Title: Godiva
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: July 2, 2013
Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the Publisher
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb: Nicole Galland, author of The Fool’s Tale, turns her clever pen toward re-imagining the famous legend of Lady Godiva in this expertly crafted historical novel set in Anglo-Saxon England.
A 12th-century noblewoman, Lady Godiva is infamous for riding naked through Coventry to relieve her people of her husband’s unfair and oppressive taxation. Leofric, Earl of Mercia, said he would ease the tax burden if she would ride through the streets, wearing only her glorious, long hair. In doing so she risked everything, including her home and well-being.
Told with humor and precise attention to detail, Nicole Galland’s Godiva brings to life the adventures of the legendary lady, her husband and her best friend the Abbess Egdiva in thrilling detail. It’s an entertaining tale of courtly intrigue, deceit, and romance that is sure to captivate fans of literary and historical fiction.
Review: There are some books you simply can't help but love, and for me, Godiva was one of them. The cover is what drew me to the book. It is simply stunning, but it is Nicole's writing that just made me fall in love.
Lady Godiva is a cheeky thing. Using her beauty and ability to flirt to help her husband's cause. She really came across as a modern forward thinking woman in medieval times.
What stood out is how important Godiva was to her husband. Her character was so strong and she reminded me a bit of Jacquetta the Duchess of Bedford.
Perhaps in a way Lady Godiva paved the way for strong women like Jacquetta in years to come.
But she's more than just a strong female character, she's meddlesome and she's always getting in trouble. Throughout the book she is on King Edward's bad side.
Though the story of her famous ride is more legend than fact, this book gives you an idea of the type of women whose convictions were so strong that she'd do something like ride horseback naked through Coventry!
Nicole takes liberties with the legend, but in her telling of Godiva's story you get get a wonderful picture of a modern woman from medieval time.
Rating: 5 flowers
Check out Nicole's guest post here
2 comments:
I, too, enjoy books that engage strong, smart women! Thanks for this nice review.
I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I really like the cover too!
Thanks for being on the tour. I'm featuring your review on TLC's Facebook page today.
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