The Widow Queen (The Bold, 1)

The Widow Queen by Elzbieta Cherezinska is the tale of one of the many remarkable women that history has forgotten. Swietoslawa is the third daughter of the ruthless Duke of Poland and in 984 A.D. he has begun the search for a husband for her. Like those of her two sisters and her brother, Swietoslawa’s marriage will be used to forge strong alliances that will make the Duke’s empire grander. She, however, desires power and a crown of her own, without the traditional husband by her side.

Though I was desperate to like this story of an unsung female hero rescued from history’s dark depths, sadly, I could not. Perhaps it is a problem with translation, in that words or emotions sometimes simply don’t translate well from one language to another, or the fact that the novel is too episodic and jumps from section to section too often and without seamless transitions. Whatever the reason, I found myself struggling to hold the plot together on one hand, and totally unengaged with the characters on the other.

Though not a book I would read again, it is still wonderful to see writers rediscovering fabulous historical women. That certainly is worth praise!