Very enjoyable read - Rated 
I was rather worried by the length of this book but, as with Michel Faber's Crimson Petal and the White, there was no problem with its length. I picked it up with great anticipation of the unravelling story and there was certainly a strong one. The historical content is very enlivened with the excellent descriptive passages of twelfth century life. I've got very impatient to see The Bayeux Tapestry, and finding out more about the period in history. If I have one small criticism is that some of the significant turning points in the book were over and done with in a sentence. If you were tired, and failed to read every word, you might have missed something very important. Emotional content was, for me, very subtle, and my interest in Odo and Gytha never actually filled me with page turning excitement. I just accepted everything that happened as a 'fact'. In the last pages of the book something happened (I won't hint what it was) that really disappointed me. Enought to say that it involved Freya and Fulk. Obviously it was done for a reason by the author, but it seemed a bit at odds with unfolding drama.
Entertaining and well written - Rated
I do like my historical fiction and this era - post the Battle of Hastings - probably gets less coverage than most. Add to that the intriguing promise of "sex, lies and embroidery" and my interest was piqued.
The enigmatic, charismatic Bishop Odo of Bayeux, brother to William of Normandy (aka Wm The Conqueror), decides to commission a tapestry to record the conquest of England. One of the talented embroiderers conscripted into service is Gytha, previously handmaiden to the dead King Harold's mistress, who is Odo's sworn enemy.
So begins an unlikely love story, interspersed with a good dose of lies, treachery, deceipt, sex and, yes, some embroidery. The story is well plotted and put into action and, to the best of my ability to tell, it is as historically sound as you would expect.
To focus on the elements that really stand out, I would have to highlight the powerful array of supporting characters. These include the other embroiderers and Sister Agnes (Odo and William's sister) who oversees the production of the tapestry. They are vibrantly portrayed with just the right amount of detail. Ms Bower has done well to keep William The Conqueror to a minor supporting role.
I also liked the way Ms Bower tackled the challenge of the "truth" about what happened at Hastings. By this I mean the build up to the Norman invasion, as well as the "arrow in the eye" myth. It goes to show that there is a more to it than the old adage that history is written by the victors.
I gave this book only four stars because five has to be reserved for the truly outstanding. This book is really, really good, but only occasionally superb. In the final analysis it lacks a little bite, perhaps in the form of a real villain, but remains entertaining and well written.
A Powerful Read - Rated 
Sarah Bower is Literature Development Officer for Creative Arts East. She teaches creative writing at the University of East Anglia and reads historical fiction manuscripts for a literary consultancy. She was UK editor of the Historical Novels Review for two years until the beginning of 2006 when she stepped down to make more time for her own writing and thank goodness she did if this book is anything to go by. Sarah lives in rural north Suffolk with her husband, two grown up sons and two golden retrievers.
January 1067, the year after William of Normandy gained victory over Harold and his horsetails at Hastings. William's brother, bishop Odo of Bayeux decides to commission a wall hanging, the like of which has never been seen before. He believes it will be a fitting tribute to the victory at Hastings and also highlight the fact that he himself played no small part in the invasion.
Little does he know at the time that his life will become hopelessly entangled with the women who embroider his hanging, particularly Gytha, handmaiden to the fallen Saxon queen and his sworn enemy. Against all that they hold dear the pair fall hopelessly in love and in doing so Odo comes into conflict
With his brother and Gytha with Odo's enemies who mistrust her hold on such a powerful man. In the turmoil their love creates friends become enemies and vice versa. The Needle in the Blood is a powerful drama unfolding in a land that is being subdued by the sword.
1066 and all that? - Rated
I haven't read any historical fiction for a while, nothing has really appealed, but the headline on the beautiful cover of The Needle in the Blood offered a tale of sex, lies and embroidery so I thought I would give it a go. The book grips from the first chapter; you are thrown into the middle of the Battle of Hastings, with Odo, brother to William the Conqueror, rallying the Norman troops, fearing his brother has died on the battlefield. We soon learn that the battle is won and the history of England changes forever. In the aftermath of the battle the rumour is that Harold has been killed by an arrow in the eye; it's the first lie, the reality is that his body has been hacked to pieces and mutilated but the arrow in the eye story will be recorded for posterity in the Bayeux tapestry.
Amongst the Saxon women who come to claim his body is Gytha, handmaid to the mistress of the fallen king and a talented embroiderer. She returns to Winchester with the women, only to witness the pillaging of her mistress's home and to submit to rape to save a Saxon soldier about to be put to death. When the unconventional Bishop Odo decides to commission a wall hanging to commemorate the battle, Gytha is among the women recruited to work on the embroidery. Forced to work as a prostitute to survive, she reluctantly agrees to work for the Norman court; she sees an opportunity for revenge and when she meets Odo again she is armed with a sharp knife and a thirst for vengeance. But in this book nothing is as it seems and as she falls in love with him and so the lies and intrigue begin, with as many lies stitched into the tapestry as are told among the wonderfully full and vibrant cast of characters that people this book.
This is a must read for anyone looking for a strong and intense story, beautifully told by someone with the skill to bring this extraordinary period in our history so colourfully to life - and is a must read for anyone visiting Bayeux to see the tapestry.
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