Started rereading this in anticipation of Menewood, then got sidetracked by a library haul with the last three books from my log. Got back to it and I have to say: I remembered very little of the plot, but I didn’t forget how Nicola Griffith describes the natural world that Hild is so in tune with.
There is so much tension in this book, born largely from the unpredictability and viciousness of kings, particularly Edwin, overking of Northumbre and Hild’s great-uncle. It reminds me a bit of the late Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, with Hild in a similar central role as Thomas Cromwell—where closeness to the king brings power, but also extreme danger.