****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The characters were beautifully drawn; Owen Tudor, the young Welshman whose family lost everything in rebellion against England; Princess Catherine, the beautiful, neglected daughter of a meddlesome mother and a mad father. The two meet in France when Owen meets Catherine de Pizan, the poet, and she introduces him to Catherine and her younger brother Charles. Christine anticipates that Owen can help Catherine and Charles to overcome their traumatic memories of the on-going French (and inter-family) upheavals, but she never expects them to fall in love with each other.Once Christine realizes what is happening, Owen must go away, and Catherine decides to push for the marriage with the English warrior-king Henry V, in order to get away from the drama and sometimes terror in France. Her only regret is leaving her fragile father with no one to care for him.Once in England, we meet Cardinal Beaufort, urbane, witty and never at a loss for words; the Earl of Warwick, mean abusive and ugly. Through much conflict, Owen and Catherine find a way back to each other, sometimes denying their feelings, sometimes being over-whelmed by them. The only thing holding all together is the small boy King Henry VI, whom Catherine loves beyond reason, though she fears for his future sanity.This book was written so eloquently, the characters so believable, and the scene towards the end when the Earl of Warwick is unexpectedly confronted by Catherine's elderly mother was priceless.This book was not only romance, but history, entertainment. I adored it!
