I am a big fan of anything by Ariana Franklin, so even though I was a little doubtful about The Siege Winter (also known as The Winter Siege) because it is a posthumous novel finished by her daughter, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, it bears almost no resemblance to any other novel by Franklin. Perhaps she wrote the plot synopsis, but I doubt she wrote anything else.
The Siege Winter is purportedly an account of the civil war between King Stephen and Queen Matilda in the 12th century from the point of view of the common people. Gratingly, it is written in modern vernacular and not well written at that. I was alarmed during the prologue, supposedly narrated by a 12th century monk, especially when two sentences began with “Anyway.” It just got worse. I couldn’t take it. I read five pages. Franklin’s prose was beautiful. This is not. I recommend you read one of the other books under “Related Posts.”
whatmeread 
I read this a few years ago and can’t really remember it now, but I finished it so I must have liked it more than you did. Modern language in historical fiction is always grating, though. I have only read the first Adelia Aguilar book, so I still need to read the rest of that series.
It’s not so much that it was modern language but that it was gratingly informal. It just didn’t appropriate at all.
I read it and finished it but don’t remember much about it. I do miss this author thugh.
So do I.
How terribly disappointing. But I know how you feel. When Paul Torday died and his son finished the novel he had been working on before he died, you could really tell where the father began and the son took over. Thankfully, it wasn’t a total loss, and the book ended up good, but not as edgy as it could have been.
I suspect that none of this book was written by Franklin.
I like when people use “purportedly”!