cover image The Falcon Confession

The Falcon Confession

John V. Norris. John Norris, $11.99 trade paper (470p) ISBN 978-0-9967618-9-5

Debut novelist Norris tells this tale of the Norman Conquest well enough, but its subplot of nefarious intrigue rings hollow. In the summer of 1065, Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex, returns from months of captivity in Normandy to England, where his old friend, Bishop Wulfstan, must hear his confession and see that it is recorded. Harold, Wulfstan, the young scribe Aidan, and Harold’s wife, Edith Swanneschals, each face difficulties leading up to and following the battles of 1066. Harold, as Norris writes him, is seeking to foil the plans of Bishop Odo of Bayeaux, Duke William of Normandy’s half-brother. To the modern reader, Odo’s intentions to “destroy the Islamic realms” seem extreme, but they don’t feel out of place for a medieval clergyman. The reactions of Harold, Wulfstan, and their circle to Odo’s plans are more like those of contemporary people rather than people of the Middle Ages; at a time when war was a fact of life, Harold’s and Wulfstan’s recoiling seems out of place. Norris describes the battle action nicely, but the motivations don’t fit. (BookLife)