Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Richard the Lionheart has his hands full. As if fighting the Saracens for Jerusalem wasn’t enough, he also has a trio of women to deal with- his wife, his sister and his physician – and they don’t make his life easy. The physician is Edythe. And although she might not be a witch (despite what many call her) she does have secrets and she is on her own crusade to reconcile who she was with who she is.

Initially, Edythe is part of the household of Richard’s sister, Joanna who is the widowed Queen of Sicily. With connections to Queen Eleanor, Edythe is a spy of sorts and even Joanna has been dragged into her mother’s plots to get Richard married and back to England where he belongs. But that's easier said than done. Joanna can scheme with the best of them and she takes a liking to Edythe and comes to trust her.

When Richard becomes ill, it is Edythe who helps him recover and for that, she earns a place close to the king. At first, Edythe fancies herself in love with Richard but he knows her secret – and she knows his.

I enjoyed that Joanna gets a chance to be more than minor characters here. She and Berengaria don’t necessarily like each other very much in the beginning and their cattiness and irritability with each other as the Crusade drags on brings some humor to the fighting that is going on around them.

Edythe strikes up a friendship with one of Richard’s trusted advisors and cousins, Rouquin. But Rouquin has secrets of his own and as an uneasy friendship begins to awkwardly turn into something more, much of the development of their relationship is walking on eggshells and hoping the other doesn’t find out the truth.

I thought The King’s Witch was an interesting story, especially some of the medical treatments and the political power struggles that often went on behind the scenes. Some of it was confusing though and I didn’t always think that things were fully explained and there were times the plot was a little slow. That the king’s physician is a woman is not impossible according to Holland Author’s Note since there were many medical practitioners of the time who were women and Louix IX’s was known to have a woman physician.

How to be a man:  “[M]en can’t endure life without another man around to be better than or liege to.” Joanna to Richard.

Confession is good for the soul:  “Angevins don’t confess, it would take too long.” Rouquin to Edythe as they discuss the fight over Jerusalem.




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