A historical and often witty debut novel of Hilda who was raised in a convent and her sisters in 990AD . I found the story very atmospheric with a running supernatural theme and a dash of romance . I raced through and found the ending satisfying.

A well-paced, delicate exploration of a forgotten time and place, as christianity takes over from the old gods and fear is never far from belief. The setting of the book and the characters are well developed and various, and explore a range of experiences of the nuns, priests and other people gathered around a religious house set on the edge of the perilous marshes. Hilda is the infirmarian, on the edge as well as part of the house, and she sees and observes everything that happens, offering her own explanations for events and developing relationships. It is a very absorbing read and a great reimagining of life at a distance.

In the year 990, Christianity is well established in England but the old rites are buried deep in collective memory. Whatever prayers are sent to God, whatever sacrifices made to the old gods, the nuns and those in the community around the convent are always at the mercy of the mere, the great salt marsh that keeps them and threatens them. All know to keep within the boundary beyond which the marshland rules and danger lurks. Infirmarian Hilda has only ever lived within the environs of the convent, leaving only to visit Sweet, a woman who lives in a house on stilts in the surrounding marshland, and whom the Abbess Sigeburg has forbidden Hilda from visiting. Hilda’s parentage is known but not spoken of; she is related to the abbess but that brings her no favour. Far from it: Sigeburg is full of bitterness and cruelty, with ‘a piety that creeps around a woman like a vine. She will strangle you with scripture and punishment and insist that you thank her’. New arrival Wulfrun, in contrast, has been married, borne a son, lived in different places, encountered cruelty of a more physical nature. Mere life is precarious: poor harvests and dwindling supplies mean a hard winter. Tempers fray even among the sisters. As well as food and warmth, pity and mercy are in short supply with Sigeburg in charge. While women are at the centre of the story, it acknowledges the limits of their power. Until they seize it. I recommend Mere if, like me, you love a convent story; Danielle Giles has created an immersive world among the fenland which will suck you in right to the end. Thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

Set in Norfolk in 990, Mere follows Hilda, an infirmarian (healer) in an isolated convent that’s surrounded by almost impassable marshland. There’s a darkness to the marshland that results in a fear that permeates the declining convent. When a young boy goes missing on his way to the convent, it seems to set off a curse that has devastating effects. More and more people are lost in the marshland and either dying or coming back with a sickness in their mind that could be possession by the devil or a monster from the old ways under the mere. On top of this, a series of disasters befall the convent and their futures start to look incredibly bleak. The resulting struggle for power is also a struggle to survive. Will the most pious leaders of the convent acknowledge the old darkness and the rituals that used to keep it at bay? I was reminded of several other stories in reading Giles’ immersive debut. The tussle for leadership of the convent and the complicated interpersonal relationships was reminiscent of Matrix by Lauren Groff, and the descriptions of the dangerous marshland and the tension between the old folk beliefs and Christianity made me think of Gorse by Sam K Horton. This character-led novel was packed full of emotion. I really felt for Hilda through the pain she had to endure and felt several of the characters were nuanced and had complicated enough pasts and motives to bring an understanding to their actions under such intense pressure that their conflicting ideologies seemed to bring them.

Giles' take on early medieval England was really original and explored areas of the period I hadn't seen before, without feeling ahistorical. I really liked her main character and her idealism mixed with practicality and experience. The world felt incredibly lived in and real, even as it became hostile and supersticious. Its quite a slow book, but the setting was a complete standout, and incredibly well-realised