AliCorbin reviewed Queen Isabella by Allison Weir
Review of 'Queen Isabella' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
An intriguing book. Very heavily researched, with possibly too many details. (Do I really need to know which nights Isabella spent in which manors, and how much each item that she bought cost?) On the other hand, it was filled with assumptions and speculations, telling what Isabella 'must have' felt, and stating that her tyrannies after Edward II was deposed were obvious proof of her infatuation with Mortimer. But the kicker comes when she convinces herself that Edward was not murdered, but escaped to Europe and lived as a penitent hermit for the rest of his days - even to returning to England to meet with his son. She quoted a great deal of source material, not in the original French or Norman French or Latin, of course, but translated into English. But sometimes it was rendered in modern English, and sometimes in what sounded like Elizabethan English. This was …
An intriguing book. Very heavily researched, with possibly too many details. (Do I really need to know which nights Isabella spent in which manors, and how much each item that she bought cost?) On the other hand, it was filled with assumptions and speculations, telling what Isabella 'must have' felt, and stating that her tyrannies after Edward II was deposed were obvious proof of her infatuation with Mortimer. But the kicker comes when she convinces herself that Edward was not murdered, but escaped to Europe and lived as a penitent hermit for the rest of his days - even to returning to England to meet with his son. She quoted a great deal of source material, not in the original French or Norman French or Latin, of course, but translated into English. But sometimes it was rendered in modern English, and sometimes in what sounded like Elizabethan English. This was a bit disconcerting.