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    Great Maria
    Unavailable
    Great Maria
    Unavailable
    Great Maria
    Ebook697 pages11 hours

    Great Maria

    By Cecelia Holland

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Courage of a king, Strength of a knight, Heart of a woman

    "A literary phenomenon."

    —New York Times

    Her father is a robber baron…

    Her husband has grand ambitions and a quick temper…

    She will become...the Great Maria.

    A lush portrait of the eleventh century that leaves out none of its harshest nature, Great Maria is Cecelia Holland at her most evocative. A mere fourteen years old, strong-willed Maria is betrothed to Richard. Theirs is a marriage of conflict, yet one that grows over the years into respect and partnership. As they struggle—at times against each other, at times side-by-side—Maria and Richard emerge as full-blooded characters you'll never forget.

    What Readers Are Saying

    "Holland's characters are so complex and vividly drawn that the reader actively participates in their adventures."

    "An intriguing plot, unforgettable characters, and a wonderful sense of place makes this one of the finest books I have read."

    "If Hemingway had written historical fiction, he would have had a hard time beating Ms. Holland. Her terse, tense writing style is incomparable, and her character development is superb."

    "A stunning book."

    "Characters so believable, they walk off the page and into the room. Few authors can bring the past to life as powerfully as Cecelia Holland. I'd recommend her to any fans of historical fiction."

    —Elizabeth Chadwick, author of The Greatest Knight and To Defy a King

    "This novel's success is assured by its own excellence."

    —Library Journal

     "One of the very best historical novelists of our day."

    —Larry McMurtry

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateAug 1, 2010
    ISBN9781402244483
    Unavailable
    Great Maria
    Author

    Cecelia Holland

    Cecelia Holland was born in Henderson, Nevada, in 1943 and started writing at the age of twelve. Starting with The Firedrake in 1966, she has published twenty-one independent historical novels covering periods from the middle of the first millennium CE up through parts of the early twentieth century, and from Egypt, through Russia, central Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Ireland to the West Coast of the United States. Most recently, she has completed a series of five novels set in the world of the Vikings, covering a period of about fifty years during the tenth century and following the adventures of Corban Loosestrife and his descendants. The hallmark of her style is a vivid re-creation of time, place, and character, all true to known facts. She is highly regarded for her attention to detail, her insight into the characters she has researched and portrayed, and her battle scenes, which are vividly rendered and powerfully described. Holland has also published two nonfiction historical/biographic works, two children’s novels, a contemporary novel, and a science fiction novel, as well as a number of historical essays.  Holland has three daughters. She lives in Fortuna, California, and, once a week, teaches a class in creative writing at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California. Holland's personal website is www.thefiredrake.com. 

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    Reviews for Great Maria

    4/5

    61 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Very interesting story, especially from the perspective of a Catholic woman.
    • 5/5
      A slightly fictionalized version of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, with an imaginary (as far as I know) family replacing the Hautevilles. Maria daughter of another Norman, marries one of them --the smarter, less dashing one, as in Kings in Winter--and becomes his valued partner over the years. However, the story in other respects is realistic; she spends a lot of time bearing and raising children, not adventuring, though capable of very effective leadership in a crisis.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is probably my favourite medieval historical novel ever for its excellent period sense. I think she manages to convey the feeling of being a woman in that period pretty much spot on. Recently re-read it.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Makes other historical fiction look like fluff. I especially enjoyed Maria's growth as a deeply religious woman learning to accept the Muslims.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Having read Jerusalem, I was eager to read Great Maria, a novel set in Sicily in the middle ages. Maria is the daughter of a robber baron, compelled to marry Richard, brother of Roger, the man she really loves.I wanted to like this book, I really did, but the author’s writing style kept bogging me down. She writes in short choppy sentences that are hard to follow at times, and I found myself skipping and skimming in many places. Maybe it’s me, but I thought that the writing style of this book was a lot different from that which Holland used in Jerusalem—it may be intentional I don’t know. Holland describes everything in minute detail, sometimes to the detriment of the story. It’s a pity, because the details of Maria’s life are interesting in places and give the reader a generally good feel for the life of an average woman in the middle ages. At the same time, though, the author doesn’t do a very good job of describing her location: her novel could be taking place anywhere. It’s kind of like not seeing the forest for the trees, in a way.Maria is a believable heroine for the time period, but the author’s detached attitude to her heroine never really made me feel close to her. I loved the premise of the book, but the execution of the book left me wanting more. It’s a pity, because I’ve enjoyed Holland’s writing in the past.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      The one LT review describes the author's writing style as "scrubbed clean of emotions". An apt description. So much scrubbed that to me it's choppy and completely lacking in any sort of flow. Almost like listening to an excited 5 year old tell you a story. Each paragraph seems unattached to the previous one. I was enjoying the story but gave up about half way through.