Katherine - Spirit of the Dell (Paperback)

Lady Katherine de Passelewe wishes to take you through the journey of her life in the Thirteenth Century. She will tell you how things were when she was growing up: Her bonding, love, trauma and spiritual culture.
She spends her childhood in the beautiful "Clare Castle," where she bonds with Isabelle, the daughter of Sir Richard de Clare. The girls finish their education under the care of the Abbess Berta Gifford, the one-time love of King Henry the Third.
Just before leaving the convent she is out in the spinney picking herbs and has to take refuge in the hollow of an old oak tree when three knights appear travelling in her direction. In the tree is a little peep hole which she looks out of, feeling the first prongs of young love as she cast her eyes on Sir William Gifford.
Katherine meets up with her dream knight at a banquet where they both declare their love for each other. Upon marriage, Sir William becomes the lord of the manor of Barrow -- the home in which they raise their family -- from where he stamped his mark on Suffolk and the manor community.
Katherine tells about life in society: the traumas which take place the many wars including the crusades, the clearance of Jews and the peasants revolt in Bury St. Edmunds. She includes us in the lives of her children, covering the making of a knight along with tournaments, festivals and their market, the manor court and the village hanging.
The family get very close to king Edward and his queen Eleanor, from whom we learn of their great love for each other.
The romance is based on true historical events. All the main characters are real people who lived in this period.