Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine is in my opinion one of her best works.  Set in London in 1986 and Wales 1175 this is reincarnation at its very best.

Jo Clifford is a journalist who specialises in exposing frauds and her latest target is hypnotic regression.  Believing it to be a complete fraud she is only to happy to volunteer for an experiment to prove it is fake.

However, what Jo does not remember is that she had already undergone an experiment in regression hypnosis during her time in college.  But while Jo recalls that it did not work she does not know that this is an implanted memory to wipe out the memory of a near death experience she went through while experiencing her past life.

Now once again she is thrust back into the past and into the life of Matilda de Braose, Lady of Hay.

A woman in a time where she is forced to abide by her husband William's wishes, Matilda finds comfort and friendship with Richard, Earl of Clare.  But all three are also subject to the whims of King John.  Together the three men manipulate Matilda's life.

And so too does Jo find her life being lived around three men.  In her life is Nick, her former lover, his brother Sam and her colleague Tim.

It does not take much to guess that these three men are also incarnations of the three men in Matilda's life.  More difficult is figuring out just who is who, and who, if anyone, Jo will make her life with.

Or will the past repeat itself as it seems destined to do and will Jo be forced to relive Matilda's death in the future as she almost did in college.

An enthralling novel that tells the story of Matilda de Braose with clarity and recounts the history of her time with obviously well researched expertise.  A little heavy going at times, but a novel that once begun is difficult to put down.

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Also by Barbara Erskine : Kingdom of Shadows, Child of the Phoenix, Encounters (short stories), Distant Voices (short stories), Midnight is a Lonely Place, On the Edge of Darkness and House of Echoes.