The Royal Rebel

The Royal Rebel by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Royal Rebel by Elizabeth Chadwick is an amazing historical novel written by a master storyteller. Chadwick may owe a slight debt to Anya Seton for some elements of her storyline as it closely follows Anya Seton's masterpiece Katherine in the rising action of the plot. However, as Katherine is one of my favourite books of all time, this only adds to this novel's appeal and showcases Chadwick's exemplary skill in this genre.

Chadwick does a fantastic job of bringing the fourteenth century to life and has obviously done her research into the period. Her characters are well drawn and believable, she tackles Joan of Kent a woman known as 'Fair Joan of Kent' Joan was a scandalous individual in her own lifetime as after a precontract and marriage, she then went on to marry her much younger cousin Edward known in history as 'The Black Prince'. She was a princess, queen in waiting who due to the premature death of Edward the Black Prince never made it to the throne but was regent to her young son who became king before he reached his majority. Jeanette as her name is revealed to be led a very interesting and according to Chadwick, a trailblazing life as a woman who refused to endure an unhappy false and potentially bigamous marriage. 

I enjoyed this book and it enabled me to escape the winter rain for a while with its engaging tales of knightly combat and true love.

A great read.

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Jenny