Book Review: The Dragon And The Butterfly by Abby Simpson
A historical fiction masterpiece!
I went into this not knowing what to expect. Despite being an archaeologist by trade and being generally fascinated by history, AND having studied in England, I knew nothing about Matilda and William, whom this book is about. I do love books though, and I realized last year that I enjoy historical fiction, so I figured me and this book would be a good match.
And it was! I fell in love with the genre when I read Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett, and this book could be right up there on the top shelf with the best of them. The Dragon and The Butterfly follows Maud of Flanders, wife to William the Conqueror and mother of a whole horde of kids, as she and her husband take on the world. It’s thrilling, beautiful, terrifying, romantic, adventurous, and completely enthralling, all in one. As I get older, I realize historical fiction has all of the intrigue, plotting, and scheming that I love from epic fantasy novels, without all the nonsense in between (it’s not really nonsense, but I think you know what I mean).
Coupled with Simpson’s attention to detail, the huge amount of research she must have put down to write this, and an ever-alluring political drama that snakes its way through the plot of the book, I was hooked!
I struggled a little bit before I was fully hooked, because I felt the start of the book was a bit slow and I got a bit confused with the big character gallery. But this is probably a me problem, ’cause I often prefer fast-paced books. Anyway – once I was hooked, I was in!
Historical fiction is rapidly becoming a new favorite genre with me, and The Butterfly and The Dragon definitely helps to cement that. If you’re by chance particularly interested in medieval England, I’d highly recommend this!
What do you say, are you a fan of historical fiction? Got any recommendations for me, or are you considering picking up this book by Abby Simpson? Let me know in the comments!
As always, thanks for reading the blog, and I’d love it if you checked out my psychological thrillers and horror novels. You can find them all here.
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