Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

Well, I'm way behind this week, aren't I? Sorry.

Danger's Promise was a wonderful medieval adventure. I loved the premise of the heroine being sent to kill the hero. Pretty clever & risky of Clarise to pose as a wetnurse. I was on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded--wondering when & how her lies were going to trip her up. I always enjoy stories full of intrigue, and this one had plenty.
Clarise was a wonderful heroine--brave & independent, willing to do all she could to protect her family, but moral enough that she could not kill Christian once she realized he wasn't the monster he'd been portrayed as being.
Christian was very likeable as well---seemingly harsh & determined, but unaware of how to make his people love & respect him, and all too aware of his less-than-noble blood.
I'm going to have to write more about this one later---I'm being summoned.

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~*~Darla~*~
Stay tuned - I could say something brilliant at any moment

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 451

Danger's Promise

Darla, I am not reading your review until I have mine posted. I don't know what I was thinking. I have had this ready to be typed for two weeks and I forgot to post it. Sheesh! Sorry about that! I had a book group gathering at my house this weekend and didn't have time to breathe.

Poor tortured hero Christian the Slayer. Mother a nun, raped by the evil neighboring Laird, responsible for a newborn son, the future Baron of Helmsley. He came from extreme goodness and extreme evil. At first it seemed cruel but it made him what he was.

Clarise Du Boise a lady on a mission or two, most recently the quest her stepfather charged her with; poisoning the Slayer and prior to that, her natural father charged her with the care of her mother and sisters, after his death. For those times, being responsible for her family was usually the responsibility of a man. Quite a lot to hold over his daughter. The poisoning wasn't quite as an unusual task, women have been murderesses forever

Harold, I never saw it coming. His relationship with the former Baron. However, that evil, witchy wife, I wanted to trip her as she climbed or descended those treacherous steps the castle/keep always have. Aarrggghh! She never showed a smidgen of compassion, sweetness or anything nice. However she was extremely efficient.

I thought for sure Nell or her sister Sarah left the bucket of goats milk. I have wondered why, when nursing a child, and if the mother had been unable or had died the only solution was a wet nurse. Obviously goats milk worked, and we know cows milk with additives works also. Also, did you know that a woman who has never had a child or been pregnant can nurse a baby? The reproductive and mammary systems are separate although connected. Years ago I belonged to Le Leche League and this is where I learned this interesting bit of information. Thus Clarise could have ultimately nursed the infant Simon. Although it takes a while for the stimulation to actually begin the lactating action. Bet there are lots of you who didn't know that here.

I have always been fascinated with the use of rushes. What are they actually made from? The same as thatching? Straw? Sometimes they are woven, others sort of strewn. Also the use of flowers, herbs or trees parts for scenting in the bath water and soaps. Did they actually have a shampoo or only use bar soaps? Lye soap or that made from ashes [same thing I think] and animal fats would cleanse the skin but the lye would dry it. Were there lotions to replace the natural oils? I have heard that wool spinners had the benefit of the lanolin in the wool to soften their hands but what about something to protect a baby's bottom? When did lanolin or other byproducts start seeing their benefits? Ever see a woman's hands after hand washing? Red, raw, cracked, bleeding, been there, done that. Remember or maybe you don't, dunking and rinsing diapers or should I say clouts? Ugh, don't wanna go there again.

Nice cover model. Who is he? I was inclined to search for the facial scar Daddy Dearest inflicted upon the young lad. More symbolism. One side of his face reflected good, one evil, as was with his parentage. And the two abbots, one good and one evil/demonic.


Mama DuBoise, seemed weak, broken almost pathetic until she sort of came "out of it" with the rushing to her husband to stab him with the knife and yes, I got that hint, at the wedding feast where she didn't have a knife for her meal. Ah ha, premeditated murder!


What sort of powder was used to temporarily blind Christian during the joust?

Clarise's deductive revelations where she figured out the mystery made me think of Charlie Chan, Agatha Christie and Jessica Fletcher all rolled up into one pre-modern time sleuth.

Clarise's sister seemed in need of redeeming, but that might be the next book?

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This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
— Dorothy Parker

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Miesau, Germany
Posts: 2418

Annie,
Well, you're obviously not alone. We're both late this week.

Good point about Christian being a product of the dichotomy between his parents.

Yes, I thought about that, too---Clarise's father charging her with taking care of her mother & sisters. Of course the mom in me is going "and why isn't the mother doing this???" But I suppose since there was no son, Clarise was raised with some of the training a son would have had, so she would have been better suited than her mother. Which is true---her mother didn't seem to be able to do a very good job of protecting them.

Which made me not very disposed to like her mother. She did redeem herself somewhat in the end, but she saved herself as well. I did not catch that clue. At all.

Nor did I have any inkling about Harold. I surmised that his wife had something to do with it, but not that he was actually next in line to be heir.

Yes, I actually did know that a woman who's never been pregnant can nurse a child. I was nearly expecting Clarise to do that. I think the reason they normally found a wetnurse for babies back then is that on the occasions when they tried goat's milk or cow's milk, the babies got sick & died, because of the unsanitary conditions. Clarise somehow knew to boil the milk, but I don't think that would have been common knowledge.

With all these historicals I've been reading lately, I've been wondering about rushes too. I'm having a little trouble picturing it---the best I can come up with is something like hay in a stable??

I was disappointed too, that the cover model didn't have a scar. It was a distinguishing characteristic of the hero, and if they didn't want to turn off potential readers in the bookstore, they could have had him posed so you only saw one side of his face.

Yes, her deductions were great---I love it when the deductions are logically spelled out. Don't know why. Maybe it's all those Agatha Christie books I used to read.

__________________
~*~Darla~*~
Stay tuned - I could say something brilliant at any moment

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