Evangeline longs to be free, to live in the world outside the castle walls. But freedom comes at a cost.
Evangeline is the ward and cousin of King Richard II, and yet she dreams of a life outside of Berkhamsted Castle, where she might be free to marry for love and not politics. But the young king betroths her to his closest advisor, Lord Shiveley, a man twice as old as Evangeline. Desperate to escape a life married to a man she finds revolting, Evangeline runs away from the king and joins a small band of servants on their way back to their home village.
To keep her identity a secret, Evangeline pretends to be mute. Evangeline soon regrets the charade as she gets to know Wesley, the handsome young leader of the servants, whom she later discovers is the son of a wealthy lord. But she cannot reveal her true identity for fear she will be forced to return to King Richard and her arranged marriage.
Wesley le Wyse is intrigued by the beautiful new servant girl. When he learns that she lost her voice from a beating by a cruel former master, he is outraged. But his anger is soon redirected when he learns she has been lying to him. Not only is she not mute, but she isn’t even a servant.
Weighed down by remorse for deceiving Wesley, Evangeline fears no one will ever love her. But her future is not the only thing at stake, as she finds herself embroiled in a tangled web that threatens England’s monarchy. Should she give herself up to save the only person who cares about her? If she does, who will save the king from a plot to steal his throne?
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★★★★☆
What's this? A 14th century re-imagining of The Little Mermaid tale? Well, yes... a loose one anyway!
Seventeen year old Evangeline (aka Eva), cousin and ward of King Richard II, is the illegitimate daughter of a deceased nobleman within the royal family. Eva's mother died in childbirth. Now at a marrying age, Eva receives word that a suitor has been chosen but the match is anything but ideal. Eva chooses to flee this politically motivated arranged marriage -- prior to the nuptials taking place -- to the king's right hand man, Lord Shiveley, a man she described with a shudder as "nearly forty". He also proves to be too hands-y and suspiciously widowed.
Eva disguises herself as a mute servant, accompanied by her own servant / friend, Mildred. The two ladies fall in with a group of other servants traveling to Glynval Estate. This little band of worker bees is led by handsome Wesley le Wyse, who finds himself drawn to the mysterious mute stranger. Mildred makes up stories to explain Eva's muteness and history, as Eva is uninitiated with the ways of the real world and tends to bumble into complicated situations that often nearly blow their cover.
Westley, the son of the lord of Glynval it turns out, takes in Eva & Mildred as servants on his father's estate. Eva sees how good and kind Wesley is with people and, you guessed it, slowly starts to fall in love with him... from a distance... because, you know, have to keep up that servant vs. son of the lord business relationship buffer. Some of the comedic elements of the story come in when Eva realizes she actually doesn't have any experience being a servant to anyone ... being the ward of the king and all... but tries to quickly learn to have excuse to stay closer to Westley.
The rushed training sometimes leads to hilarity but also presents some of the novel's point of conflict, once Eva notices she has a rival for Westley's affections ... jelly-nelly, catty Sabina. Sabina realizes if she can expose the truth of Eva's mysterious history, she can be victor for Westley's heart once and for all (or so she thinks).
So if you haven't quite caught the Little Mermaid tie yet, here we go:
King Richard II = King Triton
Eva = Ariel
Westley = Eric
Sabina = Ursula
Mildred = umm... either Sebastian or Flounder? lol
Initially, when Eva's secrets begin to come to light, it casts a shadow over her previous likeable, trustworthy self that many on the estate had grown fond of, including Westley's mother who, in a way, becomes a sort of surrogate mother for Eva. But as novels like to remind us, falsehoods are generally not immortal and a heart true in spirit and motive will most always prove to have higher currency at the end of the day.
Honestly, I was curious but maybe a tad trepidatious going into this one. That's likely my fault, I got too stuck on that Little Mermaid re-telling idea going in, so in the early chapters I was skeptical as to how one could successfully pull off writing a land-based mermaid. My mind moved into further skepticism as I worked through the early chapters and felt more of a Rapunzel vibe with the whole "ward of a king who lived alone in a tower, kept virtual prisoner" who had "read about wildflowers in a poem once" but unfamiliar with them in nature. To future readers, I recommend you don't follow my lead on that. Let go of the re-imagining focus because truthfully The Silent Songbird is only lightly inspired by the classic tale.
Unique in execution, this novel is highly entertaining in its own right, endearing characters throughout. Westley's mother has a lovely combination of give-it-to-you-straight tough love combined with sometimes concealed tenderness. The friendship turned innocent romance between Westley and Eva is adorable and one to root for, in addition to Eva's friendships not only with Mildred but Nicola, another servant on the estate.
"How would I go about learning archery and sword fighting and knife throwing? Is there someone who might teach me?"
Nicola smiled, "Why would you want to learn those things? I don't know any women who want to know how to sword fight.
"Is it strange that I want to learn those things?"
"I suppose not, but why do you want to?"
Evangeline took a deep breath. "I might need to protect myself."
"Glynval is a safe place, mostly. I have never had to defend myself from anyone trying to harm me. Although I did see what Sabina did to you, tripping you in the yard.
"Sabina does not like me very much."
"Sabina doesn't like anyone she thinks might catch Westley le Wyse's attention."
Evangeline smiled ruefully at the accuracy of Nicola's statement, then they both laughed. She was immediately struck with the thought that she had not laughed enough in her life, and to laugh with a friend was quite lovely.
Lastly, there's Eva's brave spirit -- not afraid to go after the life she truly wants... well, maybe more accurately, in the words of John Wayne, "afraid but saddling up anyway". A heartwarming tale in the old style where readers are left feeling cozy and reassured that truth and goodness prevail.
FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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