The Knight's Daughter by Jo M Thomas

I would like to thank the author for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Other Side Books

Published – Out Now

Price – £1.99 Kindle eBook £9.99 paperback

Dragons! A portent! But of what?"Experience the tales of the Greenwood Forest, as told by the figures within. This well researched story retells old legends from the point of view of the people involved. Discover the truth about the sleeping beauty, the tale of fair Rosamund, and why you should be wary of the sly Sir Morris.

Have you ever had the conversation with someone who doesn’t enjoy reading fiction and they ask what’s the point of stories? Now let’s not go for the normal homicidal range option but a slightly more considered response. I like stories because they make me think about the world I live in and the culture I’m part of a little differently and inform me of how those two interlink Before film, television; or even the printed word stories have existed in and serve the purpose of education as well as informing and entertaining the public (clearly the BBC knew what it was talking about). In Jo M Thomas’ very smart and engaging novella The Knight’s Daughter we have a story based around a old Child Ballad that gets expanded and then has woven into it a wealth of other stories making for a very enjoyable reading experience.

In a time probably somewhere in the age of the Lancaster and York’s feuds a Knight is killed by his brother the Lancer. He then takes the lands and his brother’s wife ruling the land as the Knight. His brother’s daughters (we shall call them Fancy and Folly) decide to seek the King’s Justice and make their way through forests meeting some friendly yeoman/outlaws who decide to accompany them. There follows scheming, ambition, revenge and potential changes to the monarch’s lie of succession and all of this is combined with various characters using stories to help people decide what to do (with added footnotes deconstructing or providing background as to what we have just read).

From the very start of the tale when we are told that the unseasonal cold weather has been caused by a far-off volcanic eruption (via the unseen writer’s footnotes) you start to realise this is a medieval story with a difference. Thomas uses the main revenge plot to cleverly weave in a host of small folk tales often used by characters to entertain but also when you read between the lines (and again the footnotes are adding their own often snarkier interpretation of true history) you start to see how stories are made to influence opinions. Be that to guide, scare or manipulate people. Thomas skilfully throws in a wealth of folk tales not just from England but even Wales and Denmark. Look for tales that will feature Arthur, Robin Hood, an early version of Hamlet and Sleeping Beauty. What I liked about these is Thomas isn’t repeating the classic well-known stories so they are stories you may only slightly recognise but all in a very different shape to their current forms and as the story progresses, we start to see the storytellers are all using their story for their own agendas so watching the consequences unfold is a gentle reminder of the purposes these stories were originally used for.

Thanks to our modern footnote maker we get perspective son the politics of the time, sexism and even racism as one of the daughters is of Moorish descent and thus made to be a maid rather than a noble. What also comes across is how limited the options are for female characters and the situations they get placed into are shocking and a reminder that women were largely seen as of use only for siring children. While we get stories of chivalry and morality with neat if not always happy endings the wider tale is very much one where you may be wondering have we actually had a happy ending for everyone as the way the real world of the time operates is a great deal less fairer than most fiction.

Appropriately this is an extremely well-crafted piece of storytelling you can imagine you’re reading an actual piece of historical fiction analysis, but Thomas throws in puns, your mum jokes and sly dogs at sexism and the patriarchal system we are witnessing that altogether made for a delightful reading experience. Highly recommended if you enjoy your folklore.