Joan

Forgotten Women of History Series, Book 1

By: Anne R. Bailey

Narrated by: Christine Rendel

Love, turmoil, and war . . .

This is the story of Joan de Geneville, wife to one of England's most infamous traitors: Roger Mortimer.

After the death of her father in 1292, Joan becomes one of the greatest English heiresses of her generation. In a time when women are subservient, she is raised by her mother to command. Educated by her tutors, she becomes a formidable woman in her own right.

When Joan is married her husband's lust for power knows no bounds. She is forced to choose between her duty to her King and her loyalty to her husband.

©2017 Anne R Bailey (P)2023 Tantor

Disappointed

I truly looked forward to this book. Women are so often overlooked in history that they appear like cardboard cutouts. I often wondered what the wives of great men were like and what prices they paid for their husband's sins. Imagine my surprise and disappointed to have the book end, leaving me hanging and all my questions unanswered. What became of Joan after her husband's death for treason? Did she and their children suffer disgrace and despair? Did she resent Queen Isabella being consigned to a pampered though constrained existence by her son? I was left feeling like Joan was a person who just wrote her husband off without a care now that he was dead. Knowing she had more than three decades left to live after the end of the book, I frakly felt cheated. it would have been nice if the author has provided a PostScript to tidy up the loose ends. Needless to say, I will not purchase any more books in this series.

not even believable

Primarily dialogue written from the perspective of a sheltered, shallow person. The subject was an extraordinary person in dangerous and different times. No research or imagination. It sounded more like the woes of the suburban housewife.