About the Book
What happens when the world's worst shrew meets the world's best warrior?
Mirrored Sword, a comedy as black as the Plague, as
turbulent as the Wars of the Roses. She is an aspiring painter and devoted
Yorkist. He is the legendary but ageing Beast of Ferrybridge - a Lancastrian
stalwart! Rebellion in Lincolnshire throws them together, the Yorkist king
keeps them together, and thus they must work out their destinies and the kingdom's,
in an epic story that combines laughter and tears, romance and adventure,
history and make-believe, high art and vulgar entertainment, all the while
juggling psychological complexities, family relationships, religious
themes and questions about love and loyalty: a medieval banquet, loaded with
surprises, colourful characters and poetic justice.
Part One, The Dance, is a journey from Lincolnshire to
London, where he goes in search of a fool brother, and she goes in quest of a
royal romance, the story careering through a series of revealing encounters,
climaxing in treachery and mayhem at Baynard Castle, the king's London home.
Part Two, The Tour, is their return journey from London
to Lincolnshire, as companions and fellow travellers of the king, when their
previous encounters are even more revealing in reverse order, ending in a
rising tide of bloodshed and revenge, malice and pure evil, hope and desperate
self-belief, deep in the fens.
The narrative represents the viewpoints of eight different characters in Part One,
and then concentrates on the viewpoints of just two characters in Part Two, the
hero and heroine, as they struggle to shake off, manipulate, dominate, or
understand and accept each other. Chapters are presented as 31 calendar dates in the year 1471. The book
includes a map, charts and headers to help orient readers.
About the Author :
'Allan Hands' is a pen name adapted from the names of my grandfathers (ALLAN McPherson and Claude HANDS). It is easier to remember than my real name, Ross McPherson. I was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1955, attended Macquarie University and graduated in 1977 with a B.A. in English literature. After a series of knockabout jobs (taxi driver, cleaner, council labourer, farm labourer, delivery driver), I attended Carseldine College of Advanced Education in 1987 and was awarded a Graduate Diploma in Education. There followed a 20 years career as a school teacher in Queensland, including a stint in distance education, first based at Longreach and then at Emerald. I never married and I have no children. I now reside on 4 semi-rural acres, keeping reasonably fit while improving my mind with research for novels I'm writing, amateur studies in English, Latin and Greek literature, philosophy, physics etc. Other biographical information is available at my website: https: //mirroredsword.com
Review :
The only reviews so far are for the separate books, Mirrored Sword Part One and Mirrored Sword Part Two, but these are incorporated in The Complete Mirrored Sword with no change in text, and thus are relevant still.
Amy Rodriguez at Reedsy Discovery reviewed both books. Here are some of her comments for
Part One, which she rated 4 out of 5 stars: Loved it!
"A wonderful historical fiction novel filled with humour, adventure, romance, and great characters ..."
"The dialogue is witty and natural throughout
..."
Here are some of her comments for Part Two, which she rated 5 out of 5 stars: Must read!
"I love a thrilling book that is so absorbing I can't stop turning the pages, eager to find out what happens next.
The Mirrored Sword Part Two is one of those books. I could not stop reading, even long after I should have turned out the lights and gone to bed."
Felicia
Bengston, referring to both books in the Reedsy Newsletter #Issue 143, finds
points of comparison with the work of Hilary Mantel:
"If you're a fan of Mantel or generally enjoy historical fiction with absorbing Tudor settings, you'll want
to keep an eye out for the debut duology I'm recommending this week. It's not only rich in historical detail and character portraits, but a witty read to boot!"
Commenting
on Mirrored Sword Part Two, she says: "the novel brims with nail-biting political drama and is packed with both adventure and romance."
