‘Something tugged at me – a dream of seeing distant lands’. Ch. 3.

‘Fourteen-year-old orphan Alina refuses to accept the oppressing life her strict aunt wants to impose upon her. When the opportunity comes along for her to escape, she and her brother embark on a journey through the Byzantine Empire all the way to Jerusalem.’ Back Cover.

In the Spring of 1173, orphans Alina and Milos set out from Provence on a perilous journey to the Holy Land. Milos has lost the inheritance of his land to his uncle. Alina faces only a bleak arranged marriage. But she does possess the highly valued gift of making music and song. And this, on reaching Jerusalem, is a gift that opens up a new world for her, perhaps even an independent future. For Alina, as a woman, this had been an impossible. But now her dream is to become a trobairitz like Beatriz de Dia, that is, a woman troubadour, making her own way in the world.

I enjoyed the children’s journey from Provence to Venice to Acre and on to Jerusalem as if I had become a tourist a thousand years ago and was seeing the sights for myself. Once in Jerusalem the pace of the story changes as Alina and Milos get drawn into the complexities of the court. The author skilfully disentangles all the plots and factions and the competing suitors for the hand of princess Sibylla – who is even younger than Alina. I galloped through the last half of this story. Suspicions mount and danger follows danger.

This book so deftly written that you would almost not realise the depth of the research it must have taken to create it. The story is set in a fascinating but little known time and Alina is a wonderful creation. I also enjoyed the portrait of Princess Sibylla, imperious and arbitrary to Alina, but really just a child struggling to face her imminent responsiblities in the little kingdom facing danger on all sides. This is highly readable historical fiction.

I have always loved stories set in medieval times. I devoured books by Henry Treece, Geoffrey Trease, Rosemary Sutcliff and Zoe Oldenburg. Most of these novels featured knights or barons – men in a male world. Few placed a woman centre stage, and these were the highborn wives of powerful men. In Malve von Hassell’s story, however, Alina is the heroine and her musical gift widen her world not just for herself but her brother too.

Malve von Hassell is a writer, researcher, and translator.  On her website you can learn more about her works including Letters from the Tooth Fairy, written in response to her son’s letters to the tooth fairy, The Falconer’s Apprentice, her first historical fiction novel for young readers and The Amber Crane, a historical fiction novel set in Germany in the 17th century,

Learn more about Trobaritz, the women singers and song makers of the Twelfth Century, on Malve’s excellent blog, Tales Through Time. The quote that precedes the tale of Alina is by Countess Beatriz de Dia, who composed the one piece from that time that survives with musical annotations, the A chantar m’er.

Where to find Alina, A Song For the Telling

Alina, A Song For The Telling can be found by looking at Malve’s website, where you can also learn about her other fascinating books. It is available via these links here, and on Kobo and on Kindle, , and as an Audiobook on Apple Books.

Your host, Mark, is Mawson Bear’s Guardian, photographer, editor, blundering typist, chocolates fetcher and cushions re-arranger. Mawson’s own Blog is Mawson, A Writer-Bear for Our Befuddled Times.
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