Lady of Hay

May 1, 1987
Erskine's first novel gets off to a fine start. As a participant in a college research project on hypnotic regression, Jo Clifford is almost too good a subject. Under hypnosis, she relives the final, tortured moments in the life of Matilda, a 12th century Welshwoman. In the process, Jo herself comes close to death. The story then jumps 15 years. Jo, now a journalist researching regression, is again hypnotized and again regresses to Matilda's excitement-packed life. Unfortunately, the pace of the early pages is not maintained. The problem is not with Jo/Matilda, who are both well-drawn, or even with the whopping coincidences Jo encounters. What slows the narrative is the bevy of minor characters, Jo's acquaintances. They talk to her and about her, they try to help her and they conspire against her, all at the expense of the central plotline. This is still a good read, but it could have been better. Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild alternate.

In this reincarnation tale famous bad people and sinister modern-day ones manipulate both the heroine, Jo Clifford, and her past incarnation, Matilda, Lady of Hay. Judith Boyd is masterful with this long read. She brings children, mean old men, star-crossed lovers, and cantankerous women alive in two centuries, eight hundred years apart, and often in Welsh. Many characters both evil and delightful will make listeners linger in the car long after arriving at their destination. B.H.B. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine