I picked this up to read because a former colleague recommended it to me. That was so long ago, I didn't remember what the book was about. It was a retelling of the reign of King Philippe-Auguste of France and his Queen Isabella of Flanders (ca. 1190). My, they were a pair surrounded by a wild cast of characters stretching from England to Flanders. I'm so grateful I did not live at that time and was not subject to the caprices of royalty. Jill Phillips wove a good tale full of palace intrigues and complex characters. Sometimes I liked them and other times they were simply odious. ( )