The Land Beyond the Sea

Sharon Kay Penman's latest novel The Land Beyond the Sea was just published last month on March 3, 2020.  It is the story of King Baldwin IV of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and his defense of his kingdom from Saladin's army.  It takes place in the Middle East beginning in 1172 when Baldwin was 10-years-old and concludes in 1187, long after he has died.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is the land beyond the sea. After the Franks captured Jerusalem from the Saracens in the First Crusade, it became a medley of different cultures that included everything except Muslims.  The young Baldwin is quite intelligent but he becomes afflicted with leprosy at an early age.  Political machinations abound as he has no heir and is expected to die at a young age. However, when Saladin starts a war to recapture the city, Baldwin has to respond in a way that shows him as a strong leader.

I felt that this story had a rough start. It was hard for me to stay interested until page 200 of this 670 page novel. There were many characters to keep track of as well as where they were from.  Many of the place names were foreign to me and it was hard to figure out who was from where. Another problem is that the story opens with 2 characters who aren't featured in the rest of the plot. One is dead and the other is his wife. This caused me to be confused as I expect that when a story begins with a character that the character will be important to the story. Around the 200th page the plot became centered on Baldwin the king.  The story then became more focused and it was easier to read and much more enjoyable.

4 out of 5 stars.