by Nancy Goldstone
Women were chattel and the marriages were arranged. Somehow, the four French sisters found themselves married to princes who all became kings. In a couple of cases, their husbands became (or remained) kings in no small part due to the influence, action, and interaction of the sisters. Who could resist a story like that? Not me!
Though the book is about the four intermingled lives and relations of these sisters, there are more strong women in the cast and in the back story. Blanche of Castile and Eleanor of Aquitaine had paved the way for the sisters with their example of feminine political power and wit. Not to say that they all got along.
Four Queens tries to be both historically accurate and personally engaging. Sometimes it succeeds other times, not so much. History buffs will find distracting geographical errors and miscalculated dates. Nancy is also somewhat inconsistent in her chosen spelling for some names resulting in mild confusion. (Is this a new character – no? Oh – I see!) So if you are looking for strict biography, you have been warned.
For lovers of historical fiction, who are comfortable with the author taking certain artistic liberties, there is nothing here that violates any major historical events or times. Historical fiction often projects the author’s interpretation and interest in the subject and gives the historical figure a life of her own. This makes her engaging and personal to a reader. Alas, historical fiction lovers may find the recitation of events a bit flat in places. For long sections, Nancy seems to be writing a high school history report.
The book fails to be the best of both worlds consistently. Still, it is good, fascinating history in many places and good engaging narrative in others. I found myself wishing the book would make up it’s mind. I wonder what Phillipa Gregory would do with this subject…
Read ~ Write ~ Wander
~Angie