Book Review: Great Maria by Cecelia Holland

Set in eleventh-century Italy, Cecelia Holland’s Great Maria is the story of strong-willed Maria and her struggles from young bride to strong, influential woman. Maria is married to the ambitious and ill-tempered Richard d'Alene, who loves Maria passionately but frequently treats her poorly. The novel spans decades, following Maria’s journey through many triumphs and struggles as a mother, wife and devoted Christian.  Like her husband, she is also very ambitious and will go to great lengths to see her plans come to fruition.  The world in which she lives may be ruled by men, but she finds ways to hold her own power and conquer in her own ways.

I found Great Maria to be an interesting, yet ultimately unsatisfying novel. Holland’s story was epic in scope and felt very authentic, but I never came to the point of truly enjoying it.  At times the story seemed pointless and I struggled to understand where the plot was going.  The style of writing was very choppy, seemed to have huge gaps in continuity and just had an odd flow about it.

At over 500 pages, Great Maria is not completely devoid of compelling moments. The main characters of Maria, her husband Richard and his brother Roger provided scenes of passion, collusion, poignancy and triumph. Maria was forced to marry Richard by her robber baron father while she preferred the charming Roger. Richard loved Maria, but his ambition frequently came between them. Roger not only desired to have power with women but in society as well. Maria gave birth to several children and we see them grow and become leaders in their own right. There are tensions with religious issues, the conquered Saracens and in familial relationships. But ultimately this is a story about a woman who loved her family, was devoted to her faith and desired to rule as any ambitious man would during her time.

Great Maria was originally published in 1974 and certainly has its admirers. And while it could be compelling, I can’t say that I would recommend this title to those who share my taste in literature. I don’t always have to have characters who are appealing, but I at least need a narrative that I can enjoy enough to want to return to.  In this case, I’m glad to let Maria go.

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This title was provided to me by Sourcebooks Landmark. No obligation other than an honest review was required.