This was a fabulous book. It brought mediaeval England to vibrant life and made dry figures from my history books walk and talk and love.

It helps, perhaps, to know a little of the history of Edward II and Gaveston before you begin, but the author introduces everything gently and gives lots of historical information with a very light touch so that the reader isn't aware of being educated. It certainly helps if you know that this is a story that was never going to have a happy ending. However, the tragedy-in-waiting doesn't matter too much to the modern reader. If you didn't know in advance, the death of Gaveston at the hands of his enemies would come as a shock but we have a lot of his years to live through and luxuriate in before it happens. When it does, I found myself with tears streaming down my face, even though I was expecting it. That's surely a sign of good writing.

Edward and Gaveston are very much men of their time, and that time is described in glorious detail, with clothes and meals and state affairs, jousting, war, castles and gardens. But at the same time the pair are shown as men of any and every time. They have to contend with jealous barons, slighted princesses and ambitious pages, instead of modern press barons, spiteful families and ambitious colleagues, true, but their reactions are always recognisable and human. Sometimes their behaviour and characters contribute to their downfall, but they are always brave and worthy of our respect. They are at once constrained by Edward's royalty and Gaveston's ennoblement and depicted with universal appeal. The villains of the piece are also well portrayed. These are human beings with flaws, not totally evil and not beyond our understanding and sympathy. Some of them even have the welfare of their country in mind. We know why they behave as they do even while we wish they wouldn't.

Two men in a long and loving relationship in a mediaeval court setting may seem somewhat distanced from the concerns of the twenty-first century but these are lovers who should appeal to everyone. Their love shines from the pages and has a message for all lovers of any gender pairing. The historical facts are well enough known and documented. Hunt has transformed them into a fable for our time, a mirror through which we can see our own often homophobic society; at the same time she has given us a rich and tender love story, worthy of a mediaeval minstrel.

The publishers are Gay Men's Press, a fact which might well have contributed to the small print runs and limited reviews of this novelist's work. Some of her books are out of print. This one is available through Amazon but from other sellers as well. I was lucky to get a used copy at a 'normal' price but be aware that there are some astronomical figures being bandied about, especially for new copies. Hearsay, in other reviews, tells me that this, written in 1992, is the book that other writers have used as their source material for recent books about the same couple. They may have done the world a service by drawing attention to a fascinating story but their writing cannot have surpassed Hunt's. Try to get hold of a copy and make sure you have plenty of tissues!

[Both Amazon and AbeBooks list available copies of Gaveston. The ISBNs are 13-9870754-49-262-6 and 10-085449-262-3.]

                    

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