Isabella: Braveheart of France

Really enjoyable book! I thought the main character was compelling and well-balanced (not one of those unnaturally perfect and/or jarringly "modern" heroines). Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the occasional historical novel- I can't speak for serious history aficionados though.

I’ve read a few of Colin Falconer’s books but this is my favourite to date, possibly because the family name gets such an airing. Seeing the whole of the Isabella/Edward/Mortimer saga from the queen’s perspective and with little focus on the battles, executions and murders of the era is a welcome change. Only one thing marred the tale and that’s the American/Australian spellings used for the likes of colour and valour. This is a British/French story told by a British-born writer, the language should be British too. :)

I found Isabella Braveheart of France a really enjoyable read. It was factual, but not in a boring sense, with enough fiction to make it interesting without detracting from the historical value of the book.I loved the way Isabella grew as the book progressed and, to me, she seemed a very believable person. She managed to push the boundaries of the traditional role of a woman of her time and cleverly, if only for the fact that she was queen, manipulate the men around her in order to survive in the cut throat world in which she lived.I have read that she was sometimes referred to as a 'she wolf' but from this book I think you see a woman who is only doing what any intelligent woman would do in her situation, she is quite inspiring.This may not be quite as glossy as a Philippa Gregory novel but I found it refreshingly entertaining, historically interesting and would definitely recommend it.

Whilst this tells of a relatively unexplored period of English history (from a literary perspective) and could have been exciting I found myself waiting for the plot to develop. Unfortunately, even the murder of the king's favourite failed to grip me as I was expecting it to. I found myself reading this book as a disinterested observer, watching a young girl grow into a woman amidst 14th century cultural values. With hindsight a few more better-described secondary characters could have helped the story come alive. I admit to struggling to finish it.

A good read which carried you along and gave a fresh insight into the court and character of Edward II. Clearly this is an historical novel but there are a lot of facts in here. I enjoyed reading it.