The Scarlet Lion. Elizabeth Chadwick

Elizabeth Chadwick writes a lot of historical fiction and I think her work keeps getting stronger. I read both her books on William Marshall, a medieval character who deserves a lot more recognition than he gets. He was a remarkable man as both a knight and a political figure and his story is a fascinating read. What Elizabeth Chadwick does better than many historical fiction writers is to let the reader understand what motivates a character. She also brings an exciting realism to the romantic relationships with authentic sounding dialogue between her characters and vividly portrayed bedroom scenes. Some of the dialogue is actually quite funny as her characters are often witty and seldom stilted. In her most recent novels, including this one, she has been using Akashic consultant Alison King, which has brought an an even greater level of realism to her novels. For anyone not knowing what this is, Elizabeth explains it on her website: [...] I'll definitely be reading her book on William Marshall's father!

English history is my personal esoteric interest, especially the period of the first Plantagenet monarchs: Henry II, Richard I (the Lionheart), John, and Henry III. Orbiting each of the four at one time or another was England's incomparable poster boy of feudal loyalty, William Marshal, who became 1st Earl of Pembroke. In addition to serving the monarchs mentioned, Marshal also pledged vassalage to Henry II's queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the Young King Henry, the eldest son of Henry II and Eleanor acknowledged and crowned as the heir and future king while his father was still in his prime and ruling. Of course, William pledged his loyal service to only one at a time as honorable circumstance or invitation called upon him to do so, and that occasionally made it a dodgy walk along the precipice considering the notable dysfunctionality of Henry II's family. The SCARLET LION is Elizabeth Chadwick's sequel to The Greatest Knight. The book pair is a supremely engaging work of historical fiction about medieval England for any casual or serious student of the time and the 1st Earl of Pembroke. William was born in 1146 and died at age 73. The forty-three chapters plus Epilogue of THE GREATEST KNIGHT span the period from the summer of 1167, when Marshal was a newly minted young knight in the household of Sir Guillaume de Tancarville, Chamberlain of Normandy and a distant kinsman, to May 1194, when William, accompanied by his heiress wife, Isabelle de Clare, and their two sons and daughter, embark by ship for Normandy with Marshal's lord at the time, King Richard. The forty-six chapters plus Epilogue of THE SCARLET LION span the period from the summer of 1197, near the end of the Lionheart's reign, to Marshal's death in the spring of 1219. Each chapter advances the two-volume plot by several months to three years depending on the events of importance in William's life. THE GREATEST KNIGHT comprises his time in Queen Eleanor's retinue, his years in the Young King's household, his touneying days, the Young King's revolt against his father, the Young King's death, his time in Henry II's retinue, Henry's death during the revolt by Richard and John, his marriage to Isabelle, his appointment as a Royal Justiciar by King Richard, John's revolt against Richard during the latter's German imprisonment, Richard's ransom, and Richard's return to England. THE SCARLET LION encompasses the birth of the rest of Marshal's ten children, the death's of Richard and Queen Mother Eleanor, the time William and Isabelle spent in Ireland administering the latter's inherited lands, Marshal's uneasy relationship with King John, Magna Carta and the Baron's Revolt, John's death, William's role as Regent for the boy-king Henry III, and the invasion of England by, and the English defeat of, the French Crown Prince Louis. The only (minor) criticism I can level is that nothing is written about the terms of the Magna Carta, a traditional and venerable pillar to Anglo-American de

Historical fiction just doesn't get any better than this. This is a wonderful tale of one of the most honorable men to grace this earth, William Marshal and his true partner in all things, his wife Isabelle. The first novel, Greatest Knight, covered more of William Marshal's early life as a knight and courtier. This novel covers his life with Isabel and the dangers and terrors of living in the court of the King John, and then as regent for the young Henry III. I have to admit shedding more than a few tears at the last chapter, the end of William's life. I have read all of this author's works that I can get my hands on and I am amazed at how consistly she is improving (not that the earlier works were poorly written at all). As always with Chadwick's books, the way she brings the medieval period to life in such a graceful and effortless way, be it the sights, sounds, smells, food, clothes and battles is just awesome. As quoted on some of her book jackets, the next best thing to time travel. Five stars.