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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Lauren Lee Merewether’s The Thornwyck Rose is set in the Welsh Marches in 1085, where seventeen-year-old Seren ferch Madoc leaves her Welsh family to marry Norman Marcher Lord Henry de Thornwyck under an agreement meant to preserve peace along the border. Her new home is Castel Thornwyck, the fortress from which Henry governs Mortlande, and he expects his bride to secure his position. Commander Payen de Montfort escorts Seren there as Henry’s soldier, bound to service by concern for his son. Life inside Thornwyck places Seren beneath rules that reach into every part of her marriage, yet she begins finding ways to understand the land expected to accept her. As her friendship with Payen takes root, each recognizes in the other a person living within obligations imposed upon them, drawing them toward a connection neither can openly name.
Lauren Lee Merewether’s The Thornwyck Rose follows a patient courtship. Period detail is superb, grounded in social custom. Candlemas is marked by holy oil before sweet wine is served. The characters are completely fleshed out, and I love how Merewether gives the commander a tender fatherly side. During a campaign, he carves a bear for his young son Ragnar to remember their family name. The romance is lovely in its patience, with the star Seren stitches onto the commander’s shoulder serving as a private sign across their separation. Merewether shines in her use of place, giving rural spaces a lived-in beauty. In the Saints’ Garden, local women cultivate herb beds in an old orchard beside the chapel. At Fellmere’s moonlit lake, fireflies move over wildflowers beside dark water. Intelligently written and romantic, readers who enjoy immersive medieval fiction will adore this book.
