By Elizabeth ChadwickRated 5++++++ Stars!
No one comes as close to putting the reader in the position of being a fly on the wall so to speak of their stories as Elizabeth Chadwick does.
What I think is particularly wonderful about A Place Beyond Courage is that John Marshall is really not a very heroic figure as hero's are defined in novels. Susan has managed to breath life and humanity as well as creating sympathy for a character whom I suspect was pretty much a self serving cold fish of a person.
The real life John Marshall changed sides far to often for me to get any sense of his having the code of honor that was prevalent in his time. Many men died trying to live up to their code of honor while John Marshall seems to have honored only his own self interest. Also the way he dumped Aline really bothered me. A man of honor would not have notified her by letter that she has become an inconvenience.
The only self serving thing he did that I even come close to understanding was a.) surrendering William as a hostage since that was common practice at the time and b.) giving that little hammer and anvil speech (never let them see you sweat) since I agree with the author's conclusion that it was in Williams interest that John not show how much (if it was indeed much) that William meant to him. I am sure that he cared some, because he was human after all.
The tender love story between him and Sybilla is, IMO, all from the author's imagination as I don't think there is any real evidence that they did other than get married and have children together. It's lovely to think of her version as fact but I guess I am just too much of a skeptic. But it sure made for great reading.
The fact that the author managed to spin such a wonderful story while incorporating all these facts is a true testament to her as a writer. I love the John Marshall of her story. But I suspect that very few, if anyone from his time would recognize the man he was as the man she was writing about.
Now his son William, (The Greatest Knight) that is another thing entirely. Every thing she wrote about him was absolutely, positively true. I know this because my heart tells me so.
1 comment:
Jeanette,
Thanks for your review of A Place Beyond Courage. I have to say that everything I said about John Marshal is true as far as I'm concerned. I respect that we agree to differ, but if you had met him in the ether as I have, you would see why I feel the way I do about him.
In historical fact, he actually changed sides JUST ONCE in the civil war near the beginning - not loads of times and that gives him tons more integrity than many other players in the game. How did William manage to grow up to become the man he did without John's influence on his codes of honour and the way he made relationships? He gave his son that vital grounding. William was fifteen when he left home (other than his sojourn with Stephen) but his formative years were John's and his first adolescent years were John's.
That stand at Wherwell to protect the empress took complete guts.
Was John a cold fish? Absolutely not. A man of his time - certainly. If you look at wife dumping in the period then distance and letters was the way of it. He was honourable by the codes of HIS day, not ours.
As to his relationship with Sybilla - who can say, but the Akashic Records have been spot on all the way down the line - and that includes my extensive use of them in the two novels about William Marshal.
I truly, strongly believe John Marshal's contemporaries would have recognised him immediately from this novel. After all, he helped me to write it (smile) I truly, truly believe that.
As I say, I respect your difference of opinion, but as the author I felt I had to say something in defence of a man who continues to be misunderstood by history. Sigh.
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