She primarily writes historical fiction (like this). I picked up a Cecelia Holland book because of hearing her on The Coode Street Podcast a couple of times. We see his actions, and can, in some cases, infer what he's feeling from them. It's really a character study, but told almost totally from outside Laeghaire's head.
He was born in Ireland, but hasn't been there in years. One of his names is Laeghaire of the Long Road, because of his unsettled ways. He has a reputation as a very great fighter. He stands up to rulers, including William, and is frequently chastized by them for being mouthy or insubordinate. He has two horses that he loves, but they're never named, just "the black" and "the brown." He ends up with a woman because he saw her being beaten by her father (I think) and bought her from him for a doxy.
Laeghaire is a rough and violent man, but he's also a soldier in a time where battles were rough and violent and face to face, for the most part. And he's going to end up at the Battle of Hastings with William the Conqueror. Turns out he's a mercenary in the 11th century. (BTW, we're told in the prologue that his name -Laeghaire- is the Gaelic spelling of Lear, as in King Lear, though I think that's where the resemblance ends.) This character, Laeghaire, is a mercenary, and it quickly becomes apparent that he's a mercenary some time in the Middle Ages. In the beginning, you're just plopped down with the main character with no background of what time period it is, or who he is, or anything really. This was an interesting book that took me a while to get into. Perhaps Laeghaire became frightened of possible success.
Suffice it to say that I did not like the ending. He becomes close to William, Duke of Normandy, later styled The Conqueror. Men fear him and follow him into battle but Ms. Laeghaire is not a particularly likeable main character. No division at all in the Kindle edition except for chapters. Another irritating thing is that a scene will end with the next sentence taking the reader elsewhere. This sort of thing is repeated throughout the novel. The writing style in Firedrake uses many short, choppy sentences. FIREDRAKE shows some flashes of her developing skill but is not indicative of the great writer she became. Parts of the other two were used in other works. Of the other three, JERUSALEM was later published after revisions and polishing. FIREDRAKE is her first published novel (1966 I think), but the fourth that she wrote.
If you are not familiar with Cecilia Holland's writing, I strongly recommend that you not begin with this one.
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