[The Normans 05] • The Bastard's Son

H A Culley’s fifth novel about the Norman Kings of England covers the turbulent reign of William the Conqueror’s third son, William Rufus and fits chronologically between the Bastard’s Crown and England in Anarchy. As in the first book, the main character is Hugo de Cuille.

He is outraged when King William deprives him of his most prosperous manor in Buckinghamshire and offers him land in the untamed wilderness of North Northumberland on the Scottish border as compensation. Nevertheless, he supports the king when William’s elder brother, the Duke of Normandy, tries to take the throne from him.

To secure his new manors he has to overcome the Anglo-Danes who are holding the area to ransom before taking control of his new domain. However the instability in the area continues with another revolt against the king, border raids and eventually the invasion of Scotland to make Etgair, an ally of William Rufus the King of Scots.

Hugo is summoned to help William conquer the Vexin and Maine in France, but during the campaign he inadvertently kills his brother Richard; something that his youngest brother, Edward, can never forgive. He returns to England a broken man, riddled with guilt.

His mistress, Edith, helps him to recover but later she betrays him by running away with Wulfric, the brother of his dead wife and a man to whom he was very close.

Returning to Normandy, he endears himself to William Rufus by his daring capture of the important Castle of Gisors. Back in England, now high in the king’s favour, he is invited to hunt with him in the New Forest. However, his squire overhears a plot to kill William.

Hugo is uncertain what to do as William’s younger brother, Henry Beauclerc, is involved. He tries to save the king from assassination during the hunt but he fails. In possession of such a dangerous secret can he survive the accession of Henry to the throne?