Genre: Horror
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Publication Date: 19th Sept 2015
Pages: 324
MY REVIEW:
A copy of The
Weight of Chains by Lesley Conner was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by
the publishers, Sinister Grin Press, in exchange for an honest review. This is
said review.
I do enjoy getting ARCS from Sinister Grin Press. You
never know quite what you are going to get because they do produce a very wide
range of stuff. This one was no exception. This is the first I have read by
Lesley Conner. In fact this is her debut novel.
Knew nothing about it before reading it then discovered it was about a
rather nasty little man from a long time ago in history.
The year is 1436. The place is Machecoul, France. Gilles
de Rais is the Lord of Machecoul. He mainly stays in his castle. A dark and
foreboding place. There are many rumours as to what goes on there and what he
is actually like. Some say he is the greatest master in all of France. Some say
he is a monster.
He tries to do his best by his people. He takes young
boys from the town and sends them to Paris to be trained as pages, and to give
them a better life. Some say the boys never leave the castle. He is, however
broke and needs a way to get some money together to pay off debts and keep his
lavish lifestyle.
Jeanetta, her brothers Jacques and Raul, along with her
parents have recently moved there. She has no idea why and their life is much
tougher in Machecoul. They have no money and no food and work is tough in those
times for an eleven year old girl.
Bridgette and Celia are new friends who try to warn them
about the master and what goes on in his castle. They should have paid
attention.
Now if you know your history, or at least your history of
evil men, then you may know something about Gilles de Rais. I’m not going to
tell you here because that would basically ruin the story for you but if you
have heard of him then you probably know where this story is going.
I had a couple of problems with this book. In general, to
me, it read more like a historical fiction book than a horror. The subject
matter will not be to everyone’s taste. Gilles de Rais was one of the most evil
men in history, murdering possibly hundreds of people. No one knows for sure.
It is horrific but I found it more, well, horrific, than horrifying. That
disappointed me a bit. Another thing that disappointed me a bit was that it
dragged a little bit. I think this would have been more suited as a novella
length story. It felt as if it was padded out a lot to get the page numbers up.
Having said that, I really really liked the writing in it.
The characters in this book are great. Lesley Conner has
a knack of making you feel as if you have known them all their lives instead of
just being introduced to them in the book. Jeanetta is the main character. She
is typical of a girl her age in those times. Hard working for the family,
modest and polite and very aware of her place in the family and society. Gilles
de Rais is as evil in this book as I have ever read about him in history books.
It was quite strange reading about someone I have read about before in a story
rather than factual books.
Jeanetta’s family are again all typical of the
times. They are quite a close knit family and all gel together very well as
written. Others to watch out for are the guard of the castle Poitou and the
wizard Prelati. Again very well written in the story and you will end up hating
these two as well even though Prelati is a victim of circumstance more than
anything.
In terms of the plot? Well if you know your history then
you will know what it’s about. This is where I didn’t envy Ms Conner one little
bit. How do you write a fictional book about a prominent character from history
without people jumping on the old “it didn’t happen like that” bandwagon? Well,
she does it. She has made a very effective story out of the life of one of the
most horrific men ever to have lived. Obviously a couple of things may be
different to what the history books said but hey, this is fiction so who really
cares?
The one thing I will tell you is Gilles de Rais dabbled
in the occult. He was a mass murderer. Lesley Conner has based her story around
this.
It could have been shorter. That is a personal thing.
Don’t get me wrong, Lesley Conner can write. She paints a wonderful picture of
the local and what life was really like for the people of that time. You do
really feel as if you are wandering the streets with the characters and you do
get a true experience of just how hard life was. You do feel quite sorry for
the characters at times. I just wanted more “beef” in it. I wanted more horror.
I wanted more hide behind the cushions moments.
To be fair, giving the subject matter, I can imagine it
is a very hard subject to write about. There is plenty of blood and gore but
the scenes I was dreading reading are not done in an over the top way. If that
had been the way then I think I would have closed the book and given up.
Gratuitous descriptions of exactly what is going on is not needed in a story
like this and applause to Ms Conner for pulling that bit off. I just wanted
more scares, more tension, more build up to big happenings, at times it was just
too slow for me.
Again, having said that Lesley Conner can write. For that
reason alone my score on this one is pretty high for general rating but not so
for the horror rating.
For a debut novel I say Bravo! For a debut horror novel I
say it needs more scares, more reading with one eye closed. I think it had so
much more potential than it showed.
To summarise: an historical horror story using real
characters from the past. Very atmospheric giving a real feeling of the times
and the hardships people had to endure. Just needed to be either a bit shorter
or beefed up a bit more. Definitely needed more horror. I will read more of Ms
Conner though.
General rating:
★★★.5 loved the writing style but needed more for me.
Horror rating:
★★ horrific in ways but not really scary for me.
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer then please consider using the links below to buy The Weight of Chains
or any other books from Lesley or indeed anything at all from Amazon. This
not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy
books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
Gilles de Rais has control over every aspect of his life:
the servants he employs, the village he lords over, the carefully crafted
visage he shows to the world. He dictates where his subjects live, what they
eat, if they live or die. He has ultimate power and wields it with a flourish
to conceal the dark desires that lurk behind his smile and the despair within
his castle in Machecoul.
When a wizard tasked with raising a demon loses control
of the beast, Gilles's tight grasp on his world begins to slip. His cook plans
to flee, taking her son away from the dangers of the castle. His guard wants to
claim Gilles’s lifestyle as his own. His wizard frantically searches for a way
to survive both his lord and the demon he has called into the world. And the
villagers – like Jeanetta and her family –move through life in Machecoul too
consumed with the task of surviving day to day, and oblivious to the turmoil
building within the castle that is threatening to break out and consume them
all.
Lesley Conner is a writer/editor, managing editor of Apex
Publications and Apex Magazine, and a Girl Scout leader. When she isn’t
handling her editorial or Girl Scout leader responsibilities, she’s researching
fascinating historical figures, rare demons, and new ways to dispose of bodies,
interweaving the three into strange horrifying tales. Her short fiction can be
found in Mountain Dead, Dark Tales of Terror, A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre, as
well as other places. Her first novel The Weight of Chains was published by
Sinister Grin Press in September, 2015. She lives in Maryland with her husband
and two dauhters, and is currently working on a new novel. To find out all her
secrets, you can follow her on Twitter at @LesleyConner.
And
for more about Lesley, visit her site or find her on social media:
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