World is Not Enough

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

First published in 1946, Zoe Oldenbourg's classic novel of mediaeval France is now justly reissued for a new audience. The story begins at a wedding - that of 16-year-old Ansiau, heir to a castle and a barony in Champagne, and 14-year-old Alis, of a neighbouring noble family. They seem far too young to get married, but soon Alis is bearing the first of many children and Ansiau is fighting the men of a rival clan in an interminable, pointless feud. We follow them for almost 40 years, through births, marriages and deaths, disease, war, rivalries, infidelities and all the daily pleasures and sufferings that made up life in the 12th century. Oldenbourg's vision is direct and absolutely unflinching. Her depiction of the dirt and drudgery of castle life for those of all ranks, the cold, the complete lack of privacy, the exhaustion of yearly pregnancies and the heartbreak of the many infant deaths is horrifyingly believable, made more so by her utter lack of sentimentality. But we also feel the glories of the age - the beauties of a natural world still little changed by human hands, the gorgeous ceremonies, the fierce clan loyalty, and the human joys of love and friendship, as important in the Middle Ages as they are today. Most striking of all is the section dealing with the ill-fated attempt to reconquer Jerusalem in which Ansiau and his eldest sons are involved. The exultation of going on Crusade is swiftly followed by agonising suffering, as men die in their thousands from heat, disease and military incompetence, but even so Oldenbourg shows us the moments of beauty in the harsh land of Palestine, and the everyday struggle to get food and necessities in a baffling, hostile environment. By the end of the book the reader is tired, emotionally drained and consumed with relief not to live in the Middle Ages. But Oldenbourg's narrative, with its beautiful descriptions and its stubbornly realistic characters, makes a lasting impression on the mind and heart. It is a great achievement. (Kirkus UK)