Susan Coventry

My favorite part of this book was the sheer fascinating world the of dysfunctional Angevins as told through the eyes of one of their most vulnerable, daughter Joan. What the inter-familial politics of this family did to Joan's personality was just mind-boggling. She has all the power of her family: the courage, the intelligence, the strength of will, and the brilliant stubborn pluck of a Plantagenet.

Yet, being caught up in the upheaval between father, mother, and brothers has also given show more Joan an aloof approach to life (to protect her heart I'm guessing) and a very strong problem with trust, especially when it comes to men. She has a warped sense of what counts as a strength and a weakness in men. She sees any kindness as a weakness. Yet I can see her, time and time again, yearning for that kindness with all the strength that she spends on seeing it as weakness. The author has taken the time to present her as a very three-dimensional character with all the strength and fallacies that being a Plantagenet entails.

The period detail that the author has incorporated is also something to marvel at. She has done a fantastic job at describing the various locales she includes in the book: semi-Christian/semi-Islamic medieval Sicily, Middle Eastern Antioch, and the deceptively peaceful world of southern France. And yet she doesn't overburden her writers with endless facts and figures. The historical details are hidden throughout the narrative like little nuggets of pure gold that just brings the setting to life.

I'm actually sort of surprised that this novel is considered YA. It in no way reads as such. The historical details and the very intimate way in which the author gets in Joan's head makes for some very high-level reading in my opinion. I enjoyed this novel to the hilt and hope the author intends to write more. She's got the talent for more novels, that's for sure! show less

The Queen's Daughter focuses on, of course, the Queen's daughter - Joan - and the unusual, dramatic, and tumultuous life she led. Joan's family was torn apart by inner-family warring and an unquenchable thirst for power. Joan, wanting only to love and have her family together in peace, is in effect a victim riding the tides of turmoil rocking the country. Because she is a princess, Joan is also a useful pawn - and is married off to the last Norman King of Sicily. There, Joan tries to model show more her Queenship after her mother's example and slowly learns that Eleanor's queenly example is not universal. Actually, throughout the novel, Joan is continually coming to terms with the fact that Eleanor's model example is one that only works (or doesn't work, depending on your perspective) for her. Joan is not Eleanor, and her life is not happy and contented and rewarding until Joan learns to live for Joan instead of her mother. show less

Based on the life of Joan, the daughter of the formidable Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, this novel was an interesting read. The reader is swept up with Joan as she struggles to determine where her loyalties should lie - with her strong-willed mother, with her father, the King of England, with her rebellious brothers, with her childhood savior, Lord Raymond, with her husband, William, the King of Sicily, or with her own heart. Joan's story is told with beautiful imagination, considering so show more little history has told us about her. show less

What a man Dr William Stewart Halsted was, he gifted us with so much that is taken for granted in the medical field. He paid a great price for the work he did, but I could see with his brilliant mind, he would do it again.
This is a fictional read, based on fact, and the author drew me in as soon as I turned the first page!
I loved his wife Caroline, what a blessing she was in his life. These two had such a different, but full of love and concern relationship.
I was so glad to read about this show more man's life, I had never heard of him before, and yet, he has touched my life many times!
His life was not easy, and actually full of pain, but what he learned from his addictions, served humanity.
I received this book through the Publisher Regal House, and was not required to give a positive review. show less