Charlemagne & Amelia are very interesting people who deserve a better book.

There wasn't enough interaction between Charlemagne and Amelia. His falling in love with her happened too quickly.

I liked the portrayal of the villagers. They mixed the old faith with the new. They didn't see the problem with calling the old mother earth goddess - Mary. Because that is what the church did. It "Christianized" the old pagan rites, festivals and tradition. It didn't teach them that they had to abandon the old ways jut changed them with new names.

And of course she met a wise tolerant Jew.

In the book Charlemagne is king and Amelia is a young novice. The kings grown son has rebelled and he asks Ameilia for advise. He is older than her in the book

But they were about the same age, and Charles was not king at the time. A very different relationship than that of the book. She would have been dead by the time Pepin revolted
( )

Thin, poorly fleshed historical novel. Might have been more exciting had the author spent some time really developing the characters and story. The passionate romance between the two main characters was lost on me; I failed to understand what Charlemagne found so appealing about Amelia. ( )