Song Hereafter

Mythological fictions always give me an adrenaline rush. Traveling back to those ancient times, understanding the way of living, it just makes me awestruck, if only I could create a time machine and go back to those time period, but alas! So, in the meantime, I can come back to the book. This was my ever first Jean Gill book and to be honest, I enjoyed it quite a lot. The way the author has written down the characters making them come alive is absolutely stunning. With them, you will actually feel that the book is coming into life. Each moment is filled with details, beautifully described in a language filled with colour.

Although this is the third part of the series I found it very smooth, all I had to do was read out the first two book's description and I was good to go. Picking up where book three (Plaint for Provence) left off, we find Dragonetz at the court of El Rey Lobo alongside his Liege, Ramon Bereguer of Barcelone. There is a tension built up when you start reading the book and it is mainly between those three characters, and this chaos actually resulted in capturing my attention and keeping it intact throughout the journey. Soon we learn that Dragonetz feels guilty because he is keeping a secret from his lover, Estela. He chose to prevent her from being hurt by withholding the truth about the betrayal of Geoffroi de Rancor, a man she believed to be her friend. To do penance for what he views as a great wrong, he embarks on a pilgrimage.

The story has maintained its pace which usually becomes very difficult for most the authors and also there is a strong grip given to it. Once you start reading this book, it becomes next to impossible for you to leave it aside. Since I read a lot of mythological books (mainly Indian mythology), this side of the story was new for me and I really enjoyed it. The cover of the book actually attracts your attention all the more, it did to me.

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I love when a book such as this is packed with historical details that make the story that much richer. Whether it’s a description of a scenic landscape or an article of clothing, these tidbits put you in the time and place of a story. I found myself alternating between reading this book and Googling about this time period because I wanted to know more.