Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Elizabeth Chadwick’s newest release follows in the footsteps of several of her latest books and demonstrates why she is considered one of today’s best historical fiction writers. Picking up the storyline from her most recent book, The Time of Singing, Roger Bigod and Ida de Tosney are now older and their children are grown. Their eldest son and heir, Hugh, is in his early twenties and beginning to learn the ropes of running an earldom. Meanwhile, “the greatest knight”, William Marshall is contemplating marriage for his beloved eldest daughter Mahelt. Ever mindful of the value of forging alliances with other powerful families, the two patriarchs agree to the marriage of their children.


To Defy a King is Hugh and Mahelt’s story – from the very early days of their marriage which wasn’t much of a marriage at all due to Mehelt’s age through the years when they lived in relative peace building their family to the unrest created by the out of control King John and the resulting conflict with the barons..


Mahelt takes after her father – she is somewhat of a free spirit and prefers to spend her time running and organizing things as opposed to sitting still and sewing. She often doesn’t know when to hold her tongue, but she is always mindful of her place. Hugh loves her spirit and is afraid keeping too tight of a reign on her will break everything he loves about her. Their relationship is well developed but not without its problems and as events spiral out of control around them, it may become just another one of the casualties. Mahelt finds her loyalties divided as her husband toys with rebellion and her father vows to honor his oath to the king.

I loved Roger Bigod in The Time of Singing, but time has changed him into a grouchy, narrow minded SOB and his relationship with Ida is now rather strained. But when tragedy strikes, the old Roger breaks through the tough outer shell as he privately grieves. I bawled my eyes out!

By far one of the most interesting characters is William Longespee – Ida’s son by Henry II and therefore half brother to King John as well as half brother to Hugh. Arrogant and just a little over the top, you can’t help but feel he is over compensating for his own feelings of inadequacy over his royal, but illegitimate birth. But despite his tendency to look down his royal nose at his Bigod relatives, he eventually learns that his royal brother is not the trusthworthy one – which changes everything.

I could not put this book down and flew through the 500+ pages in 2 days – I even convinced my husband to fix dinner the second night so I could finish reading! As with her previous works, Chadwick’s talent lies in her ability to make the medieval time period come alive. You don’t just read a Chadwick book – you experience it.  Chadwick also has a knack for writing charming and chivalrous men that you can’t help but fall in love with despite their flaws – and maybe because of them. So, which will it be – the father or the son? Hmmmmm….

Rating: Excellent (5 Stars)

In case the FTC asks: The publisher sent me a copy – so what?