Reviews

Order yours now through our bookshop...
(ISBN 0743264797)

From the award-winning Rain Taxi Review of Books, Spring 2005 issue (supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts)

By turns dreamy and sharply real, this first novel offers up a feminist manifesto for a time in which neither feminism nor novels as we know them existed. It unfolds in the era of Black Death, when oral sex is an act of depravity and women who travel alone must be whores. Elise, a gentle Welshwoman given to visions, believes she has just killed her vicious husband; in order to escape his memory and the law’s vengeance, she and her sturdy servant, Annora, empty the household coffers and take to the road. Almost immediately, they must use their wits to escape assault, and they encounter Gwydion, a young warrior who has not been so lucky. It is while nursing him that Elise (whom he courts with the charming epithet “madwoman”) discovers a hope that perhaps not all men are as brutish as her husband—even if they do seek the same bodily pleasures.

That hope may seem slim and unfounded, for Guill’s Middle Ages are full of more serious forms of depravity. There is incest and murder and war; Elise has been a routinely battered wife, and the prancing dandy Sir Nicolas plans elaborate tortures for the man he calls his spiritual advisor. Everyone bears a scar or two, in fact, and yet this is not a bleak novel. Elise and Annora are good to the bone, and they meet many other kindly folks on their trek; the romance between Gwydion and Elise shows that bloody swordplay can hide a tender heart…

…Novels and feminism may be modern institutions, but their roots go back to the medieval romance and the Wife of Bath; with this tale of love and adventure, Guill gives us a luminous vision connecting past to present.

Tinged with mysticism and set amid the craggy and often foreboding landscape of fourteenth- century Wales, this haunting romantic saga features enough suspenseful twists to keep the pages turning at a rapid clip. After apparently killing her brutally abusive husband in self- defense, clairvoyant Elise is beset by disturbing visions as she and her loyal maidservant attempt to make their way cross-country to the city of Conwy, where they hope to secure work and anonymity. Vowing to avenge the murder of his father and sister and to reclaim both his birthright and his estate, enigmatic nobleman Gwydion crosses paths with the women several time, growing ever more attracted to Elise.

Plagued by guilt for the horrific crime she believes she committed, Elise is unable to reveal her true feelings to a bitter Gwydion. As their parallel stories intersect, the two would-be lovers must both wrestle with the demons of their past before they can embark upon a future together. This authentically detailed historical adventure is irresistibly interwoven with elements of passion, intrigue, and the supernatural.

From Publishers Weekly—

“…numerous historical details that create vivid snapshots of life in medieval Wales….the main characters are loyal and good-hearted—certainly likable enough to follow on a few adventures.”

Senior Editor Amanda Patten* describes Nectar as historical fiction without the fussiness the genre often inspires: “What struck me about the book was the quality of the writing. Jane is a three-time Pushcart nominee, and her knowledge of the period translates very authentically into her prose.”

* Simon & Schuster / Touchstone Books