One of my earliest historical fiction books, and I loved it to pieces. It seemed so real, and so unflinching, and I dreamt about it a lot. Now I know that in many ways, it follows genre conventions and Gordon’s research is โฆ middling and in the service of drama. Oh well โ I can’t ask for more than enjoyment at the time of reading.
Interestingly, his Wikipedia page mentions that Gordon is much better known in Germany and Spain than in his native USA.