The Champion

Description

Alexander and Hervi de Montroi, half-brothers with no inheritance, meet in France. Hervi is a professional jouster and Alexander, fleeing the beatings of an English monastery, needs a trade. Despite misgivings, Hervi takes him on as his squire, introducing him to the travellers' immoral lifestyle. He befriends a girl, Monday, taking care of her after her parents die until, pregnant with Alexander's child, she leaves, finding shelter in a castle as a seamstress. Noticed by King John, she becomes his mistress in England, bearing his son and gaining a house. Meanwhile, Stefan has returned to England too, in the pay of an Earl - they meet again at court and, now older, fall in love. They have the King's blessing, but Monday's grandfather, now heirless, sees her as a way to gain power. She escapes his kidnapping to be reunited with Alexander on the land granted to him by the Earl.

Elizabeth Chadwick lives in Nottingham with her husband and two sons. Much of her research is carried out as member of Regia Anglorum, an early medieval re-enactment society with emphasis on accurately re-creating the past. She also tutors in the skill of writing historical and romantic fiction. She won a Betty Trask Award for THE WILD HUNT, her first novel.

'An author who makes history come gloriously alive' - THE TIMES 'One of Elizabeth Chadwick's strengths is her stunning grasp of historical detail...Her characters are beguiling and the story is intriguing and very enjoyable' - BARBARA ERSKINE 'The best writer of mediaeval fiction currently around' - Historical Novel Review