Second in the series of Anne de Bohun, who in the previous book had been exiled from Englan by her lover King Edward. In the year since, she has given birth to their son Edward, and establieshed herself under patronage of a wealthy trader in Brugges. She uses her intellegience and gossip to build a fortune, but in doing so, engenders the ire of her growing list of enemies (including that of the Queen of England). Finally things come to a head, bringing her back into the sphere of the King....[return][return]Reasonably distracting story, not a heavily historical read ( )

I could not bring myself to finish this book. The first book was a bit unbelievable as it went on, but was still fun and moved along. This one, however, is just a long slog of nothing happening aside from every single person in the city loving or hating Anne, and if they hate Anne it’s because she’s smart and pretty and unmarried. Also she has mystical magic powers!

All in all, the main plot details this book hinges on make no real sense - as an illegitimate daughter of Henry VI, she’d have no claim to the throne at all, so why would she be a political pawn? And why is Elizabeth trying to kill her?? I get she’s a jealous woman in this book, but it’s not like it’s unheard of for kings to have mistresses. I think by this time in real life he already had several! Why on earth she’s going out of her way to try to have her husband’s mistress killed is never adequately explored, in my opinion. Or maybe it is later in the book - like I said, I couldn’t finish it. There’s plenty of other books set in this era that probably don’t focus on an incredible Mary Sue - who’s pretty, has magic powers, everyone loves her, she’s successful at everything. There’s even at least a few books on Edward’s historical mistresses, whom Elizabeth did not try to have killed. I would rather read those.

Hopefully the third book isn’t such a slog of basically nothing happening, and will explain some things. ( )

I read The Innocent a number of years ago and I always meant to continue this trilogy before now, but I only found the time recently. The Exiled picks up in the city of Brugge, where Anne, exiled after her adventures at the court of Yorkist King Edward IV, which included an affair with the king and the birth of an illegitimate child, has settled and begun to earn a living as a merchant. She must wrestle with the prejudice and envy of her fellow merchant, who do not care to trade with a woman, much less a successful one. But Anne must also contend with politics, as her former royal lover engages to marry his sister to the Duke of Burgundy, enveloping Anne in a complex game of love, intrigue, and schemes with very powerful people. A fun read, if somewhat liberal with the history of the time. ( )

This book simply wasn't as good as The Innocent, which is the first in the series. I found it dragged quite a bit and I was heavily skimming towards the end. I'll still read the final book, but only because I've gotten this far and not because I especially want to read it at this point. ( )

The second novel in an interesting series. ( )