3 out of 4 stars
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Matilda, The Queen by Richard S. Rose is a play of five acts set in twelfth century England, Germany and France. This historical fiction novel delves into the lives of the members of the royal family. Specifically, power struggle among the various kingdoms.
As with any family, the royal family isn't devoid of drama. The play begins with the old Matilda reminiscing about the days of her youth, especially how she was painfully robbed of the crown which was her birthright. At the tender age of seven, Matilda is betrothed to Henrich V and is forced to go and live at his castle in Germany. At the time, she is too young to understand why she has to leave her dear parents. Upon receiving the news, she is sad and confused but her mother, queen Edith, tells her that when it comes to these matters, they as women have no say. This arrangement is for the sake of the kingdom's future.
Surprisingly, Matilda takes this transition well and learns the ways of the court fast. Upon arrival at her new home, she is given a warm welcome and assigned a maiden, Maria, who becomes her confidante and friend. King Heinrich V is baffled by how young his bride to be is and wonders whether he will be able to stay celibate as he waits for Matilda to grow up and become his wife.
A series of unfortunate events befall the royals. Years after her marriage, Matilda is still childless. She then loses both her husband and her mother. This leaves the king of England a widower without a legitimate heir after his son, William, dies at sea. King Henry then informs Matilda that she will have to remarry in order to produce a legitimate heir to the throne of England. Matilda also finds her father a new wife who unfortunately, remains childless.
In the midst of these twists and turns, who will be the heir to the throne of England? With such a mix-up, war is inevitable but who will save the great Kingdom from this quagmire?
Reading this book was quite nostalgic as it took me back to my highschool days when I tried out for a play. What I liked most about it is that it is written in modern but colorful language that makes the story easy to grasp. The play is fairly short, at 150 standard pages from the PDF version I received. The characters are also well developed with distinct personalities. The themes of family drama, power struggle and male dominance take centre stage.
The only downside is that there is a cliffhanger towards the end. In my view, this is meant to leave the audience in suspense when it is performed on stage. There were minimal errors like large spacing between words and missing letters but these were easy to overlook and did not dim my reading experience. These could be reconciled with a round of editing. I therefore rate this book 3 out of 4 stars and I look forward to reading more works from this author.
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Matilda the Queen
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