Robert Wilkerson

2.5 stars. The episodic nature of the narrative hindered the flow of the story, but since it covers about 40 years (if you count the flashbacks to William's childhood) I guess it made sense. I probably would have liked it more if I hadn't recently read George Martin's Knight of the Seven Kingdoms which presents another take on the “penniless knight making good through the tournament circuit” theme. Martin's stories are not set in a real medieval Europe of course, but there is a liveliness about them this lacks.

I'm bumping it up a half star because of Chadwick's fidelity to her source material. I studied Marshal years ago as a graduate student in medieval history and was happy to see names I hadn't read or thought about in a long time in this novelization of Marshal's life. Nothing stood out as too outlandish or utterly unbelievable, which is much more than I can say for some other “historical” fiction.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars

Maybe 3.25 stars. Not as good as I had anticipated. All the characters became frustrating at times. Catholic themes flitted in and out, but I had a hard time taking them seriously. Very interesting portrait of the title country house and the family that inhabited it, however.

3 stars, rounded up to 3.5

Classic noir entertainment and a very enjoyable read. I couldn't help hearing Bogart's voice narrating the terse prose, which was fun at the beginning, but grated by the end.

I was leaning toward a rating closer to 4 stars, but Marlowe's tough guy act wore thin over the course of the novel. I never entirely connected with Marlowe. Are we expected to believe that he's a martyr to his rigid yet opaque ideals of honor and justice? He spends a lot of time and energy berating others for their shortcomings, but doesn't bat an eye when he makes a pass at or attempts to seduce married women. He feels aggrieved and misunderstood, but you never get a good feel for what makes him do the things he does.

The 50s slang hasn't always aged well, but Chandler does a great job of putting the reader into southern California in the years after WWII. Chandler's description of a landscape and city that I'm sure have now changed beyond recognition is excellent.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars. Good period detail - the plot itself was a little see-through.