She meets with nobles and peasants, knights and pardoners, women of the French court and even a royal personage, but holds her own and speaks her mind, even when she is saying something they very definitely do not wish to hear. Somehow she manages to fall in with people who protect her, as well as those who wish her nothing but harm, and in many ways her story is as fantastic as any Arthurian legend or Chaucerian tale. A wiser, calmer Belle speaks to us in the opening pages, and occasionally elsewhere in the book, but the Belle we travel with is impulsive and innocent, burdened with guilt and hopelessly vulnerable. Set all this against the troubles of a boy who became king too young, who has enemies on every side and who barely knows who to trust, and the story gains much in terms of depth and resonance.īelle recounts the story from the point of view of an adult looking back on her adventures, and while this allows for a satisfying sense of completion (don't you hate those books where the hero rides off into the sunset, leaving you wondering if there's any hope of a happy-ever-after for him, and if so, what form it will take?) it means it takes a while for the voice to settle. A curiously modern theme for a historical tale, and one which serves to make Belle more immediate as a character. And when life intrudes, and her shame and loneliness become too much, she scrapes her legs with pumice until they bleed. She sees herself as a queen, galloping across the plains to her dying son, or as the sword in the stone, wielded by Arthur in his greatest battles.
Neither child nor woman, she cannot find her place in the world and spends her days dreaming of quests and adventures. Belle is unhappy, lost without her mother and unable to provide a clean, comfortable home for her crippled father. It is always satisfying when the microcosm of a character's life reflects the world around them.
Add a dreamy, motherless girl whose guilt at causing her father's accident only reinforces her tendency to self-harm and obsessive behaviour, and a cracking good plot emerges.
So a story set during one of his journeys, one which combines his secret work and some of the more memorable characters from the tales, is an intriguing proposition, metaphorically as well as literally. Not only did he write the famous Canterbury Tales, but he also found the time and courage to be a spy for the king at a time of civil unrest and political intrigue in Britain. But intrigue, danger and love await her as she travels the pilgrim route.Ĭhaucer was a fascinating bloke. Summary: On an impulse, Belle joins Chaucer and his companions on their journey to Canterbury, to pray for her father's recovery from a terrible injury.
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