There has been a lot of talk lately about immersive experiences in various creative spheres, much of which doesn’t seem to understand either what immersive means or when you would want such an experience. Hild provides the most effective explanation for both that I have encountered for a very long time. I did not want this book to end. I simply wanted to stay inside the most all encompassing, believable recreation of the seventh century I’ve ever encountered in a novel for as long as humanly possible. I even tried rationing myself to only five minutes of reading time a day in order to extend the brilliance but in the end I finished the last 150 pages in one glorious gulp that left me simulateously uplifted (from the excellence of the prose, characterisations and the storyline, especially where we leave Hild at the close of the novel) and bereft (that there were no more words left I could wallow in). 

Now I am not a historian of the early medieval period by any stretch of the imagination but, because I have eclectic reading habits and am fascinated by the period, I do have some understanding of what life was believed to be like then and it is very clear to me that Nicola did her research deeply and well. Plus, as she is clearly one of the best historical writers I have ever had the pleasure to read, this knowledge was woven deftly through the whole book rather than info dumped at any point. I wasn’t just reading it, I was there, with Hild, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing her world as she did. I cannot find any attribution for the quote “reading is just staring at pieces of dead tree and hallucinating” but it feels quite apt here since Nicola’s work produced one of the most vivid “hallucinations” I’ve had for a long time.

I would say that I’m sad I’m so late to the party on this one, since it was first published in 2013, but I’d be lying because I desperately need to spend more time in Hild’s world and it just so happens that the sequel, Menewood, is going to be published this October! Waiting a few months to get my next fix of this wonderful world is infinitely preferable to waiting ten years. I don’t think it’s possible for me to recommend this book enough, it is a fantastic reading experience and I want everyone to have it.