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OLDER FICTION
Coats, J. Anderson

Spindle and Dagger

292 pp. | Candlewick | March, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5362-0777-4 $17.99
(2) YA Captured and raped by a medieval Welsh warband, Elen has found a way to survive by convincing the band's leader, Owain ap Cadwgan, that her name saint has promised to keep him unharmed as long as he keeps Elen near him. A relatively well-treated prisoner and lover, Elen now feels trapped--by the lies she has spun; by the scorn she endures from Owain's band; and by traumatic memories of her family's demise by fire, murder, and sexual violence. When Owain abducts the wife and children of a neighboring lord, Elen sees in them a chance to be part of a real family again. The story is based on an account in a medieval Welsh chronicle. Its plot involves the ornate politics of small kingdoms and family allegiances, and the impositions and political weight of England's Norman king. Amidst all the masculine burning and pillaging, Elen's first-person, present-tense telling (a narrative choice that is not entirely successful) sheds a light on female survival and resistance. The blow-by-blow account of male bumptiousness and maneuvering threatens to overwhelm that of Elen's tremulous inner life, but that, perhaps, effectively conveys the depth of her isolation.
Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

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