Book Review: Trobairitz The StoryTeller

Today I’m thrilled to be on the blog tour for Trobairitz The Storyteller by Celia Micklefield.

Book Cover Notes

Trobairitz were female troubadours of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They brought news and sang songs about love, tradition and the role of women in society.

Feisty truck driver, Weed, a twenty first century Trobairitz never gives personal details to other drivers. She avoids the intimacy of real friendship.

Instead, she entertains the truckers by telling the story of ex-courtesan, seventy-six year old Catherine Joubert and the mysterious hold she has over young mayor, Henri-Claude Noilly and his grandfather.

Weed’s themes are those of the original Trobairitz but these are the very subjects causing problems in her own life.

Blog Tour banner for Trobairitz The Storyteller by Celia Micklefield

My Thoughts

Having grown up as a girl loving trucks, my father was a long distance truck driver, I couldn’t wait for my copy of this book to arrive. Thank you to Anne Cater, Random Things Tours and Celia Micklefield for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour.

At the start of the book we’re introduced to Weed, a female trucker. Her real name, we soon learn, is Fleur Eloise Marie-Frances. She doesn’t like being called a flower so she prefers to be called Weed (the opposite of a flower).

I instantly like Weed, she is a private person, she is confident and good at her job. She doesn’t take any nonsense from the male truckers that she meets, preferring to keep a low profile, or giving as good as she gets if they start on her.

However, being a truck driver can be boring and lonely at times, so one day Weed decides to join a small group of guys eating at one of her regular truck stops. To deflect the personal questions she’s being asked, she’s not ready to share with strangers, she begins to tell them a story. From that day on she’s known as Trobairitz, as she hasn’t told them her real name. Each time Trobairitz meets up with the guys in the truck stop they are keen for her to continue the story.

She has them hooked, she is a true Trobairitz storyteller…

What I loved about this book is that you’re reading a story within a story. Weed’s story for the truck drivers is set in the village of Montalhan Sans Vents. We are introduced to Madame Catherine Joubert an elderly, rather opinionated and strong willed women, who is the owner of the grand house in the village Demeure Des Cedres.

No one knows how Madame Catherine Joubert came by her fortune, there are rumours of course. Madame Joubert doesn’t talk much to the villagers but she has plenty to say about the young Mayor, Henri-Claude Noilly and his grandfather for that matter. Clearly there are family grievances left unresolved.

I was so drawn into this other story that it was quite a shock whenever the book jumped back to Weed in her truck. As much as I loved reading more about Weed’s life as a female truck driver on the road, I wanted to speed up my reading to jump back into her story about Madame Joubert. Like the truck drivers I had so many questions and I needed more.

Summary

Fabulous storytelling that I didn’t want to put down. Strong characters, a beautiful setting, a story within a story that has you hooked and wanting more. I hope we get to meet Weed and Madame Joubert again soon.