About book Gatty - Das Vermächtnis Der Pilgerin (2007)
Gatty's Tale is a spin-off of the Arthur & the Seeing Stone books. This book follows Arthur's friend Gatty as she heads off on a pilgrimage for Jerusalem.A compelling book, and just as in the Arthur books, the writer paints a great picture of living in the period without overwhelming the reader with heavy handed history. That said, some of the writing in this book is downright strange... sort of an attempt to be poetic that just ends up sounding oddly nonsensical.I also occasionally wondered who this book was for. On one hand, it seems to be for young girls who might identify with the main character. On the other hand, there are scenes in here that, while not explicit in any fashion, definitely seem more adult in nature. An attack that seems like it may lead to rape. A 'teen pregnancy' (they don't explicitly say the character is a teen but she seems to be from the writing). None of this would be odd in a book targeted at teens, but the book otherwise feels like it ought to be read by a younger crowd. So very odd. But still, a bizarre and entertaining account of a pilgrimage in medieval times. And it wraps up some plot points from the Arthur books, so those are worth reading first. A solid but not amazing book. (Reading the author's bio, it turns out that this is connected to an earlier Arthur trilogy he wrote, which makes me wonder if prior knowledge of the characters would have made it a better read. More on that in a minute.)Gatty's voice is fabulous. I mentioned in a review the other day that I dislike tongue in cheek historical fiction, where the author gives their characters knowledge they would not have had at the time, and Crossley-Holland completely avoids that. Gatty is bright but completely uneducated, young and naive, sweet but bullheaded, and a great character.The overall plot was very slow to begin and then flew through the last third of the book - the characters were traveling so fast I had to keep rereading to make sure I knew where they were.I found her romance with Arthur very odd, because we as readers don't meet him until the last 15 or so pages. Gatty thinks and talks about him frequently, and there are other connections throughout the book, but it struck me as a very odd way to write a romance, even if it was a side plot. (Explained, I think, by the fact that Arthur has his very own trilogy by the author, presumably giving more background between the two characters.)I could have done without the hints of dues ex machina at the end, but overall a very interesting look at a time period I don't often read about.
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