Great Maria

by Cecelia Holland

Book Overview

The only child of a minor baron on the fringes of Christendom, Maria marries an ambitious knight determined to make himself great. Through their combative, passionate marriage she discovers her own... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0939149842
• ISBN13: 9780939149841
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: Soho Press
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Strong Medieval Woman's Life

This is my favorite among Cecelia Holland's historical novels (tied with "Floating Worlds," which I consider historical fiction about the future). In both, a woman must find a way to survive in a male-dominated world. Here, Maria manages in some ways traditional to her time, and some she thinks up for herself. She would have prefered Roger to Richard, but having been married off, without anyone's consulting her, to Richard, she makes the best of it. Again, without any way to avoid it (and this time by her desire) she presents him babies, who cement the bond. Holland handles this bond beautifully, even the effect of the loss of children. The children provide a love between Maria and Richard that the thrill that remains with Roger simply cannot ever match. Is Roger's observation of that part of his eventual betrayal of them?I love the descriptions Holland gives in all her novels that provide a picture of day to day life of the period. She cannot tell us what is going on inside her characters' heads because that would require twentieth century consiousness by them. But she can describe what they said and what they did, and we can surmise. Thus, at the end, when Maria waits until the last minute before releasing Richard, and he respects her for it, this is not a response we understand. But it fits the context.A comment on the tapestry. Maria and her women work on it all the time. Tapestries were of huge importance at the time. They indicated high social status. They also gave women with servants to do the "real" work something to do. The resulting works were not small pieces to be framed, but were huge wall hangings which kept drafts out of stone buildings. Thus, the work of making tapestries, while it was "women's work," was of high value in the society. This work was also one of the few outlets for creativity. The tapestry also plays another part in the story at least once in "Great Maria," as she hides behind the tapestry to overhear what the men are plotting.

Another Gem from the Queen of Historical Fiction

I had forgotten how good a novelist Cecelia Holland was until I picked up GREAT MARIA. Somewhere in Southern Italy, Maria, a young daughter of a Norman robber baron marries Richard d'Alene, an unprepossessing but ambitious young knight. Secretly, she prefers his more handsome younger brother Roger, but accepts her lot. Little by little, Richard increases his hold over the area by a combination of successful warfare and enlightened leadership. Maria gradually begins to share some of his power in Robert's absence and becomes indispensible to him. Finally, having defeated the local Saracens on the coast and his traitor brother Roger, Richard becomes a king and Maria his queen.As a history buff, I picked up my copy of John Julius Norwich's huge THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF ITALY and scanned the index for place names such as Iste, Agato, Mana'a (or Marna), and Castelmaria -- only to find that Ms. Holland invented them. As for Richard and Maria and Roger d'Alene, there was not a mention. Without being beholden to actual historical characters or locales, Holland gives you an excellent feeling for Medieval Italy. Richard and Maria are a contentious yet loving couple (though Richard sometimes comes across very like Charlotte Brontë's Rochester in JANE EYRE). Maria herself is a complete creation, totally grounded, yet as bold in her way as any of the Norman knights.This is a superb book and highly recommended to all.

The Hemingway of Historical Fiction.

If Hemingway had written historical fiction, he would have have had a hard time beating Ms Holland. Her terse, tense writing style is incomparable, and her character development is superb. I read "Great Maria" when it was first published many years ago. My life long love affair with history had lead me to read numerous historical novels, but I never expected very much out of them other than entertainment until I picked up this book. One really gets a feel for the nitty gritty and not so pretty details of life in the Middle Ages, and I was deeply moved by the characters. Although much of the story revolves around Maria's relationship with her husband, the book is certainly not a "bodice ripper." I highly recommend this as well as everything else she has written. If you like Ms Holland, you may also like Gillian Bradshaw and Judith Tarr.

C. H.'s first novel from woman point of view is wonderful

Great Maria is my favorite Cecelia Holland novel, I've read it several times (like I have all of her novels). It is her first novel where the lead character is a woman and she really does a great job of making Maria real and appealing. Mixing historical detail for realism and political intrigue for plot twists, it is easy to cheer for Maria as she matches wits and wills with the men in her life as she strives for a safe and same life in a world where women are supposed to be seen and not heard.

The only historical fiction writer I read

Ms. Holland, Anya Seton and Jane Smiley must be divinely touched to have such acute insight into the lives of people long dead. I read Ms. Holland's books at least 3 times a year, the same ones over and over. The phrases, the attention to personal detail, the observations of men, women, animals, babies, children and life itself. Why hasn't the BBC made "Great Maria" into a 12 part series??????