Feathered Quill Book Reviews

 #Bookreview of The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois

By: Malve von Hassell

Publisher: Historium Press

Publication Date: August 21, 2025

ISBN: 978-1964700267

Reviewed by: Ephantus Muriuki

Review Date: October 27, 2025

The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois by Malve von Hassell is a sweeping novel set against the sprawling, politically volatile aftermath of the Norman Conquest. It explores the complex and often painful demands of loyalty in a feudal world, the rigid constraints of gender and social class in the 11th Century, the search for identity and "home" in a world of conquest and exile, and the enduring power of friendship and human connection across a lifetime.

The primary narrative follows Cerdic of Wessex, son of Osbeorn and Orva, a Saxon knight whose father died at the battle of the Hastings. At a young age, King William the Conqueror offered to take him from his poor mother and raise him in his household, after which he was trained to be a page. When he first arrived at the Norman Court in Canen, a haven described "as one place where the pressures of the King's daily life lifted," he was terrified, homesick and unable to speak French. Adela, the young daughter of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda was the first to befriend him and to show him "uncalculated" kindness, throwing him a lifeline, pulling him from the abyss of his sorrow and anchoring him to a new world.

In present day, Cerdic sees serving the Normans like a betrayal to his father, yet the thought of rejecting them feels like a betrayal of their kindness. He is a man without a country, and any step too far in either direction threatens to erase him completely. His path once again collides with Adela, who this time demands a greater sacrifice. She places a sealed letter on his hand, her eyes not of the girl with whom he shared honey bread, but of a queen who has learned the cost of power. Her arrival finds him happy after finding a new identity in Blois. However, this threatens his hard-earned contentment and reawakens all the old painful longings, as well as conflicts he has tried to leave behind. It all feels like a trap that snaps shut right again around him, leaving him wondering whether he can ever pick the lock, or if he is doomed to live out his days within its confines.

This is a deeply human story that moves beyond dates and battles, to show the intimate, personal struggles of those who lived through them. Its central theme includes the true price of loyalty, power and agency, as well as friendship and love in a structured world. The choice of a high-born female character and a male outsider create a rich multilayered view of medieval society. They don't feel random, but carefully selected to create a comprehensive, empathetic and gripping portrait of a tumultuous era.

While the story is a historical fiction, it masterfully uses twists, suspense and cliffhangers to amplify its historical authenticity. It feels like it understands a profound truth: that for those living through it, history was not a predetermined narrative but rather, a precarious and volatile existence. A single whispered secret, a lost battle or misplaced trust could irrevocably alter one's life and this book makes us feel that terrifying, exhilarating uncertainty through every page.

Quill says: Readers will find that The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois by Malve von Hassell excels through its deep sensory immersion, its multi-perspective narrative with distinct voices, and psychological realism. Von Hassell masterfully "shows rather than tells," resulting in bringing the medieval world and its formidable characters to vivid life. What many readers will agree is that it is not just a book to be read, but an experience to be absorbed. One should read it for its pure, immersive escapism and for inspiration by its formidable characters, whose journeys are a reminder of the courage it takes to build a life of meaning against all odds.

For more information about The Price of Loyalty: Serving Adela of Blois, please visit the author's website at: malvevonhassell.com