The Lady of the Cliffs
The Bury Down Chronicles, Book Two
In the sumptuous and atmospheric historical novel The Lady of the Cliffs, the past has far-reaching consequences for a woman coming into her destiny.
Vengeance and the resolve to stop further harm drive teenage cousins in Rebecca Kightlinger’s ethereal fantasy novel The Lady of the Cliffs.
Megge, an apprentice healer, and Brighida, a seer, are the last survivors of a powerful matriarchy. They are bound by their vows to guard a pair of grimoires. They believe that Michael, who is a blacksmith and murderer, is possessed by an “unstill spirit” and wants to steal their books. As the fallout of long-ago encounters propels Megge, she steps into her role as the chosen one who must protect her people.
Strong and principled, the heroines exhibit devotion to their craft and to their tough destinies shepherding the past. The grimoires, after all, house mentors whose voices permeate the present. Brighida’s vocation as a seer equips her with the knowledge to encourage Megge; she explains people’s complicated connections to the mentors, and Megge’s mission, with efficient clarity. Those around Brighida and Megge are fleshed out in terms of their roles at the women’s lodge, including a local family and herders who help around the farm, evolving from neighbors into trusted kin.
Told in lingering prose that relishes natural images, scents, and colors, the story builds up the medieval English countryside in fascinating layers. Between concrete minutiae, including fine weaving and meal preparations, and abstract musings, as about how Megge is never alone because of her lineage, the text is thorough in drawing Megge’s inherited world as a place of comfort worth saving.
Megge’s ability to cast her visions plays a crucial role in the story. Because of it, people come to her aid when they’re called. Such close-knittedness brightens the story, in which Megge is at the center of a found family whose members are well poised to face continuing battles together.
Away from home, brutal adversaries galvanize Megge. Despite such tension, though, the book’s pace is slow at times. It takes detours to explore church skepticism about healers and a coven’s macabre sacrificial blood rites; meanwhile, Megge and Brighida’s thousand-year ties to the Earl of Cornwall and Megge’s “dreamer’s eye,” which enters the “ether” to see past lives and future visions, are underexplained. Still, the story moves toward an exciting crescendo in which Michael’s motives are unpacked, leading to satisfying surprises.
The Lady of the Cliffs is an immersive historical novel in which memorable, magical women vie to amend past wrongs.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
