Fair Helen - Hardcover

Greig, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1623656419 ISBN 13: 9781623656416

Publisher: Quercus, 2015

Synopsis

Elderly narrator Harry Langton looks back on the adventures and friends of his youth, transporting the reader to the Scottish Borderlands at the end of the 16th century...

The much younger Langton returns to his birthplace to aid an old friend, the brash Adam Fleming, who has fallen for legendary beauty Helen of Annandale. He has also, it seems, fallen foul of a rival for her hand, Robert Bell, a man as violent as he is influential. Fleming confesses to Langton that he fears for his life.

In a land where minor lairds vie for power and blood feuds are settled by the sword, Fleming faces a battle to win Helen's hand. By virtue of being the lovers' confidant, Langton is thrust into the middle of this dangerous triangle, and discovers Helen is not so chaste as she is fair. But Langton has his own secrets to keep--and other powers to serve. Someone has noticed Langton's connections to the major players in the Border disputes, and has recruited him in their bid to control the hierarchy of the Border families--someone who would use the lovers as pawns in a game of war.
Packed with swordplay, intricate politics, and star-crossed lovers whose actions could change the course of history, Fair Helen is a sumptuous, rousing adventure novel that brings to life one of English poetry's most intriguing heroines.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Greig is the author of six acclaimed books of poetry and five novels, including the Saltire-Award winning In Another Light, That Summer, When They Lay Bare, and Romanno Bridge. His non-fiction books include Preferred Lies and At the Loch of the Green Corrie. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh, with his wife, the novelist Lesley Glaister.

Review:

"A triumph of suspense ... what sets Fair Helen above the usual run of historical novels, aside from Greig's extraordinarily deft use of language, is its moral depth, its acute sense of the intricacies of the Border feuds."―John Burnside, The Guardian

"One of the best historical novels of recent years, Greig dusts off the past and presents it with tremendous skill."―Kaite Welsh, Literary Review

"Exciting and moving, intelligent and imaginative ... Demands to be read once at the gallop, and then a second time slowly, savoring the details and relishing its intelligence."―Allan Massie, The Scotsman

About this edition

• Publisher: Quercus
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1623656419
• ISBN 13: 9781623656416
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384