Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer: Review

Blurb:

The story of Queen Isabella, who sought revenge on her husband Edward II, and her lover Sir Roger Mortimer, who masterminded the invasion that accomplished it.

The marriage of Isabella of France and Edward II of England in 1308 is a union meant to secure lasting peace. For years, Isabella is a loyal wife, who repeatedly salvages her husband's kingship, even as she endures his neglect. When she finally speaks out against Edward's favorite, Lord Hugh Despenser, her income, lands and children are taken from her. In an age when women are not supposed to openly defy their husbands, Isabella vows to get her children back and have her revenge on Despenser - no matter what the cost.

Imprisoned in the Tower of London for leading a rebellion against King Edward, Mortimer escapes with Isabella's help and finds refuge in the French court. But when Isabella arrives in Paris to negotiate a peace treaty, it is a temptation the ambitious Mortimer cannot resist.


My Review:

Coming across author N. Gemini Sasson is one of the best discoveries I've made on Amazon.com. I was browsing through my recommendations on Amazon around two months ago, and I happened across her Trilogy on Robert the Bruce. I hadn't read very much about him, and the Kindle edition price was incredibly cheap ($2.99), so I bought the first book in the trilogy, THE CROWN IN THE HEATHER, read it in less than two days and became completely hooked. I finished the first two novels in the trilogy in less than a week, and then discovered that the third novel in the Bruce trilogy hasn't quite been completed yet, so I bought ISABEAU knowing that I would love it because Sasson was the author!


I was right, I adored it! Throughout history Isabel of France and Sir Roger Mortimer have been given a bad rap. She's known as a "she-wolf" who cheated on her husband and stole his crown, and Mortimer is known as a devil who wanted to usurp England's crown, and who ran the country through Isabel's son, Edward III, until he finally smartened up and got rid of Mortimer. People never get Isabel or Roger's story, because it's always so biased and one sided. Yes, I'm sure Isabel wasn't the perfect wife, but heck, King Edward II was a horrible husband and a horrible King! He only cared about his current favorites, and his concern was not for his country or his wife, but for the men he was in love with!


Sir Roger Mortimer started off as a loyal follower of the king, but he began to see the true side of the king, and realized that he wasn't worth following anymore, so Mortimer joined in a rebellion against him. Mortimer was lucky to keep his head, and escaped to France after some time spent in The Tower. After Isabel is sent to France to make peace at King Edward II's command, Isabel and Roger Mortimer reconnect and they end up falling in love. Mortimer knows what Isabel has gone through as a wife to Edward II, and he also sees what a beautiful and strong woman she is. As a team they plot to overthrow Edward II, and put the king's son Edward III on the throne. At first working together seems to bring Isabel and Mortimer closer together, but toward the end of the novel you can begin to see the cracks in the love beginning. Mortimer wants to be the man in the relationship, and make all the big decisions without Isabel's help. However, Isabel is a Princess of France and the Queen of England, and she is aware of her power, and wants to use it. Mortimer loves her as a woman, but it's hard for him to back down and listen to her as a Queen. Several times he angers her in public by not listening to her as a Queen, and trying to tell her what to do. It's obvious that Isabel is not going to continue to put up with his less than reverent treatment of her.


I enjoyed getting to know Isabel and Roger as two people in love, rather than as the two power hungry traitors they are usually described as. I also like that this book ends with hope. We obviously know what ends up happening to Roger Mortimer, and we also know that the remainder of Isabel's life isn't all smiles and butterflies, but at least at the end of this book the reader is able to imagine that things do work out for them, and that love endures. I always love a happy ending, and in historical fiction it's often hard to give reader that happy ending, because, well, there wasn't a happy ending! So, although things didn't turn out so well for the love of Isabel and Roger, at least in this fascinating novel there is hope for their future.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! 
I can't imagine N. Gemini Sasson writing a novel that I wouldn't give five stars. Anyone who is a fan of historical fiction needs to check out her novels.

I will be reviewing N. Gemini Sasson's novel WORTH DYING FOR (the second novel in The Bruce Trilogy) within the next week. I would have reviewed that novel before ISABEAU, but I am hosting a giveaway for N. Gemini Sasson when I post the review of WORTH DYING FOR. She has been generous enough to offer to provide TWO copies of her novel THE CROWN IN THE HEATHER to two of my followers, and I already have a giveaway going on right now, so I will wait until that giveaway is close to being completed before starting another one!
Anyways, if you would like me to remind you when I host the giveaway for THE CROWN IN THE HEATHER, all you have to do is send me an email stating that you would like to be kept up to date as to when the giveaway begins, and I will send you an email!

Email: kimbers10 [at] yahoo [dot] com


If you would like to order this book please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Isabeau-Novel-Queen-Isabella-Mortimer/dp/0982715811

What's in My Mailbox: Monday!

Ok, so it's time to start something a little bit new. I enjoy doing updates now and then on my life, and of course I love reviewing books that I've read or am currently reading in this blog, but in other's blogs I've noticed that many of them do a little post about what's in their mailbox, so being the copycat that I am, here's what's in MY mailbox!
At any given time there are two to three books on their way to my home. Some may call it an addiction, but whatever, at least it's a healthy addiction! Recently I've had even more books arriving at my house, because of the contests I've entered on other blogs and won, so those don't count towards my book addiction!
Anyways, enough with the rambling!

To be Queen SHOULD be on it's way to my home. I'm hoping, wishing, praying that it's on the way! Christy English, who is an amazing author of historical fiction, was kind enough to offer to send me a review copy of this book to read and review! Obviously I was completely honored at the offer, and took her up on it immediately. Now I am excitedly awaiting its arrival in my mailbox, so that I can put any other book I'm reading at the time down, and begin reading this one! Christy English's novel deals with one of her great "loves," Eleanor of Aquitaine. I've had the pleasure of exchanging messages with Christy, and she absolutely adores writing about Eleanor, and learning everything possible about Eleanor's life. The passion she feels for Eleanor of Aquitaine is evident in her writing, and as a reader it was impossible to put her book down! I read her first book, The Queen's Pawn, around six months ago, and I've been hooked on novel's about Eleanor of Aquitaine ever since!

In the Hope of Rising Again by Helen Scully is the second book that should be making it's way through snail mail to my humble abode. Years ago I went through a phase where I read everything I could find that had to do with the Civil War. Keep in mind, this was prior to half.com or paperbackswap.com, so it wasn't easy to just jump online and order a cheap book. I had to go to Borders or Barnes and Noble, and shell out $15 for a book to read, and as a teen I wasn't exactly rolling in the money. After joining goodreads.com I was reintroduced to back into historical fiction dealing with the Civil War. Through recommendations from that site, as well as paperbackswap.com, I came across historical fiction that brought back memories of books I had read and loved; such as Killer Angels by Michael Shaara or The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus. I decided to break free (slightly) from my "To Read" list of books that deal with the time period 1100-1600, and choose a few books that were reminiscent of ten years ago, and the books I loved to read then. In the Hope of Rising Again the reader is taken back to the war between the states, and the magnitude of loss that so many people suffered, as well as the time and strength it took to rebuild their lives. I am looking forward to getting drawn back into a Civil War era historical fiction novel in the near future.

Finally, the third novel that is on it's way is, Isabel the Fair by Margaret Campbell Barnes. I've read at least one of her novel's before, although the name escapes me at the moment, it did have to do with Anne Boleyn. Anyways, I had a credit to use on paperbackswap.com, and every book that I wanted to order wasn't available, so I ended up searching different lists and recommedations on the site, and came across this novel. I have never read a historical fiction novel on Edward II's wife Isabel of France. I read a novel about Edward II, and know a little bit about her through that novel, as well as mentions of her in a few others novels. However, I think this novel will allow me to learn a great deal more about her, and I am looking forward to that. She seems to have been a very strong woman in history, who may have been misrepresented at times. In the novel's I've read about her in, she's always portrayed as an evil woman, who wanted to invade England in order to dethrone her husband. In hindsight, it was actually for the best, because Edward II was a poor ruler, and rather than go to war, he seceded his throne to his heir, Edward III, who ended up being an excellent ruler that put England back in order. I can see why she was maligned looking at the relationship she had with Mortimer. She basically let him rule her, and in turn he ruled England through her son until Edward III came of age and had Mortimer assassinated, because he became aware of Mortimer's ulterior motives. This book was written quite awhile ago, but it received excellent reviews, so I am looking forward to reading it. The scandal during that time period, between Isabel, Mortimer, Edward II, and Piers Gaveston interests me greatly, and I'm looking forward to reading a different author's point of view about this time in history.

I'm not sure that I will update my "mailbox" every Monday. It honestly depends on if I have any books coming in the mail! I have so many books at home that I need to read, so I should probably take a break from ordering new ones until I get some of the ones I have read! It's so hard though, it feels like Christmas every time a book comes in the mail!

Happy Monday to everyone!!