The Bitterbynde, Book II
By Cecilia Dart-Thornton
Aspect/Warner Books - May 2002
ISBN: 0-446-52803-X - Hardcover
Fantasy
for Violence
Reviewed by: Jo Rogers, Myshelf.Com
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The nameless and deformed servant we met in THE ILL-MADE MUTE now has a name, Imrhein. He is really a she, and she has gone to the carlin, Maeve One-Eye, to have her scarred face healed and has also had her voice restored. She must now go to the castle at Caermelor to tell the king about the vast treasure she has found.
But she cannot go as the drudge Imrhein. No common person can see the king. So, with Maeve's help, she is transformed into Lady Rohain Tarrenys, a noble widow from the Sorrows Islands. It is hoped the Sorrows are far enough from Caermelor that no one will discover the truth. Though her golden locks that mark her as a rare survivor of the Talith race are dyed black, Imrhein is still worried. She still doesn't remember her past and fears there is something she has forgotten, something that will put her and all those she loves in danger.
THE LADY OF THE SORROWS paints a vivid picture of court life in tedious detail, including the serving of a court dinner. In this portion of the book, each time something interesting is about to happen to our heroine, she is whisked back to the safety and boredom of the palace.
However, if the reader can endure the first 250 pages, he or she will be rewarded with a stellar cliffhanger ending that will leave him or her with an appetite for the third and final book of the series.