Isolde : Queen of the Western Isle

Historian Rosalind Miles is already known for her trilogy about Queen Guinevere and her famous love triangle with King Arthur and Sir Lancelot. This novel, the first in a new trilogy, revolves around another love triangle, this time between Queen Isolde, King Mark of Cornwall, and the king's nephew Tristan. Like Guinevere, Isolde will be Queen in her own right. She is a beautiful healer who charms everyone she meets and is destined to be a great ruler. But she is also doomed to a tempestuous life because of the conflict between duty and honour on one hand and personal desires and love on the other. Isolde's love triangle is more clear-cut than Guinevere's. Her marriage to King Mark is arranged to preserve peace, and she feels absolutely nothing for him, having already given her heart forever to the handsome and brave Tristan. Miles adds a modern woman's perspective and a New Age feel to this romantic tale of chivalry, magic and intrigue. Isolde is an independent woman who honours the Mother Goddess, whose powers celebrate love, peace, colour, warmth and multitude. In this faith woman's reproductive powers are central, and men must respect and follow the women's wishes. Isolde's positive influence and power makes her clash with Father Dominion, the Church's most powerful male representative at King Mark's court. Miles portrays the priest as cold, colourless, full of hate and bent on destruction. He wishes to stamp out the celebration of the Mother and bends the Christian belief to his own desires to subjugate women. Miles is an accomplished storyteller, and this is a thoroughly enjoyable romantic read, and an interesting modern take on an old legend. (Kirkus UK)