Edith Felber Queen of Shadows

Queen of Shadows

Edith Felber

NAL, Nov 2006, $14.00

ISBN 045121952X

At twelve French Princess Isabella marries King Edward II of England. As she matures, she agrees with the assessment of Parliament that her spouse is weak and easily manipulated even by a relatively young female though his preference is male. When Parliament demands the monarch share the throne with the Earl of Winchester, Edward is ready to acquiesce, but Isabella objects. She assumes her homosexually inclined pathetic (at least in her mind) husband is willing to co-rule because he is attracted to the Earl's offspring, Hugh.

Tired of her husband's failures, Isabella through her lady-in-waiting Gwenith meets Welshman Baron Owain de Rhys who in turn introduces her to Lord Roger Mortimer held in the London Tower. With the help of Owain and Gwenith, who hates Edward for slaughtering her family, she begins seeing the prisoner for sex and intrigue until she smuggles him out of the Tower and country to France where they complete their plot to overthrow Edward and place her son on the throne by 1326.

Edith Felber provides a strong fourteenth century historical fiction is filled with political intrigue but also has a somewhat biographical feel to the novel and a secondary romantic subplot (between the plotters) to anchor the fine story line. Fans of the author, if they recognize that Ms. Felber is historical romance writer Edith Layton will appreciate this well written tale of the Queen Of Shadows whose son became Edward III.

Harriet Klausner