I enjoyed this, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had all been in Matilda's past and skipped the stuff in the present time. The idea of regression was interesting, but it got to be a bit much after a while. I mean, how many people do you know that are experienced hypnotists? And Jo was hypnotized by was it four or five different people? That did become a bit of a stretch towards the end of the book. Also, unless I missed something, I don't think Sam's obsession with the whole Jo/Matilda thing was explained to my satisfaction. How did he become so evil -- to the point of harming his brother. You should be advised that this is not your "true" historical fiction. Matilda, William De Braose, Richard, etc. were real people, but as the author notes at the end not all that happened in the book to Jo/Matilda actually happened to the real Matilda. I almost didn't read this book because of what really happened to Matilda -- yes she was held prisoner with her son and they starved to death but the story ended a bit more gruesome than that, if what I read in SKP's Welsh trilogy is true. I was relieved that Erskine left that part out. Otherwise an interesting read, I blew through it quickly. Four stars instead of five for the inconsistencies.
