Carole's Monday Review: Testament by Alis Hawkins

Author: Alis Hawkins 

Title: Testament

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction

Pages: ebook

Published:   January 1st 2008

Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

What secrets lie hidden in the Medieval college of Kineton and Dacre…?

Salster, England, 1385 

Master mason Simon of Kineton is building his magnum opus: a great college to rival any in England. 

But the Bishop of Salster, hostile to free education, is determined to sabotage Simon’s project. 

When rumours spread that the mason's son is cursed, the bishop sees an opportunity to undermine both Simon and the college. 

And everything Simon has worked so hard for could end up crumbling down around him… 

Salster, 2019 

Damia Miller has been employed to promote penniless Kineton and Dacre college. 

Delving into the college’s history, she becomes captivated by the vast grotesque painting that has recently been uncovered during renovations. 

It soon becomes clear to Damia that the painting holds the key to the past – a past which could reveal exactly what she’s been searching for… 

Ya'lls know how much I love my books that jump from the past to current. They are sooo fun. 

This story follows Damia Miller in modern day. She is hired to help save Kineton and Darcre college. Meanwhile in the 14th century we follow Simon who is the master mason who simply wants to help give education to everyone. 

A rare moment happened in this book for me....I was actually more intrigued with the modern story over the historical one! Whaaaaaaaaaaa? I know! Normally I just breeze through the modern tale but this time I wanted more of Damia and her story. SHOCKING!

I liked Damia a lot and I loathed Simon. Simon was a big jerkface to his wife and kid. Yesss, he is battling the Bishop and trying to help the people of England get education at the same time of being in charge of building these colleges. Lots of stress for sure. BUT I wanted to kick him. He was so terrible to them. Sure at the end he has a change of heart and regrets being so mean to his poor disabled son....but ugh. It made it hard to want to care about him and his struggles. 

Now...I did like Simon's wife. I am glad we got a lot of her POV so it saved that part of the story for me. 

Poor Damia. She has this hard task ahead of her and she is also trying to keep her relationship from crumbling as well. I felt for her. Lots of stress for her. 

The writing was great. It did capture my interest from page one. There was a lull there in the middle, but after getting over that lull I was hooked again. Just to try and finish this I stayed up til nearly 3 am. I couldn't keep my eyes open so I went to sleep and finished this first thing when I woke up. I had to know what was going to happen next! Eeee

The ending did not disappoint. 

I wouldn't classify this as a thriller. It was a nice historical and modern fiction for me. It had mystery for sure and I had no idea how everyone was going to fix and save their relationships/plans. It did worry me. 

Overall, I did really enjoy this story. There was a lull there and Simon was a hard man to want to follow, but I was hooked for sure. Simon DOES get better, but what do you expect from a 14th century man? The ending did not disappoint at all. Great writing and a good story. I'll give this 4 stars.