The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer

The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Conqueror is a novel depicting the life of William "The Conqueror," Duke of Normandy, from birth until his coronation as King of England in 1066. While I normally love historical fiction (unable to put a book down), this novel had a hard time keeping me interested. There were sections that did have me wanting to shut out the world and keep reading, but there were just as many boring storylines that had me looking at my bookshelf longingly.

Well-researched and portrayed for the time period, I have no complaints in that department. Heyer used great descriptive detail to portray the culture and history. The war-torn battlefields especially were very in-depth.

However, Heyer's writing style thoroughly annoyed me. As an editor, I wanted to go through the book and correct the punctuation with a big, red pen. Written in 1931, perhaps this is just a style of the times, or the style of some genre I've never read before, but I found the break in my reading flow quite distracting.

Another letdown for me was that the book was told from the viewpoint of Raoul, William's right-hand man. Not quite biography, not quite historical fiction, I was disappointed that the novel didn't let me inside William's head. Personally, if I can't be inside the historical character's head, then I'd rather read a biography of the person than fiction.

Lastly, William's relationship with Matilda was so talked up on the book cover and everywhere else, but in truth, it was just a small piece of the novel and seemed to be missing too much of the real storyline to make sense. In contrast, the relationship between Raoul and his friend, Edgar, had much more romance and love portrayed. I kept wondering when the two of them would become more than friends, but then Raoul fell in love with Edgar's sister, Elfrida, putting that pondering to rest.

In closing, it wasn't an altogether bad book. It just wasn't for me, and I'm doubtful I'll read anymore of Heyer's books.
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Tags: fiction