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In 1351 England, Gerard Fox, a knight, is riding along a forested road when a woman driving a carriage gallops past him, followed by five soldiers in pursuit. Gerard comes to the aid of the woman, killing or wounding the soldiers.
She introduces herself as Lady Isabel and tells him she is fleeing her betrothed, Sir Conrad Harrington, the earl of Tonbridge. Saving Isabel spoils Gerard's own plans to reclaim his ancestral lands from the earl, but it is just as well—the earl of Tonbridge is linked to the corrupt Cardinal Molyneux, who was behind excommunicating Gerard Fox and stripping him of his lands. It turns out that Lady Isabel is fleeing not only a bad marriage, but is trying to save a manuscript that had been entrusted to her family, but which her husband-to-be has bargained away to Molyneux in a trade.
Gerard and Isabel are now fleeing both to protect their lives—their powerful enemies will stop at nothing to find them—and also to protect the manuscript. Their journey takes them across two countries, England and France, at the tail end of a pandemic—the Pestilence ( now known to us as the Black Death). Both characters have secrets and a rich backstory that is revealed to readers through flashbacks.
Unlike many historical novels, which can be slow-moving, THE LAWLESS LAND is a thriller, with twist upon twist, from the beginning until the very end. It is expertly written by author Boyd Morrison, who has authored twelve other thrillers, and his sister, Beth Morrison, who is senior curator of manuscripts at the J. Paul Gerry Museum and an expert in medieval manuscripts.
However, what makes this an action-packed, fast read may also be a drawback. Readers of historical fiction often want more historical details, but this story focuses on a fast-moving plot that has the characters breathlessly moving from scene to scene. It is an engaging story, though, and thriller fans who enjoy history may want to pick this one up.
§ Lourdes Venard is an independent editor who divides her time between New York and Maui.
Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, April 2022
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