The Wicked and the Just

I stumbled on this book when I was looking for other books like "The Dark Unwinding". Let me start off by saying they are not similar books (other than the fact that the heroines are around the same age).

Here is the Amazon synopsis: Cecily’s father has ruined her life. He’s moving them to occupied medieval Wales, where the king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least Cecily will finally be the lady of the house. Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl. While Cecily struggles to find her place among the snobby English landowners, Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.

Ok so I was excited that the main character's name was Cecily, until you start to realize she is a spoiled brat. Then I expected Gwenhwyfar to be her counter and to be the good one but again you realize she is also a brat. That said, I liked the story. I knew nothing of the history of that time period in Wales. It was really interesting.  And as always I am amazed at how unkind mankind can be to each other especially in a world where they are working for mere survival. Oh and the book is a bit challenging to read at least in the beginning because they use a lot of Welsh words and the sentence structure and even the cadence of the writing is just a little foreign.

All that said I would recommend this book if you are interested in learning about the history of the time period or just want an interesting read. I wouldn't say run out and read it because it is not going on my top 10 but I probably will still read it again someday. It just isn't a super happy read because it is more about human nature at its worst. Also it doesn't have a real solid ending (which is true to life but leaves you wanting a bit). However I feel like one character, at least, redeems herself in the end. You will have to read it to find out which one:)