Tag Archives: Joan of Kent

#BookReview ‘The Crownless Queen’ by Elizabeth Chadwick @Chadwickauthor #historicalfiction #medieval

1 Reply

I really enjoyed reading The Royal Rebel, first of the two books about Joan of Kent written by Elizabeth Chadwick, so was eager to read The Crownless Queen. Joan, or Jeanette as Chadwick calls her, is a fascinating character who lived at a time of royal upheaval. Elizabeth ChadwickEngland 1360. Jeanette, happily married to her teenage love Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, fills her days caring for their four children but missing her soldier husband who is on duty in Normandy. When news arrives of Thomas’ death, Jeanette’s stable and contented life is upended, her safety and position threatened. ‘Eventually, the pain withdrew, becoming a dull, cramping ache, and the fog thinned to mist. Tears came and, with them, harsh, choking sobs that left her throat raw and her body exhausted. Reality, however, remained solid. No matter how much she sought oblivion, she was back in the world.’ Prince Edward, the Black Prince, her childhood friend and godfather to her sons, promises to help. Unexpectedly, his help comes as a marriage proposal. Still mourning, she is married again, too soon but the security of her children is assured.
This is an epic tale of a woman at the heart of royalty, the entwining of royalty and politics, foreign diplomacy and wars, set on a foundation of Jeanette’s domestic life. She is a skilled diplomat and politician and, as wife of the heir to the throne, she needs to be. Her husband’s father, King Edward III, has taken a mistress but is quick to complain about his son’s new wife who, he says, ‘Despite her reputation, she is still a golden apple on the tree.’ Those first three words refer to Jeanette’s marriage to Thomas. The King sends his son to France to govern Aquitaine. Chadwick takes the historical fact and the gaps of record, and creates a readable novel I picked up at every opportunity. Edward’s frailty, Jeanette’s awkward relationship with her brother-in-law John Duke of Lancaster (or John of Gaunt, as we know him), the lives of Jeanette’s two sons, Tom and Johan, both squires in noble homes, and Jeanette’s grief, all add layers to this story.
The blurb states that The Crownless Queen can be read as a standalone but I think in order to enjoy all the subtleties, it is best to read The Royal Rebel first.
Jeanette, which is the familiar name by which Joan was addressed by her family and friends, is the sort of character you root for. Her bravery, her sense of justice, her steadfastness. A wonderful blend of detailed family life and motherhood, combined with state politics, court plotting, romance, grief and betrayal.
Excellent.

Here’s my review of the first in this series:-
THE ROYAL REBEL #1JEANETTEOFKENT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Miniaturist’ by Jessie Burton
‘A Good Deliverance’ by Toby Clements
‘Cecily’ by Annie Garthwaite

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE CROWNLESS QUEEN by Elizabeth Chadwick @Chadwickauthor https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-9ZZ via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Stephen Spotswood

#BookReview ‘The Royal Rebel’ by Elizabeth Chadwick @Chadwickauthor #historicalfiction #medieval

4 Replies

1338 England is at war with France. The court of King Edward III travels to Calais and with them goes Jeanette of Kent, a rebellious, outspoken, daring, determined young girl, all the things a lady of the court is supposed not to be. War runs throughout The Royal Rebel by Elizabeth Chadwick and so does love. I loved Jeanette’s character arc through the course of this book, from impressionable young teenager to twenty-something. As a cousin of the king, twelve-year-old Jeanette spends much of her time at court, chaperoned, managed, supervised, hardly ever alone. In Calais, she meets a young soldier, commoner Thomas Holland, and the two fall head over heels in love. Married secretly their plans immediately go wrong. Jeanette returns to England with the court while Thomas must go to war again. Both are desperately in love.
As happens with any young woman of the court, Jeanette is expected to make a pragmatic politically-acceptable marriage. When told she must marry a childhood acquaintance William Montagu who she dislikes, she explains she is already married. Her mother and William’s reject Jeanette’s inconvenient story as a child’s fancy and deem her evidence insubstantial. Jeanette has no choice but to marry as she is told, ‘she could not refuse; she was a sparrow tossed in a storm wind, wings over tail. She curtseyed, and took her leave, carrying herself with pride and grace until she was out of the door, but then grabbed her skirts in her fists and started to run… on and on… [until] the enormity of what she had tried to outrun caught up with her like a gazehound on a hare.’
This is essentially a love story set within the unemotional, unromantic world of the court. Marriage matches are made for convenience, diplomacy, for political gain, wealth and property; never for love. Jeanette and Thomas’ love for each other means nothing. Decisions are taken about their lives without their input. There are many twists and turns in this story and I really rooted for the couple to find a way to be together. They are manipulated, lied to, separated, bullied and abused. Thomas must continue to earn his living as a soldier and a piece of luck means he gains the funds to mount a legal challenge. But this court case moves so slowly, delayed by process, by the spreading plague, by machinations of the witnesses giving evidence against Jeanette and Thomas. But the couple, still so young, continue their fight, continue to hope despite all the setbacks, opposition and accusations of dishonesty. Jeanette learns patience, ‘All her hopes were like beautiful eggshells, and she dared not tread too heavily for fear that they would shatter.’
Elizabeth Chadwick has created strong, nuanced characters to care for. She is a new author for me and now I look forward to reading the sequel, The Crownless Queen.

Read my review of the next in this series:-
THE CROWNLESS QUEEN #2JEANETTEOFKENT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters #1BLACKDEATH
‘The Turn of Midnight’ by Minette Walters #2BLACKDEATH
‘The Story Spinner’ by Barbara Erskine

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE ROYAL REBEL by Elizabeth Chadwick @Chadwickauthor https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Sj via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Catherine Airey