An interesting and lively re-imagining of the siege of the city of Haarlem in the winter of 1572-73 from the point of view of Amarron, a fictitious sister of the real-life Keanu Hasselhaar. Its almost exclusively female point of view of the tribulations of the besieged is both novel and thought-provoking. Particularly impressive is the lively and sustained pace of this fictionalised history, and the descriptions of the people within the landscape under extreme distress. There is a very earthy feel to this story and we are not spared the brutal treatment of prisoners on both sides, nor the mud, blood and squalor of conditions inside the town during the seven-month siege. Particularly frightening for the women in the ‘Army of Judiths’ is the gradual collapse of order leaving them to the constant threat of theft, rape and worse from both the mercenary and local troops every time they leave the house. Well worth reading and reflecting the abomination that is war and the inevitable fate of those who end up on the losing side.
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