It might seem foolhardy to dig into the treasure trove of English history and yank out one of its least illustrious characters for a revisionist makeover, yet Bennett (Figures in Silk
) pulls it off in this dishy historical set against the violent backdrop of 15th-century England and France. The high drama of pitched battles, palace intrigue, and cutthroat politics are mere scene setters for the romance between timid French princess Catherine de Valois, wife of Henry V, and Welsh soldier-poet Owain Tudor. While the English begin their invasion of France, and France falls into civil war, Bennett describes the young Catherine growing up neglected and impoverished in the midst of royal family dysfunction—and seeing a way out through a marriage to England’s Henry V, as “she wanted not to live on the edge of fear, with everything so sad and out of control.” But it’s exactly those hurdles that make Catherine’s story so remarkable, and Bennett’s retelling is so riven with tension—including a haunting portrait of Catherine’s father, King Charles—that readers will be hard-pressed to put this down. (Mar.)
