Sons of the Wolf ~ An entrancing read!

What did I love best about this book? Always,always I appreciate historical detail and characters. Wulfhere of Horstede, a Saxon Thegn was an actual person and he and his neighbor/adversary Helghi are found in Domesday.

They had a life and lived and breathed and shared it with actual persons who were numbered in the census of the day, the Domesday Book. Paula Lofting did a terrific job of "creating a family and a life " for both of them. Their environment and their possessions breathed a life and personality into them that the author was able to discern.

Lofting's activities in the Regia Anglorum reenactment society has most likely aided her in the knowledge of what persons of the time said and did. Their societal roles dictate, surely, whether they are aggressive or passive in their relationships. The times were brutal and primitive and these characters play their roles very well.This period of history leading inexorably to the Norman Conquest is my very favorite to read about.

Were they appealing characters to me? Not with any consistency, but occasional glimpses of warmth and affection are admixed with the violence necessary to survive those times with success.

Other historical characters like William Malet, having more details known about them, are likeable although still true to the era. A gritty but oh so entertaining novel which very much shone for me.

I truly am holding my breath until the sequel when I can again visit with this group.So happy that it will not end.

This apparently was the first book I finished on my new kindle and I did not get my review posted until now. Countdown until Lofting's next book has begun