Customer Reviews

Harlot Queen

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the story of Isabella of France, Queen of King Edward II of England. Married at 14 to a husband who was more interested in his male favourites Isabella grew up as a famed beauty and badly treated Queen.

However, Isabella in later years turned the tables on her husband and his favourites by doing something rare in any Queen - getting her own lover and staging and invasion of England. In this novel, Hilda Lewis, as usual, provides a convincing view of England during a very turbulent period and shows us how a loving, innocent woman could turn into the passionate She-Wolf of France accused of murdering her husband.

I had no idea about Isabella the 'She Wolf' of France. I found this history fascinating and I struggled to stay away from WikiPedia until I was done with the book. I didn't want to know what happened before I read Hilda Lewis' version of events.

Someone who is familiar with the facts might have a very different opinion but I thought the story was engaging and well written and never overly dramatic.

Some of the details were a bit grotesques, many times I felt lucky to be born into the modern world. Life was hard in Medieval times and justice was very harsh.

I liked the way Lewis varied the narrative from the first person to the third person perspective, it was done very subtly, without jarring the reader. And the way she presented the story allowed the reader to sympathize with King Edward II and Queen Isabella at different times during the course of events. And what interesting events they were!

It was a good book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Englands Queen's.

I got 34 pages into this book before I had to give up, because of the author's moronic, excessive use of exclamation points. She went overboard - and then some. Eg, page 17:

`Then he'll be a fool!'

`You talk of the King of England!' the girl reminded her, severe.

`He's but a man like the rest!'

By page 34, I choked on this puerile tendency and had to stop reading. I'm not sure whether I missed much, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't. Aside from the exclamation points, the writing wasn't completely irredeemable, but the author sort of "jumped into" the story at the start and rushed along without doing much to introduce the characters, or write scenes that revealed their natures, or that really created any atmosphere of the fourteenth century.

By the time I gave up, I was so tired of having my eyes assaulted by those exclamation points that I suspect it will take me a long time (if ever) before I can brave another book by this author. She drove me away with the first one I tried. What is wrong with the publisher that they didn't tone down this idiotic tendency?