Background Knowledge: I decided to read through different interpretations of the Arthurian myth to get a better perspective on the themes and plot. This particular retelling focuses on Guenevere, and finally has her enter Camelot as it’s new queen.

Author: Nicole Evelina, narrated by Serena Scott Thomas

Version: Lawson Gartner Publishing, 2016, 12 hrs and 53 min

Summary: The book depicts Guinevere’s time as High Queen of Camelot. The story begins during Guinevere’s arranged marriage to Arthur Pendragon. Though distraught over losing out on a life with her lover, Agravain, Guinevere resolves to make the best of it. Guinevere finds Arthur to be a kind man, and the two fall in love. However, Guinevere suffers complications during a pregnancy, and almost dies giving birth to twins. Guinevere survives after seeing a vision of her late mother, but her children do not live. Guinevere tries to focus on ruling, and soon chooses the new Knight, Lancelot, as her personal champion. Shortly after, Guinevere is kidnapped by one of Arthur’s other Knights, Maleagant. Maleagant abuses Guinevere for six months until found by Lancelot. Together, Guinevere and Lancelot manage to kill Maleagant and return to Camelot. Sadly, Guinevere discovers that Arthur remarried her arch rival, Morgan Le Fey, during her absence, and that Morgan had give birth to Arthur’s heir, Mordred. Guinevere briefly returns to Avalon to emotionally recover, and then begrudgingly tries to live with Morgan. Guinevere also invites her childhood friend, Elaine, to live at court, along with her son, Galahad. Guinevere helps Arthur win a battle against invading Saxons, but loses her lady in waiting in the process. Distraught as suffered another personal tragedy, Guinevere starts an affair with Lancelot. The pair aren’t too careful, and are exposed by Agravaine, Mordred, and Elaine. Guinevere is found guilty of treason, which is punishable by death. Elaine kills herself out of guilt over her actions. Sentences to burning at the stake, Guinevere uses her powers as a priestess of Avalon to survive long enough for Lancelot to rescue her. With nowhere left to go, Guinevere decides to travel to the land of her mother beyond the borders of Camelot.

Themes:

Romantic Relationships: The book introduces several different forms of love and lust that the protagonist must contend with. The first is married love, as demonstrated between Guinevere and Arthur. Though they initially love each other, mentally and physically, the fact that their marriage was arranged, and the revelation that they are both each other’s second choice, creates a distance between them. When Morgan is reintroduced to their lives, Guinevere is forced to play second within Arthur’s heart. Guinevere’s romance with Lancelot plays to the tradition of “courtly love,” an older romantic sub genre exploring the love between two members of a royal court (usually a knight and married woman). Finally, the time between Guinevere and Maleagant recalls ancient tales of non-consensual marriages, usually through abduction, which the author rejects and gives a modern perspective to.

Expectations: In this book, Guinevere is given the title of High Queen. As a religious priestess and monarch, Guinevere must learn to make decisions to benefit the entire kingdom. Her first challenge in this regard comes from her marriage with Arthur, which results in a series of miscarriages. As Queen and Priestess, her inability to produce an heir weakens her position. On a personal basis, the lose of her children at childbirth devastates her. Guinevere’s trauma leads her to focus on her royal role, becoming “mother” to her subjects. Guinevere also refers to herself a “battle queen,” a takes it upon herself to offer strategy and even herself during times of war.

Faith: Guinevere’s draws upon her faith in her gods and training during times of high stress. There are times when Guinevere feels the goddess inside her, such has when she chose Lancelot as her champion. Guinevere’s faith is also tested due to the trauma she experiences, such as her miscarriages and her abduction. Although she acknowledges that she must adhere to her god’s plans for her, she does so with some resentment. Interestingly, Guinevere’s faith is juxtaposed with that of Father Marius. While Guinevere uses her faith to guide her decisions and help others, Marius uses his faith as a tool to further his own personal ambitions.

Betrayal: Betrayal born of personal slights are prevalent in the book. Maleagant, Elaine, Mordred, Agravaine, Nemue, and even Guinevere all commit acts of betrayal due to a previous “wrong.” Maleagant and Mordred lash out due to pride. Elaine and Agravaine lash out due to heartbreak. Nemue lashes out due to personal ambition. Guinevere also acts out of heartbreak, but also out of a genuine love for Lancelot. Through the fate of Maleagent, Elaine, Nemue, and Guinevere, the author argues that betrayal/revenge only result in self-destruction.

Best Way to Read it: The book is part two of a trilogy. This entry retells the more famous parts of the Arthurian legend from Guinevere’s perspective. We see the introduction of Lancelot, Mordred, Galahad, the quest of the Grail, the battle of Mount Badon, Guinevere’s abduction, and Guinevere & Lancelot’s downfall. The author also made it a point to include more Celtic elements in her retelling, deriving story beats from earlier version of Arthur’s story. Readers should be aware that this book is more romantic in nature, detailing an older Guinevere’s trysts with both Arthur and Lancelot. On that note, reader should also be aware that Guinevere is sexually assaulted for a few chapters in the book. Though the author treats the mental and emotional effects of such an event respectfully, she is rather descriptive with the events itself. 

My reaction: This is a much better book than the first entry. The author really seemed to find her voice, and the voice of her protagonist. Guinevere comes off as much more believable, resolute, and wise. It helps that the character is put in a more mature world. Away from her father and her training grounds in Avalon, Guinevere has to navigate the world of leadership and marriage on her own. Guinevere is an adult, and gets into adult situations. Guinevere has a very active sex life with her husband Arthur, and then her lover Lancelot. There’s no other way to say this: this is a very horny book.

The book covers Guinevere’s time as “High Queen” of Camelot, a title thrusts upon her by chance. It’s almost comical how fast Guinevere accepts her role, to the point that I’m not sure if it’s an example of her adaptability or just narrative convenience. Guinevere’s marriage with King Arthur, however, does work out (at least in the beginning). I appreciated the author’s portrayal of King Arthur. It would have been very easy to make Arthur another challenge for Guinevere to overcome. Instead, this version of King Arthur is still a good man. A worthy husband to Guinevere who matches her tenderness and her strength. If not for the personal tragedies they suffered, you could envision them going the distance.

But the story of King Arthur, and now Guinevere, is a tragedy. In this case, the couple’s downfall comes after a series of miscarriages and a kidnapping. I was surprised to learn that Guinevere’s kidnapping is actually canonical to several versions of Arthurian myth. This was the only section where I really disagreed with the authors writing. In the story, Guinevere is raped by her captor, Maleagant. This is also canonical with the myths. However, I feel that that the author’s descriptions of the events border on fetishistic. There’s a point where Guinevere comments “if I could turn pain into pleasure, I would be in ecstasy.” What’s notable is that author does an incredible job detailing the emotional and mental tole sexual assault has on a person, and Guinevere takes months to deal with her trauma. So I’m left a little befuddled at the author’s intent.

Two other weakness in the story are Father Marius and Lancelot. Father Marius is a Christian bishop, and stand in for Christian oppression. This is the same character the separated Guinevere and Agravaine in the first book. The character is very one-dimensional, and clearly made to be the bad guy. Even Morgan and Mordred are shown to be complex individuals with good and bad sides. Like Marius, Lancelot is also very one-dimensional. He is very clearly made to be the generic love-interest. This version of Lancelot is a handsome knight, fiercely loyal, good with animals, and French. Lancelot even gives up the Holy Grain because he just loves Guinevere more. I rolled by eyes every time he and Guinevere were together. Admittedly, the author developed their romance organically, and I’m also not a woman, so Lancelot wasn’t written for me.

All that being said, there’s little changes to the mythos I liked. Galahad and Mordred growing up together was an interesting idea. Elaine’s characterization and ultimate fate was very well executed, and just makes me sympathize with Elaine all the more. Forcing Morgan and Guinevere to live together as essentially sister-wives was very funny. And while I don’t love the constant use the term “battle queen,” having Guinevere provide Arthur with tactical advice was a nice use of her character. If I was going to recommend any book in this series, it would be this one.

Grade: A-

Favorite Part: Guenevere’s recovery (they author treated a serious issue respectfully)

Least Favorite Part: Guenevere’s time with Meleagant (could have been written differently).