Kelcey Wilson-Lee

This book was all right. It presents the lives of Edward I of England’s daughters, who are not often considered to be of significant influence, or even really considered as being of interest. Wilson-Lee describes how they lived and demonstrates how they could wield a great deal of power, or at least far more than the average woman, by virtue of being the progeny of the king. The book also examines how their grasp on power changed with the ascension of Edward II, who notoriously displayed a preference for Piers Gaveston over his own wife, Isabella.

The details are lavish, and there are visible endnotes for people who are interested. I did find it occasionally irritating to read sentences that tried to be narrative but couldn’t be because we don’t know what people actually did: for example, saying one princess’s eyes “probably flicked up to look at” something on the wall. I was on the fence about statements such as “this princess would likely have been mortified by this person’s behaviour” or “it must have been upsetting”… your tolerance for such suppositions may dictate how much you end up enjoying the book. I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from reading it if it interested them, though.… (más)