Womenwood

I really adored Hild, a historical fiction book from Nicola Grifith that often felt like fantasy but was very rooted in early English history. She was very clear that a sequel was coming, but the wait had been long enough that I had stopped tracking the book. The follow-up, Menewood, was recently published and is a terrific read, continuing Hild's extraordinary story as she enters young adulthood.

 

MINI SPOILERS

"Hild" put me in mind of books like Merlin, with a wise seer who offers counsel to a powerful king. "Menewood" felt a bit more like "The Outlaws of Sherwood", with a focus on building a community: not just one remarkable person, but a whole collection of people from various backgrounds (ethnic, linguistic,  religious, professional, etc.) joining together, learning to work together and accomplishing great things under the thoughtful guidance of a leader.

(Apologies in advance for how much of this post will be comparing Hild to Menewood, that's just how my brain is working right now!)

There's less explicit discussion of religion in the new book. By this time the supremacy of Christianity is mostly taken for granted and the old Woden worship is seen as a last gasp. But as Christianity becomes dominant, we start to see internal politics at play, with British priests and Irish monks alongside the Roman priests from the previous book. There isn't exactly friction between them, but what feels like some considerable side-eye. Hild herself seems to preach a syncretic faith, declaring that there is a single God but that God can manifest in various forms, including Woden. Based on other readings, I think that's a very common tendency during conversions, where indigenous beliefs will get wrapped into the new faith.

There's also less "seer" business here, and Hild herself explicitly notes that change and the reason for it near the end of this book. When she was a powerless girl in a hostile court, she needed to lean in on mystical trappings for her own survival, convincing the king that she had powers which made her more valuable alive than dead. Now, she is a leader in her own right, with sworn men who will follow her. She still uses the skills she had as a "seer", but now she's more clearly explaining her source of information and her reasoning to the people around her, and not just to use the readers.

MEGA SPOILERS

For most of Hild I was riveted by her love life, particularly the heartbreaking connection with Gwladus. I was really bummed when she got with Cian in the first novel, which ended the book on a sour note for me. Seeing them in Menewood, though, they do seem to have a strong relationship and make each other happy. The fact that Cian dies takes the sting out of the union. Hild returns to loving women, including a brief (and surprisingly narratively elided) fling with the wife of a chieftain, but she mostly plays "bed games" with Brona, a real salt-of-the-earth butcher from York. As she continues to mature, Hild seems like a recognizable type of bisexual, generally preferring a certain gender but having a strong attraction to a specific individual of another gender.

I'd forgotten the "bed games" nomenclature from the first novel; I think it was Hild's mother Breguswith who first introduces the term. In this era and culture, marriage is supremely significant and far too important for any individual to decide on their own: marriages are frequently arranged to cement a peace between warring neighbors, or to strengthen an alliance, or dispose of a potential rival. But while marriage and producing an heir are public matters, love and sex are private matters. "Bed games" are introduced as a way to fulfill passions, let off steam, satisfy physical and emotional needs, and are seen as a way to support, rather than undermine, an arranged marriage.

I haven't written much about the plot... it's good, but also somewhat unusually paced. There's a lot of "worldbuilding" early on as Hild takes on her leadership role and plans to build up Elmet, including the refuge of Menewood. The big development of the first part of the novel is King Edwin's disastrous war against Cadwallon and Penda. Hild knows that it's going to go poorly, which is a big part of why she works so hard to prepare Elmet, but she's still powerless to stop this catastrophe. (And just when you think things couldn't get sadder or more tragic, there's probably the single saddest passage I've read in the last decade, when Hild realizes the fate of her child.)

There is a long stretch after the death of Edwin and Cian where Hild is grief-stricken, practically mute. This section felt very much like Act 2 in a traditional Hollywood movie, "long dark night of the soul" style. But I did enjoy this part: it feels very important to honor Hild's trauma. She works through things, but she'll never be free of the intense grief that she's suffered.

The second half of the book is mostly about Hild trying to make things good again. In a traditional story this would be a revenge plot; she definitely does feel anger towards Cadwallon and his supporters for the violence they have inflicted, but Hild, ever far-sighted, is thinking about what comes next. How can she help build an enduring peace that will enable her and her fellow survivors to thrive? (Interestingly, she does swear revenge against Cadwallon, but on behalf of her allies, not on her own behalf.)

There's another long stretch of planning and preparing, after Hild returns to Menewood, takes stock of the situation and writes letter after letter to potential allies. For a while I was wondering if the actual confrontation with Cadwallon would wait until the third book. But the campaign starts very late in the novel and does come to a satisfying conclusion by the end. This is my favorite part of the book: it's exciting and dramatic, with Hild's long-planned schemes coming to fruition but also needing to improvise and quickly take advantage of surprising developments. Eventually all of the many forces she has lined up come together and defeat his army, with Hild herself getting to strike the killing blow. I think this sequence is perfect for the story being told. Yes, Hild is strong and brave (and tall!), but her superpower is her mind, her ability to notice things that others don't, to think of things that others won't, and to thoroughly plan.

END SPOILERS

Menewood wraps up more neatly than Hild, with the major conflicts resolved and most people receiving an appropriate reward or punishment, but there are still some tantalizing plot threads left open. These particularly involve relations with other parts of (what we now call) England, and if and how Hild would be involved in those relations. I'm sure we'll be getting at least a third book, although I am curious what time it would cover. The first book covered about 15 years of her life while this one spans less than 2 years (albeit historically eventful years!). It would be interesting to have another book that covers the time until when Hild re-enters the historical record as the abbess of Whitby, but that would follow a much longer time.

I don't know exactly what Nicola's plans are - she had originally intended to write a trilogy. These books do feel fantasy-ish, and fantasy series are infamous for growing longer than originally planned, so we may have even more to look forward to. But at the same time, this is based on a historical person, so there are limits to where the story can go. Regardless, I'm looking forward to reading whatever comes next!