Recent posts on “great heroines” (all summarised here) reminded me that I needed to round up my final thoughts on Hild by Nicola Griffiths.

In my “What I’m Reading” post on September 25, I said:

“…so far, at around three quarters of the way through [Hild], I am absolutely loving it. I feel it is one of the best historical novels I have read in quite some time, not even excepting Hilary Mantel’s Booker prize-winning, Wolf Hall … just about everything about Hild is fabulous: a great historical sense of seventh century, Anglo-Saxon Britain, excellent characterization—especially of Hild herself, but there’s a whole raft of other great characters, and just a wonderful richness of storytelling overall.”

I can tell you right now that having completed Hild over the intervening month (yes, reading “is” very slow at the moment), I don’t resile from any of those prior conclusions.

To recap, Hild is an historical novel, a fictionalised account of the early life of the woman who subsequently became known as St Hilda. Although little is known of Hild’s life in terms of the period covered by the book, something is known of the general period from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other sources, and the author keeps within that known framework. Specifically, the setting comprises the British Isles in the seventh century, when Hild’s uncle, Edwin, was ruler of the kingdom known as Northumbria, which extended (broadly) from the river Humber in the south up to the Antonine Wall (the Stathclyde area.) This was the period when the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were warring with each other and the remnant kingdoms of the Roman-British; it was also the period when Christianity was starting to take hold in the Anglo Saxon kingdoms.

Hild’s personal story is set against the backdrop of these events in a vivid and compelling way, with the era and its people drawn out of the scanty historical record in a manner that makes for both rich and absorbing reading. It’s clear the author has done considerable research, which brings the world to life on the page–but not in a way that makes the reader feel overwhelmed by historical detail. Hild remains historical fiction, but nonetheless bridges the gap between the worlds of “then” and “now” by creating an authentic milieu that readers can absorb and enjoy, while simultaneously experiencing its difference—which I believe is a hallmark of the best historical fiction.

The portrayal of Hild is as vital and fascinating as that of the world she inhabits. No surprises there, perhaps, since this is Hild’s story and the book is told entirely from her (third person) point of view. Nonetheless, she is undoubtedly one of the “great” heroines of my recent reading in any genre. Hild is intelligent, courageous, compassionate, inquiring; she is also a completely believable human character, prey to fear, doubt, and plenty of “growing pains.” She also meets my Monday post’s heroine criteria of: “resolution in the face of…adverse circumstances…[while]…seeking for solutions”, as well as those circumstances frequently involving “grave risk”, but also the need for Hild to concern herself with “choices between right and wrong, either at a personal or societal level, or both.”  Throughout the book, Hild was also a heroine I empathised with, especially as there was no lack of consequences, either personally or for those she loved, inherent in almost every aspect of her life.

So, the historical world brought to life and a great central character: check. But Nicola Griffiths’ Hild also meets other tests: my personal yardstick which says that not just the main character, but every person that steps onto the page must be as real and believable, albeit in their modest way, as the main character. And the story throughout is engrossing and enjoyable—an all round great read, in my view.

I definitely recommend Hild to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, compelling characters, and a fine tale, well told.

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Additional Information:

I read the UK, trade paperback edition (544 pp) of Hild published by Black  Friars, an imprint of Little, Brown Book group.

Although Orbit, an imprint of Little, Brown is also my UK publisher, I did not receive a review copy of the book; I bought Hild m’ownself from a real live bricks’n’mortar book store! 😉