The Forsaken Queen

Isabella Queen of England, often called the ‘She-wolf of France’ has been compared to Cercei in Game of Thrones. Persecuted by her husband Edward II and his ‘favourite’ the infamous Hugh Despenser, she escaped only when she was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty. No longer prepared to be a victim of corrupt men, Isabella took her destiny into her own hands and refused to return unless Despenser was banished from her husband’s side. While in France she met the exiled Roger Mortimer, one of her husband’s bitterest enemies. With Mortimer and other supporters, Isabella gambled on her husband’s unpopularity to invade England with the determination to dispose of Despenser. But the question then arose: What to do about King Edward?
I love a good historical novel, especially one with a strong woman character and Appleyard does not disappoint. She brings the age to life with great attention to detail. Her characters live and breathe passion, romance, ambition, greed, evil, and duplicity