The King´s Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

Format: 464 pages, Paperback

Published: October 8, 2024 by Mobius

Historical fiction/own

I have heard of Nesta, so a whole book about her was interesting. She was born a Welsh princess, but then the Normans killed her father. Her brother fled to Ireland and she ended up a hostage. Later she became a unwilling mistress to Henry I. Women had no say at all. After giving Henry a son he saw fit to give her away in marriage to a Norman Lord residing in her old home.

So yes she was used and discarded, and she did the best she could. She knew she was only a chess piece and at least here she grew to care for her husband. But her story did not end there, instead she was later called the Helen of Wales. Because there is this handsome Welsh prince....

Fascinating and Chadwick tells it so well. History in the eyes of a woman. Also Nesta´s bloodlines lives on. She was not erased from history.

Wales, 1093.

The warm, comfortable family life of young Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys of Deheubarth is destroyed when her father is killed and she is taken hostage. Her honor is further tarnished when she is taken as an unwilling concubine by King William's ruthless younger brother Henry, who later ascends the throne under suspicious circumstances.

Gerald FitzWalter, an ambitious young knight is rewarded for his unwavering loyalty to his new King with Nesta's hand in marriage. He is delighted, having always admired her from afar, but Nesta's only comfort is her return to her beloved Wales where cannot help but be tempted by the handsome, charismatic and dangerous son of the Welsh prince, Owain. When he offers her the chance to join him in his plan to overthrow Norman rule she must choose between her duty and her desire . . .