Isabella

The She-Wolf of France

By: Alison Weir

Narrated by: Lisette Lecat

Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is the first full-length biography of a much maligned but astonishingly colourful Queen of England.

In Newgate Street, in the city of London, stand the meagre ruins of Christ Church. On the same site once stood a royal mausoleum set to rival Westminster Abbey in the 14th century. Among the many crowned heads buried there was Isabella of France, Edward II's queen - one of the most notorious femme fatales in history. But how did she acquire her evil reputation? And is it justified? Alison Weir's engrossing biography sets out to put the record straight.

©2005 Alison Weir

Critic reviews

"Pierces the veil of history with scholarly precision....A serious rendering of a sensational life." (Irish Times)

Book is more of References for Dates than a story

Would you try another book from Alison Weir and/or Lisette Lecat?

I have read other books by Alison Weir however this one is more a list of dates rather than a story about the Queen of England.

Has Isabella turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

Which character – as performed by Lisette Lecat – was your favorite?

No characters were performed. Just a list of dates with what has been documented or conjecture from other authors.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Isabella?

no scenes

dry and tedious

I bought 3 books by this author. this one was a dry reading of history not a novel with historical base. couldn't get past the first have of part one. so far one of the other books are what i expected but this one was a disappointment.

Dull, dull, dull

Very long and drawn out with absolutely no personality involved in the narration. It MIGHT be an interesting read but it wasn't read with much interest

Book AND Price Should Be Abridged

I got this book for the Audible $7.95 membership fee. If I'd paid $40, I would be the "The She-Wolf of America! Weir is out of her league with this ambitious project, better left to writers like Antonia Fraser. Weir ruins the book by summing up the 21 hour foray in the first 30 minutes. The book could have been a mere 4 hours if the writer didn't wast so much time on minutiae. For example, spend a lot of time on Isabella's birth date, going from 1291 to 1298, then back again, like the reader will check her facts at the Hall of Records. She quotes whole sermons, speeches, letters, TOMBSTONES, in ad nauseum. She claims that Isabella was a "debauched Jesebel", yet never tells what the queen did to deserve these labels. We get indepth descriptions of rooms in every palace and estate in Christendom in mind-numbing detail but we never get a real picture of what Isabelle looked like, other than "beautiful". No hair color, height, weight, etc. Weir admits that very little is known about the French princess' life prior to coming to England so she compensates by devoting almost 10 hours on her husband's homosexual liaisons. Isabella may deserve a place in history for driving her husband from the throne but hardly compares to Queens Elizabeth I and Victoria. If you really want to learn of Isabella's exploits, check out "The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England" by Antonia Fraser for a lot less money, with a big bonus of the bios of every English monarch from William The Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II. Or just read Isabella's bio at Wikipedia.org which is what I was forced to do after this confusing hodgepodge. "She-Wolf" Not so much. Isabella was no Elizabeth Bathory. Unless you want to stick a pencil in your neck, spend your money on a good meal with friends!

Zzzzz....

This book may be exactly what some people are looking for. However, it was not what I thought it would be. I rushed to purchase this after finishing Innocent Traitor, another book by this author. I thoroughly enjoyed that book because it was written like a story in first person. This is more like a textbook and just a little too "non-fiction" for me. I want to learn about history but not this much! After several years of listening to around 3-4 audiobooks each month, this is the first time I have EVER not finished one. I didn't even last 2 hours! I highly recommend Innocent Traitor though.

Don't buy!

I wish I could get my credit back. I should have believed the other reviews. The author took an interesting subject and packed it with tedium.

Boring

I agree with some of the other reviewers, this book is quite dull. I too had read the author's other book "Innocent Traitor". This book was as different from "Innocent Traitor" as night is from day. I rarely stop listening to a book but this time it was so tedious that I had to stop listening long before the end.

Wasn't for me

I got bored with this one, but usually love Historical based literature (fiction or non-fiction).

It's just so much more than I wanted to know!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

A serious student of English royalty through the ages would probably find this fascinating.

Would you ever listen to anything by Alison Weir again?

I would listen to a historical novel, but not a biography by Alison Weir..

Have you listened to any of Lisette Lecat’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I haven't listened to any other performances by Lisette Lecat, but I find her voice pleasant and clearly understandable.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was disappointed.

History cannot be changed

Revisionist history par excellence! This queen’s story is important. This author, however, wants to tell history and write a novel in one book. There is no mystery in the author’s intentions since she tells us on page one she wants to somehow cleanup the queen’s reputation as a “she-wolf”. Isabel was a she-wolf, and that cannot change.
This approach leads to endless phrases and terms such as: it must have been, probably, should have been, surely it must mean, it is possible that…., perhaps she meant to…
That is not history. This is apologia in a straight jacket. The woman killed her husband. He slept with men and that was reason enough to depose him. She fornicated with Mortimer, but that was love. Her husband’s favorites wrecked the kingdom, as did her lover with her approval and support. They were all killed. Her lover was hanged by her son.
Feminist reading is all well and good, but like any other reading, it can go overboard. And this book does, unfortunately. Dump it and read an ‘authentic’ history; the period deserves it.