This book is not an M/M Romance. It's a historical novel with a gay protagonist, Hugh, a master mason. The book follows him for about 8-9 years and is very slow until the last 5% where a little spark of romance and angst finally happens.

There is virtually no sex and no fantasy element present (I've noticed some readers have it on their "fantasy/paranormal" shelves).

If you are a history geek, the book is definitely for you. If you are looking for a romance or feisty knights/elves/bards, I suggest you look somewhere else.

As it is, I loved the setting, I loved the slow pace, the politics, the casual mentioning of great names and places. I was constantly on internet, looking things up or refreshing my memory. It was perfect.

The only fault I found was author's tendency to skip through weeks and months. I wish it was a little tighter, time-wise, or filled with more action to compensate.

4 stars.

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Hugh de Barham, caught up in the swirling politics of the years of Richard I's absence from England, simply wants to be allowed to build churches to his God, but sometimes it seems as though the Church itself is trying to prevent that. His personal life is equally confused – and even more difficult to negotiate.

I haven't felt as thoroughly immersed in the twelfth century since reading the Brother Cadfael books. I can smell the wood-smoke, feel the cold, and see the sunlight slanting through the arches of Hugh's half-completed church. And the people are of that time and with the attitudes of the time; not just modern people in fancy dress. My reading record is littered with historical novels abandoned after a few chapters; that's not the case with this one! ( )