Author: Sherry Jones
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Pocket Star
Publish Date: April 3, 2012
Source: Owned
Why You're Reading This Book:
- You're a historical fiction fan.
From Goodreads.com: "A woman's power lies in her beauty. For years, Blanche de Castille, the White Queen of France, has lived by this maxim—passed on by her grandmother, Eleanor d'Aquitaine, as she took the girl to marry King Louis VIII. When her husband dies unexpectedly, however, Blanche finds that beauty is not enough to hold, and command, a kingdom against usurpers eager to wrest the Crown from her woman's grasp. Faced with an English invasion, barons' uprisings, and slanderous rumors, Blanche must look within herself for the strength she needs to guard the throne for her young son. Her bold response shocks the kingdom and shapes her into the formidable, seemingly heartless mother-in-law to Marguerite of Provence, wife of King Louis IX (Saint Louis) and the eldest of the "Four Sisters, All Queens" in Sherry Jones's forthcoming novel."
My Two Cents:
This short novella is a prequel to Sherry Jones' Four Sisters All Queens. It covers Blanche of Castile, who becomes the mother-in-law to Marguerite, one of the Four Sister Queens, who marries her son, Louis and becomes Queen of France. Blanche of Castile is not my favorite character in history. She was kind of a mean person, especially to her daughter-in-law. She was uber religious and took it to quite the extreme and passed that on to her son, Louis.
Even though this book did not make me like her anymore, it made me see where she was coming from at least. Jones writes Blanche of Castile in such a way that you understand her motivation and why she was the way that she was. Blanche is just one of those characters that you love to hate!
I really liked this prequel and it made me excited to read Four Sisters All Queens.
Bottom line: This is a great novella about a great villain!
A new one for me. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a good, quick read!
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