Review: An intimate tale of love and passion in the time of St. Patrick
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2013
This is a historical romance, of a very intimate, beguiling sort, the kind that burrows under your skin and demands you inhabit not just the mind but the very soul of its characters. This is Eire in the time of St. Patrick, a land becoming, and those who seek to tame her are as wild and as passionate as the promise of a new life.This is the story of Mariana de la Castra del Oro and Flann O'Conall, brought together seemingly at the whim of fate. Mari is an adventurous young woman, yet her introduction to the ways of men leaves her skittish and not so much fearful as determined to avoid those kinds of complications in the future.But as luck would have it, that future now includes Flann, a man most comfortable in his freedom, a man content to wander the byways of his land, eschewing the ties that bind and causing his father and kinsmen no small amount of despair that he will find his place in the clan.When Flann's fire meets Mari's silk, neither is capable of avoiding the outcome of sparks flying. For Mari that fire causes her to soar, but for Flann it threatens the very things that matter most to him: his independence and his connection to the land that has enchanted his very soul.Mari's journey is one of discovery, learning about the land under the careful tutelage of her new lover, learning about her own sensuality and the meaning of love. Flann's journey, though similar, is more fraught with peril for he knows the meaning of love, yet his heart and soul live in the shadow of self-doubt and that barricade where never breaching his comfort zone becomes so ingrained as to stifle his ability to express what is in his heart ... and perhaps worst of all, to trust.Fire & Silk is part and parcel of the epic tale of Eire in her infancy: the establishment of the clans, absorbing immigrants looking to escape barbarism and turmoil, examining both the inner and the outer selves of her settlers in an exploration of faith at a time when it still uplifted the spirit. The authenticity of the land, the customs, the speech is spot on: richly detailed, adding to, not detracting from, this not-so-simple tale of lovers who share an independence of spirit yet are divided by language and experience, by youth and by ambition. They are the same, and yet not. And it is along this soulful divide that each must learn how to accommodate the other.There is, of course, a subplot that focuses on the enigmatic Owen Sweeney and we learn more about the cripple who factored in other novels set in this time and place. Flann and Mariana are tasked with finding and bringing Sweeney back to meet a brother he's never known, and this provides a much needed opportunity to develop perspective (and a few missteps along the way).If you like and appreciate historical romances, if you love an intimate exploration of love's first sparks and the tender care required to tend those tenuous flames, if you like strong-willed, independent, passionate characters and a tale well-told, then I highly recommend Fire & Silk.A sigh-worthy FIVE STARS.