REVIEW: Reqiuem For A Knave by Laura Carlin

I was offered this book through netgalley due to the fact that I had read Laura Carlin’s previous book the Wicked Cometh. I did read this book but found that I wasn’t in the mood for it. What happened was that I read it through lockdown and just wasn’t vibing with the book. Determined to read it, I plunged through and carried on.

This book follows Alwin of Whittaker. After the death of his mother, he must leave behind the life that he once knew and loved. He leaves this home in search of answers about his father who he never knew. He wants answers and so goes out to seek them. He is urged by his priest to hold off on the journey until he can make preparations for them both and tells him to talk to the prioress about accommodation. He does so but along the way he falls in with a crowd of soldiers who end up raping the nuns that he had asked a favour from. Now he must carry the guilt with him on his journey. He later meets up with the group of pilgrims but finds that his guilt is too much to bear and so hides his identity from them. When he meets the girl named Rosamund, he finds that she has secrets too and they bond over the fact that they have a past that they don’t want to talk about.

Filled with wonder and the journey to realise ones self, Laura Carlin writes the most beautiful tale and spins and weaves words like a spider on her web. It is truly remarkable and how well she writes. Even though I was not in the mood for such a book, I could tell how much work she had put into it to create something worth being proud of.

3 out of 5 stars.