Tristan and Iseult

Name: Tristan and Iseult
Rating: 4.2 (21 reviews)

by Rosemary Sutcliff

First published 1971

Amazon

3.7(21)

Tristan, champion and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, travels to Ireland and wins Iseult as a bride for his lord. During the return voyage Tristan and Iseult drink a love potion intended for the royal marriage, binding them to a passion that conflicts with honour, kinship and political duty.

Secrecy, exile and repeated attempts at separation cannot resolve the contradiction between their love and Tristan’s loyalty to Mark. Sutcliff’s retelling keeps the harsh coastal and warrior setting of the medieval romance while giving emotional weight to all three central figures. The tragedy arises not from a simple villain, but from obligations that remain valid even when they cannot be reconciled.