My Lady, My Love

Lovely Isabella of Valois was seven years old when she became Queen of England, but as eldest and favorite child of Charles VI of France, she had been well schooled in the arts and graces of diplomacy. Already exquisite, she promised to become one of the world's great beauties and charmed everyone with her gentle, candid manner.

As she grew older, this entrancing little creature delighted Richard II, still mourning the death of his beloved first wife, and he grew to love her dearly.

Accustomed to court intrigues and jealousies, Isabella paid little attention to the unrest she sensed in her own circle. Gloucester, the king's uncle, had worn such an expression of suppressed fury at the signing of England's peace treaty with France when Richard renounced his claim to the French throne; and Henry Bolingbroke, Richard's cousin, repelled her. But beyond these stirrings of danger the seclusion of Windsor Castle provided a pleasant routine of studying and growing up in a strange land.

But all was not serene outside her sheltered circle. Gloucester was hanged for treason and Henry Bolingbroke exiled. His lands confiscated, he brooded on revenge in France. Richard's relatives, the wealthy nobles, alarmed at the crown s seizure of Bolingbroke'ร lands, quietly backed a plot to depose Richard. When Richard left for Ireland, Bolingbroke invaded England. And the young queen, left alone to rely on her wits and courage, steps into the annals of history.

Teen readers will marvel at this fascinating historical story by the famed author of Patriot's Daughter, Meg's Fortune and Mamzelle.

For readers age 12 and older.