Synopses & Reviews
Betrayal, love, and lycanthropy in the time of the CrusadesBased on one of the Lais of Marie de France, The Wolf Hunt is a breathtaking adventure that showcases, once again, Gillian Bradshaws respectability as both a historian and as a novelist.
When Marie Penthièvre of Chalendrey is abducted from her Norman priory and taken to Brittanys court, she vows never to dishonor her familys ties by marrying a Breton brute. There is only one man who might change her mind: Tiarnán of Talensac, a handsome, skilled, and noble knight indeed. But Tiarnán does not love her, and when he marries a slip of a girl instead, Marie vows to become a nun as soon as she is able.
But Tiarnán has a secret, and that slip of a girl betrays him once she learns of it. When Tiarnán disappears and is presumed dead, his widow marries his one time rival and assumes title to his land, which steadily begins to decline under her unskilled, merciless rule. Marie knows something is wrong, and only she is clear headed enough to rescue Tiarnán and return him to his rightful status. But can she do so before it is too late?
Rich in romance, and intrigue, steeped in history and wonder, The Wolf Hunt is historical fiction at its best, by one of its most skilled practitioners.
Review
Praise for The Wolf Hunt"The Wolf Hunt is the captivating tale of a woman's journey through the twisted paths of the medieval forests where the everyday is overwhelmed by the supernatural, and where only love and loyalty can keep the darkness at bay. . . and the wolf from your throat. If you love the fables of the medieval world, then this book will enchant you." --Sara Douglass
“Bradshaw is one of a few authors who can take a snippet of history at any time in the past and turn it into a novel worth reading . . . . This is a beautifully written, lyrical novel about an often brutal time. Each character is fully realized and the story, as embellished by Bradshaw, is both entertaining and historically accurate. Although the ending is predictable (this is obviously not Bradshaws doing, but Marie de Frances), getting there is all the fun.” --The Historical Novels Review
“Bradshaw solidly grounds her historical fiction, but still lards it with plenty of fairy-tale excitement. Readers will have no trouble guessing the ‘secret of the wolf, but that doesnt detract from the fun.” --Publishers Weekly
“Gillian Bradshaw takes an obscure historical footnote and embellishes it into an intricate, multilayered tale.” --The Romantic Times
About the Author
Gillian Bradshaw's father, an American Associated Press newsman, met her mother, a confidential secretary for the British embassy, in Rio de Janeiro. She was born in Washington DC in 1956, the second of four children. They didn't move around quite as much as one might expect after such a beginning: Washington was followed merely by Santiago, Chile, and two locations in Michigan. Gillian attended the University of Michigan, where she earned her BA in English and another in Classical Greek, and won the Hopwood Prize for fiction with her first novel,
Hawk of May. She went on to get another degree at Newnham College, Cambridge University, England in Greek and Latin literature, and she sold her first novel while preparing for exams.
She decided to stay in Cambridge another year to write another novel and think about what to do for a Real Job. However, while there, she discovered she could live on her income as a novelist and also met her husband, who was completing his doctorate in physics. Between books and children she never did get a Real Job, and she's been writing novels ever since.
She and her husband now live in Coventry. They have four children and a dog.