The Wolves of Savernake
In 1086, William the Conqueror set out to record every acre, every item, and who owned what in his new conquest, England. Inevitably, there are attempts at evasion which need sorting. Ralph Delchard, ex-soldier and the King’s trusted organizer, and Gervase Bret, a clever lawyer, are sent to Bedwyn in the Savernake Forest in Wiltshire to investigate. The ownership of four hides is in dispute. Who is to blame: the grasping Norman, Hugh de Brionne; Serlo, the saintly Abbot of Bedwyn Abbey; or could it be a local townsman? Ralph suspects that a number of people are determined to dupe the King’s commissioner. Above all, everyone fears the Wolf of Savernake, who tears out the throats of its victims. When Ralph arrives, the wolf has just killed a much-hated miller, Alric Longdon; conveniently, perhaps, for some. The forest houses other wild animals, too, as well as a suspected witch who the townsfolk believe ill-wishes people, and who should be burnt.
This is the first book in Marston’s Domesday Series. As always, Marston has done his research properly. The reader believes in the uneasy relationships between the truculent Anglo-Saxons, the supercilious Hugh de Brionne, and the outraged monks in the Abbey at the suggestion that they might be at fault. Marston is good at getting across the zeitgeist of the age, especially its assumptions – always difficult in historical novels. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ralph takes Gervase and Canon Hubert to Stonehenge – (there’s a lot more of it standing than there is nowadays, of course). The place horrifies Canon Hubert who thinks it’s the work of the devil. We can almost smell the resentment and distrust between the various groups. Can Ralph and Gervase get to the truth before the Wolf of Savernake attacks them? I thoroughly recommend this book.
