January Book Reviews: The Pillar by Kim Fielding
I'm not sure where I found this book, but my best guess would be the goodreads recommendations again. In The Pillar, healer Faris saves a slave from the eponymous pillar where he has been whipped and left to die. Ex soldier Boro begins to recover and grow close to Faris--but when his old master discovers he's alive, will their idyll be shattered?
This is a compact novella, so the queer romance is relatively uncoenjoyed. by drama, aside from Faris' troubled background as a thief who was left to die on the same pillar himself. The author has also made an interesting and novel choice to set it in the 14th century Balkans under Ottoman rule, which is a setting I don't believe I've seen before. It's well-executed and we get a fun cameo into the Ottoman justice system. Both Faris and Boro are older (in their thirties), and tentative to form a connection after their respective traumatized pasts, and their romance is appealingly bittersweet.
A well-executed romance in a novel historical setting. Recommended for historical queer romance enjoyers.
