The Maids of Biddenden - G.D. Harper

Author: G.D. Harper

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: There are some books you read for prose, and some you read for the plot. This is in the latter category. Don’t expect flowery writing. Expect a touching story, though a tad longwinded.

Story Synopsis:

The story is based on the real-life “Maids of Biddenden”, a pair of conjoined twins who are supposed to have lived during the 11th-12th century.

Six year old Eliza and Mary have spent all their life in a local abbey, hidden away from the world because of their physical oddity. The locals have never seen/heard of conjoined twins and their superstitious behaviour leads to this decision. They have only two well-wishers – the prioress Mother Avicia and one of the nuns, Sister Agnes. Circumstances change and the twins find themselves moved to their birth home, where their father and stepmother stay. This transition isn’t easy but soon the twins win the locals over. The book provides a fictionalised version of how these twins might have lived in that irrational age.

The story is written in the first person point of view of the twins and a third person omniscient of the other characters.

Where the book worked for me:

😍 The author’s imagination seems to have covered all possible difficulties of living life as a conjoined twin. I’ve never read any book with conjoined characters, so this felt almost like an eye-opener.

😍 I’ve always seen nuns getting bashed in historical fiction. It was a welcome change to see at least a few positive portrayals of the religious.

😍 The personalities of the sisters are carved so well. Each of them is quite unlike the other and have distinct interests. Not once in the book is there any confusion about who is who. Eliza begins as confident and dominating while Mary is painfully shy. Their character growth happens steadily with every turn of the page.

😍 This is the first book I have read set prior to the 1600s and it was a novel experience. The atmosphere of the time period seems authentic. (I wasn’t sure about a couple of points but couldn’t find any answer to my query online. I’ll let this go as a creative call.) Right from lifestyle to clothes to beliefs to local customs, the book throws light on quite a lot. The patriarchal thinking and blind faith in the church and the king are the highlights. The writing style sounds very contemporary but I suppose this is a blessing as no one today would easily understand the English of that time.

😍 Before I requested this ARC, I had looked up who the maids of Biddenden were. Their story struck me as a combination of inspiring and tragic, but the most emotional part of their lives was how they died. I deeply respect the author for not turning their final moments into a circus. The end was written beautifully.

😍 I found it amazing to see how much of the local healing is similar to the Indian medicinal system of Ayurveda - keeping the humours/elements of the body in balance, using plants and herbs to tackle ailments, balance heat-inducing foods with cooling food and so on. I wonder why this knowledge has been lost over the centuries, leading to a blind dependence on allopathy. I am glad our knowledge of Ayurveda hasn’t suffered a similar fate. (Nothing against allopathy – I do resort to allopathic medicines too, but a balance is always good.)

😍 Don’t miss the author’s note. It explains clearly what is fact and what is fiction.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

☹ The book starts off wonderfully but at the midway mark, it becomes somewhat repetitive and starts dragging. The 400+ pages could easily have been condensed without losing any of the impact.

☹ The prose is very simplistic. If you are the kind of reader who looks forward to beautiful metaphors and lyrical phrases, that doesn’t happen here. This one is to be read strictly for the plot.

All through the story, I was wondering whether things might have happened similarly in real life. Would those innocent children have been subject to as much animosity and disdain just because of their physical oddity? I guess so. But whatever might have been the truth, the author has done a commendable job in ensuring that the maids of Biddenden are known to today’s society too. Their legacy still lasts in Kent; now it is known to a wider audience.

Recommended to historical fiction fans. The book is also available on KU.

My thanks to Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Maids of Biddenden”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.