Queen Without A Country [Paperback]

Rachel Bard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

As 25 year old Berengaria of Navarre journeys on a ship bound for Sicily, little does she know what adventures and trials lie before her. She must face an indifferent husband, a domineering mother-in-law and the turbulent political climate of twelfth-century Europe. Will she find happiness amid such tribulations?

Editorial Reviews

Review

A truly fascinating book about a long ago and forgotten queen! -- Pam Atherton, KTQM Radio

From the Publisher

In Queen Without A Country, readers journey through Spain, France, the Holy Land and England to trace the life of Berengaria, the Basque princess who married Richard the Lionheart of England. Yet, fate never permitted Berengaria to set foot in the land of which she was queen. Almost ignored by history, she steps out of the darkness and into a light of new understanding in this evocative novel.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Literary Network; 2nd edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971033382
• ISBN-13: 978-0971033382
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,104,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Berengaria Bares All ~ or ~ I'll Navarre Go Hungry Again, December 25, 2002

By 

B. Witmer (Raintown, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen Without A Country (Paperback)

The author Bard (aptly named!) has crafted an ingenious combination of historic fact and valid conjecture into a novel that tells the story of an important and practically forgotten Basque woman. Thanks to Bard's efforts, Berengaria has escaped being a figure lost in history, and has risen out of the mists of obsolescence into the light of historic fiction.

Berengaria deserves this study. Her husband, Richard the Lionhearted, is certainly well known. Yet virtually nothing is known about his wife, nor the country she came from. How many of us can say they feel well-informed about Navarre and/or the Basques? And of those of you that have raised your hand, how many of you can say you know anything about Berengaria? If your hand isn't still up, buy and read this book. Even if your hand is up, do the same.

Well done, bard Bard! What's next? I can't wait!

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Historical Novel, November 8, 2006

By 

Anna Jane Stone "Anna Jane Stone, Ph.D," (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen Without A Country (Paperback)

Richard I of England's charisma reaches out and grabs us 800 years later. He is the epitome of the chivalrous medieval knight. But Richard's behavior toward his wife, Queen Berengaria, reveals a cold, callus aspect of his personality.

From casual reading I have noticed that many accounts of Richard's life mention that he married Berengaria, daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre on May 12, 1191 in Cyprus. However, some biographers do not mention the marriage at all! Many state that the marriage was never consummated. Aside from the marriage, Berengaria is rarely mentioned in connection with Richard.

With this meager knowledge, I was eager to read Queen Without a County. Who was this woman? Why did she have such a weird name? What became of her after her marriage?

Rachel Bard has done a masterful job with this difficult subject. Facts are scarce. But she sticks to those at her disposal. There is a love interest Bard admits may not have occurred. But she believes the little evidence available indicates that it might have happened.

Because of the lack of information, to do justice to the subject, Bard was compelled to write a novel, not a history. Using her imagination in conjunction with the facts, she creates a warm, injured, patient woman who overcomes incredible obstacles. Bard's Berengaria is not a 21st century woman wearing long dresses and strange headgear. Berengaria is woman of the Middle Ages. She has medieval interests: doing embroidery; copying manuscripts from Arabic into Latin; building a monastery. Berengaria has medieval morals (e.g., she worries about when to cover her hair) and a medieval concept of herself as a woman.

A 21st century woman would not put up with kind of abuse to which Berengaria was subjected. Berengaria patiently put up with it for years and blamed herself as much as Richard.

Most historians seem to agree that Richard was at fault for Berengaria's problems. Some believe Richard was a womanizer and that no single woman could hold his interest. Most writers, however, seem to believe that Richard was gay. He was simply not sexually interested in his beautiful wife. Because Richard was not interested in her, it seems that the rest of his world scarcely gave her a glance. Because of that, history is not interested in her. The different perspective on Richard Lionheart will intrigue those interested in this period.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Politically Correct Equals "Boring", December 4, 2006

By 

Danielle Amundsen "Danielle" (Dreamland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Queen Without A Country (Paperback)

I love the story of Berengaria but have had a hard time finding out about her life after Richard. Therefore, I was very happy to find this book.

Unfortunately, the author is so preoccupied with not writing about any scandal that the book just becomes boring. For example,

Richard is portrayed as a man who likes men and women equally. But for some reason, he finds it very difficult to bed his wife.

His first betrothed Alice is mentioned in passing -- no mention of her affair with his father.

There is no explanation of the animosity between Philip the King of France and Richard. Nothing about their relationship.

Not only those scandals/rumors are missing but also some of the most exciting parts of the crusade! No mention is made of Richard's massacre of the Saracens! The crusade comes off as a very boring war.

I can't comment on the second half of the book about Berengaria after Richard since I know so little about her. But, if the first half is any indication, I will need to read a different book to get an idea of what kind of woman she really was.