The Traitor's Wife [Paperback]

I am a great fan of the likes of sharon penman, elizabeth chadwick and julie garwood and would add this author to the list. I have read many books on edward 1 and 111 but this is the first fiction about edward 11 that i have read and ..... I loved it. as the other reviews state it is primarily about Eleanor Despenser, neice of edward 11 and wife of one his favorites - Hugh. I loved the factual side of the book and reading more about the daughters of edward I and how their childrens lives came into this book and I loved hearing and reading more about the other great families of the time. I was surprised at how much I 'liked and sympathised' with edward ii and to some degree Isabelle. I have already ordered the follow up 'Hugh and Bess' about Hugh and Eleandor's eldest son.
well written in good plain english and with enough detail of the time to really enjoy the book

This is a fascinating tale of treachery and intrigue, focusing on the life of Eleanor De Clare who married Hugh le Despenser. Hugh's ambitions embroil him in the life and love of Edward II of England which eventually leads to his downfall and Eleanore must pick up the pieces and rebuild the lives of herself and her children.

This is a complicated tale, with many characters with the same names so you do have to pay close attention, although the author does provide a list of characters at the front of the book. This is not a period of English history I have read before and I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in Eleanor's tale. Side note, having recently read Nigel Tranter's The Bruce Trilogy it was an extra treat seeing that part of the story from the English perspective.

Although I found Eleanor to be an engaging topic, I found her to be a tad bit too perfect -- I mean really she should have known what Hugh was up to! Or maybe not, we'll never know. All in all a very enjoyable read and one I would recommend for any lover of historical fiction or those interested in this time period.

I came to this novel with some, but not extensive, knowledge of Edward II's less-than-impressive and ultimately tragic reign, and with the stereotypical picture of Edward as ineffectual and the two Hugh le Despensers as rapacious, manipulative megalomaniacs. It was therefore refreshing to read a novel that gives a more balanced perspective than say, "Braveheart," and shows Edward, Isabella, Gaveston (although his role in the novel is relatively limited, this being predominantly the Despensers' story), and the Despensers, including Eleanor herself, as fundamentally human and frequently sympathetic.

In "The Traitor's Wife," Susan Higginbotham presents well-rounded, three-dimensional portraits of the main protagonists: their positive qualities are highlighted, while their flaws are nonetheless acknowledged. The characters are not always likeable, but it is possible to understand, if not always empathise with, their actions. This is what makes the novel so satisfying. What I loved about the book was its focus on the personalities, as distinct from too many other novels where one gets an exhaustive description of protagonists' gowns and tunics, but little in the way of character development.

The only person who seemed irredeemably evil was Roger Mortimer: it was difficult to see what Isabella would have seen in him. That said, his characterisation, in the context of the events, was plausible; by the time he and Isabella took power and deposed Edward, it had clearly gone to his head. It was particularly refreshing to see a portrayal of Isabella that did not reduce her to "innocent victim," as some writers have sought to do. Isabella was a strong, intelligent and ruthless woman - she should be held responsible just as much for her unsavoury and callous actions as for any good deeds she did.

The novel is beautifully written and gripping, and Eleanor le Despenser's fascinating and eventful life is told vividly, although Higginbotham spares the reader nothing of the horror of some of the events. Unlike many historical novels, I was pleased to see that although sex is referred to frankly, and often implied, there are no gratuitously explicit sex scenes (not that I have a great problem with that - I simply think explicit sex is overused, and this novel is an illustration of the fact that one's work can be just as interesting, if not more so, without going into graphic detail in that regard). The dialogue is primarily modern English, which jarred at first, but the language is not excessively anachronistic.

This is by no means a light read, but it is certainly a worthwhile one. I was very impressed. Highly recommended.