeat by the Romans and a peace settlement the terms of which saw thousands of their warriors sent to the north of Britain – are based on fact.

The book focuses on one band of Sarmatians, made up of five hundred warriors, under their Roman commander, Lucius, who as a result of previous events has become a sort of ‘honorary’ Sarmatian. He’s described at one point as having the soul of a Sarmatian locked in a Roman body.  Bound by an oath to serve as part of the Roman army for twenty-five years, the Sarmatians find themselves guarding one of the forts along Hadrian’s Wall against the threat of attack from tribes to the north. It’s not where they want to be. They pine for the wide open spaces of their homeland, ‘the long grass dancing with the wind, the wildflowers shining under the sun, the world open before them beneath an endless sky’. Instead they find themselves confined to the settlement around the fort, in the shadow of Hadrian’s  Wall. ‘They saw their prison, the chain of stone that bound them, the symbol of a shameful defeat.’

The author gives the reader a fascinating insight into the Sarmatian people. What we learn is that they are bound together not just by ties of kinship but by sacred oaths and the belief that to die in battle is glorious. Their philosophy? ‘Given the choice between two paths, between safety and danger, one must always go toward sword and spear, and choose the iron way.’  And that’s not just the men because the Sarmatian women are warriors too.

The story is told from the point of view of three main characters – Lucius, his Sarmatian comrade Kai and Arite, the wife of Kai’s former friend. None of them is where they want to be.  Lucius recognises his posting to the Wall is a sign of his fall from grace.  And he soon discovers he is pawn in the hands of powerful and ambitious men. Kai longs to return to his homeland and see his daughter once again. Arite finds herself unable to use her skills as a warrior, consigned instead to a life of household drudgery. The frustration felt by the Sarmatians creates an atmosphere of extreme tension. Unused to the discipline of a Roman army, there are drunken brawls and petty rivalries.

There are some terrific action scenes that put the reader in the heart of the battle and reveal some quite remarkable aspects of the Sarmatians as a fighting force. But the writing throughout flows beautifully giving a real insight into the thoughts and feelings of a people quite different from ourselves – or at least those of us who don’t gallop across the steppes on huge heavily armoured horses trained to kill.

Having endured one betrayal, the end of the book sees Lucius come to the realisation that what lies ahead for the Sarmatians is a conflict not of their own making but one driven by the personal ambition of others.

I thought The Iron Way was brilliant. Its blend of fascinating historical detail, absorbing storyline, interesting characters and full-on action made it a thoroughly engrossing read. Roll on book three.

My thanks to Head of Zeus for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

In three words: Compelling, pacy, immersive

Try something similar: The Capsarius by Simon Turney

Tim Leach credit Emma LeachAbout the Author

Tim Leach is a graduate of the Warwick Writing Programme, where he now teaches as an Assistant Professor. His first novel, The Last King of Lydia, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize.  (Photo credit: Emma Leach)

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#BookReview The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers

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The Cleaner of ChartresAbout the Book

There is something special about the ancient cathedral of Chartres, with its mismatched spires, astonishing stained glass and strange labyrinth. And there is something special too about Agnès Morel, the mysterious woman who is to be found cleaning it each morning.

No one quite knows where she came from – not the diffident Abbé Paul, who discovered her one morning twenty years ago, sleeping in the north porch; nor lonely Professor Jones, whose chaotic existence she helps to organise; nor Philippe Nevers, whose neurotic sister and newborn child she cares for; nor even the irreverent young restorer, Alain Fleury, who works alongside her each day and whose attention she catches with her tawny eyes, her colourful clothes and elusive manner. And yet everyone she encounters would surely agree that she is subtly transforming their lives, even if they couldn’t quite say how.

But with a chance meeting in the cathedral one day, the spectre of Agnès’ past returns, provoking malicious rumours from the prejudiced Madame Beck and her gossipy companion Madame Picot. As the hearsay grows uglier, Agnès is forced to confront her history, and the mystery of her origins finally unfolds.

Format: Paperback (304 pages)    Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 23rd May 2013 Genre: Contemporary Fiction

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My Review

20-books-of-summerAs if the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge weren’t difficult enough, I decided to make it even harder for myself by constructing my list from the twenty oldest unread paperbacks on my bookshelves. And vowing to read them in date order. Yes, I know. I also decided to adopt a ruthless approach: if a book isn’t working for me, I’ll set it aside, put it in the pile for the charity shop and pick up the next one. It turns out The Cleaner of Chartres is a keeper and, in what I’m sure is going to become a boringly familiar phrase, I can’t for the life of me think why it’s taken me so long to read it.

Chartres Cathedral LabyrinthThe story of Agnès past, revealed in small sections alongside present day events, is compelling and emotional. It’s a story of loss, cruelty, mental trauma and despair followed by a gradual step-by-step rebuilding of her life once she arrives in Chartres, drawn there by nothing more than the memory of a picture of the interior of the cathedral that hung on a wall.

What really brought the book alive for me was the wonderfully drawn cast of secondary characters, such as Agnès’s dogwalker friend Terry, artist Robert Clement, obsessed with creating a painting of the Madonna, and cathedral restorer Alain Fleury who can’t help sharing his knowledge of the history, architecture and legends associated with the cathedral. ‘Information bubbled out of him like champagne.’ Then there are Madame Beck and Madame Picot, two ‘friends’ who have made acquiring and disseminating town gossip something of a competitive sport.  I also loved Abbé Paul, the priest who discovered Agnès sleeping in the cathedral porch and gave her a job as a cleaner. His affection for her is extremely touching.

My absolute favourite character was Dr Deman who I found a very sympathetic figure. He comes to play a significant part in Agnès life and is one of the few people in her early life to treat her with any kindness, to really listen to her and try to understand why she might have acted as she did. Like a lot of the other people in the book, he’s not a one dimensional character. Whilst devoted to his job, he often questions himself – undersells himself, I would argue. ‘He cared – cared passionately – for the things he cared for but his conviction was liable to waver and be derailed.’

The Cleaner of Chartres is a book that exudes warmth but is by no means overly sentimental. There are also some lovely touches of humour, mostly supplied by Madame Beck and Madame Picot. It’s very cleverly constructed, not only in respect of the revealing of Agnès story, but because of the way in which all the characters undergo some kind of transformation whether that’s coming to terms with events in their past, forging a new path in life or renewing a friendship.

In three words: Engaging, emotional, heartwarming

Salley VickersAbout the Author

Salley Vickers was born in Liverpool, the child of communist parents. She grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, living in Barlastan Hall, where her father was warden of a W.E.A. college that taught adult education to Trades Union workers. She moved to London aged three and lived there for the remainder of her childhood.

She wrote her first novel, The Door Into Time, aged nine, thanks to an enterprising primary school teacher. The novel is lost but she believes it has influenced all her subsequent work and she regards her education at this state primary school as some of the most nourishing she has been lucky enough to receive. It is a source of great regret to her, that the current primary school curriculum is so narrow and so uncreative.

Her greatest love is poetry, which she writes badly, and her three grandchildren, whom she sees as often as they allow. She also likes music, especially opera and 60s/70s rock, walking, gardening and dancing. Her first ambition was to be a ballet dancer. One of her greatest pleasures is being able to take her granddaughter to the ballet.

She has worked as a teacher for children with special needs, for the now defunct ILEA, a tutor for the W.E.A. and for the Oxford Department of Continuing Education, a university lecturer in English, a psychoanalyst and she now writes and lectures fulltime.

She divides her time between London and Wiltshire, with regular retreats to Corfu, where she has made many friends, both with Corfiots and Albanians. (Photo/bio: Author website)

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