Not nearly as good as the last (and first) book of her's that I read. I was a bit ticked off about her repeatedly bringing up PMS as a reason for Matilda's behaviour and inability to govern well. Even with PMS, women are perfectly capable of leading people. I realize that that's not the main reason Matilda has trouble, but she should have left PMS out of it all together. I also cringed at reference to a "treadmill" in the thoughts of a 12th century book. Yeesh.I enjoyed learning a bit more about the MIL from the Summer Queen. And again, it's a time that I know nothing about, despite my love of historical fiction. I'm looking forward to digging into more of her novels in this time period. A period of English history that isn't particularly well known, somehow the period between William the Conqueror and Richard the Lionheart seems to be a forgotten era. This book tells the interwoven stories of two queens, Matilda the daughter of Henry I and Adeliza his wife. Matilda was the only surviving legitimate child of Henry and at his death was entitled to be crowned Queen of England. Adeliza was her stepmother but the two were so close in age the relationship seemed more sisterly than mother-daughter. The right to rule England was contested by Stephen who was the grandson of William the Conqueror and this caused civil war in England. The story is not so much about the battles, the strategy, the planning, the to and fro of warfare but it looks at the relationship between the two women, how it evolved over time and how they were viewed by the men who surrounded them. These were independent minded, well educated women born at a time where women were not valued for their own sake.This story provided an insight into an interesting and turbulent time from an interesting perspective and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
What do You think about Lady Of The English (2011)?
It's a great and intriguing read. Very well written. But I found it to have slow placing.
—madhu
A definite page turner but it lacked so something. Good holiday read.
—bookfreakess
