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A Marriage of Lions
Oct. 22nd, 2023 12:01 pmA Marriage of Lions by Elizabeth Chadwick was an interesting reading experience for me. I spans nearly 30 years during a tumultuous period of the mid-1200s, following the rise and fall of various people in the English royal court. The main relationship is that of Joanna, one of the queen's ladies, and William, the king's half-brother, who get married at 17 and 19 respectively.
One of the main problems I had with the book is that the main plot point mentioned on the back cover didn't actually take place until three-quarters of the way through, which meant I was rather spoiled as to what was going to happen.
It also felt somehow that not a lot actually did take place over the course of the book, despite the national unrest and the depth of detail given about Joanna's experience of her marriage and also being a woman at a difficult time. There were a lot of time jumps, especially in the latter third of the book and it seemed like the story was skimming over a lot and not really digging in to what was going on.
I really enjoyed the writing, though, I was engaged throughout, I felt invested in Joanna's story and her presence and emotion carried me through. So, I thought it was a really good book, despite feeling a bit light on plot in some ways.
One of the main problems I had with the book is that the main plot point mentioned on the back cover didn't actually take place until three-quarters of the way through, which meant I was rather spoiled as to what was going to happen.
It also felt somehow that not a lot actually did take place over the course of the book, despite the national unrest and the depth of detail given about Joanna's experience of her marriage and also being a woman at a difficult time. There were a lot of time jumps, especially in the latter third of the book and it seemed like the story was skimming over a lot and not really digging in to what was going on.
I really enjoyed the writing, though, I was engaged throughout, I felt invested in Joanna's story and her presence and emotion carried me through. So, I thought it was a really good book, despite feeling a bit light on plot in some ways.
