A gripping tale of 14th Century Europe, from Venice to the far West of Wales... Kazan has left behind everything she knows in search of a mythical minstrel and storyteller - her unmet grandfather, Will the Storyteller. Dai - the Welshman - an adventurer and merchant's man has left behind his terrible childhood of loss and starvation for a life travelling the world. Together they have gathered about them a 'family' of strays: runaways, slaves, priests and poets. As continents unfold behind them, they learn that life can be brutal, but friendship can survive it.

Intrigue, mystery and romance dance fast and furious across the pages of Margaret Redferns latest novel, The Heart Remembers, as a complex group of characters thread their way through the many-stranded and ever-thickening plot. Redfern clearly researches her subject well and gives the reader an authentic feel of the late Middle Ages. As the story takes us across Europe, we learn of the immorality and hypocrisy of its laws: for instance, in the 1400s, a nobleman living in Venezia (Venice) can rape a girl of lowly birth and escape scot-free, but is condemned for giving away the secrets of glass-making. It is such a rape and its consequences that lie very much at the heart of the novel, which is also the story of two young women, one of whom, Kazan, is searching for her English grandfather, Will the Wordmaker. She has escaped from slavery and has had a chance meeting on board the vessel to Venezia, on which she shares a cabin with the beautiful and sweet-natured Agathi, who is betrothed to the nobleman Edgar. Agathi and other new-found friends decide to help Kazan on her quest. Murder and treachery follow, but first both Kazan and Agathi are expected to be attired in the fineries that encase the ladies of quality in the courts of Venezia and beyond. A colourful tapestry emerges as the interwoven story lines knit together. Radovan, the fiery young Welshman, finds himself on the vessel under the command of Trevior, the very man who has raped his sister and caused his family to lose their livelihood ... With so many characters, many of foreign origin, it would have been helpful to have had a list of names and word meanings, and also perhaps a rough map of fifteenth-century Europe. But this is a minor criticism. Redfern has produced a many-faceted novel that will not disappoint her ever-growing list of readers. Norma Penfold It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council