The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II

The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II

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3.67 of 5 stars 3.67  ·  rating details  ·  1,599 ratings  ·  227 reviews

In fourteenth-century England, young Eleanor de Clare, favorite niece of King Edward II, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment to Queen Isabella’s household as a lady-in-waiting. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Eleanor’s beloved uncle is not the king the nobles of the land—or his queen—expected. Hugh’s unbridled ambition and his in

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Kindle Edition, 514 pages
Published (first published 2005)

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Dawn (& Ron)
Nov 08, 2011 Dawn (& Ron) rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: medeival fiction readers, historical fiction readers
Recommended to Dawn (& Ron) by: Jemidar, Misfit
I was so eager to dig in and begin this book, especially with the endorsements of friends and a bit of help from the author herself (helping me to choose which book of hers to start with). I was beyond frustrated that it took me two months to read. Let me explain, it wasn't the fault of the book but life that got in the way. I tried to read a few pages here and there but you can’t do that with this book. You need, and want, to have time to spend with Eleanor de Clare, her family and their lives,...more
Anna
Rating: 3.5 stars

This book was incredibly well researched. Before reading it, I knew nothing of the reigns of Edwards I, II and III, and as I was reading, I was sure a lot of it was made up by the author; there was so much plotting, scheming, betrayal, greed, power, adultery, manipulation, revenge, murder and general downright crazy, that it could dwarf even the maddest American daytime soap! But no, almost all of this book is true. As a regular Tudor and War of the Roses reader, I’m not shocked...more
Monique
Wow...my first five star book of the year and it was a free, relatively unheard of book that I was introduced to through my Kindle..and I loved it, not only did it introduce a entire of host of characters in a new dynasty equally as fascinating as the Tudors but seamlessly told the tale of an extrodinary woman, her life,loves against the backdrop of thirteenth century England constantly at war with Scotland and itself..This book was longer and way more detailed than I expected and I thoroughly e...more
Steven Peterson
This is, as it were, the prequel to Higginbotham's book "Hugh and Bess." I rather prefer the latter, but this volume is also well written. At one level, it is the story of the marriage of Eleanor de Clare to Hugh le Despenser (the younger). Eleanor's uncle, Edward II, is also a key player as well as Edward's Queen--Isabella.

The dangers of the royal court are displayed, as well as the secrets of Edward II. One key line, the words of Hugh le Despenser to Eleanor (Page 38): "What nonsense! You are...more
Cheryl
Eleanor is the niece of King Edward the second. Eleanor gets married to the young and dashing High le Despenser. Hugh and Eleanor are very happy together. Eleanor has even more to be happy about when Queen Isabella appoints her as one of her ladies in waiting. As Eleanor spends more time in the presence of Kind Edward, she realizes that he is not the king she pictured him to be.

Eleanor and King Edward start to become very close. You could say almost to the point that if you saw them you would t...more
Simmonsmry
In 'The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II' author Susan Higginbotham follows the life of Eleanor de Clare from the time she marries Hugh le Despenser in 1306 to her death in 1337. The years in between are full of challenges, which the title character rises to admirably. She is portrayed as a loyal, passionate woman who loves her husband, her children and her king. She will do whatever she can to protect them. Even when her efforts fail and she is faced with tremendous loss, she m...more
Sandie
The Traitor's Wife is the story of Eleanor de Clare and her love for and marriage to Hugh le Despenser, known as Hugh the Younger in the early 1300's in England. The couple were both royalty and highly placed politically. Eleanor was the granddaughter of Edward the I and the niece of the current king, Edward the II. Hugh's father, Hugh the Elder was a trusted advisor of the King.

The book follows the couple over their entire lives together, through their marriage, their nine children, and their p...more
April
Free Kindle download. I must say, this book has been a very, very, very slow read for me. I think I started this months and months ago and have finally completed it. For the first half of this book, I could not for the life of me stay engaged. I found the vast number of characters, many of them with the same names (a genealogist's dream and nightmare both), to be somewhat confusing, and I had a hard time caring for any of them enough to keep reading. This is one of those books where I would make...more
Cynthia Haggard
TRAITOR’S WIFE by Susan Higginbotham is the story of Eleanor de Clare, wife of Hugh le Despencer the Younger, and personal favorite to King Edward II during the latter years of his reign.

The author has done a wonderful job of creating such compelling characters. Like another reader, I stayed up until 3am because I wanted to know what was going to happen to Eleanor and Hugh!

This is an ambitious first novel, and Ms. Higginbotham set the bar high by choosing to tell the story mostly through the poi...more
Amanda
Newcomer Susan Higginbotham takes on the tumultuous British medieval era, where any man claiming to be king must spend his life fighting to keep his throne and at any moment anyone -even his own wife -can turn against him. The period is expertly explored through the eyes of Eleanor de la Clare, a wealthy earl's daughter who is married to Hugh le Dispenser, heir to one of the most power and influential families in the realm, as well as a close friend to King Edward II. Though Eleanor and Hugh are...more
Yvonne
Perhaps I was prejudiced against this book from the beginning. Some history books are a good read because they read like a novel. This book was a terrible read because it reads like not very good history. It was long, tedious and difficult to follow. There were so many characters with similar names and titles that it was difficult to keep them straight. The middle section was full of so much gratuitous violence that decided to just skip to the end.

It is clear that the author did do considerable...more
Jenny
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Sara
Susan Higginbotham tells of the reign and aftermath of Edward the II in her steamy THE TRAITOR’S WIFE. The action is revealed mainly through the perspective of Eleanor le Despenser, Edward’s favorite niece and wife of the notorious traitor Hugh as suggested by the title. Higginbotham’s Eleanor is fiercely devoted and gracefully traverses the challenges of corruption, intrigue and betrayal that only the Royal Court can provide.

The novel is well researched, most of the main action being either ba...more
Serena
Susan Higginbotham's research shines through in this historical fiction novel, The Traitor's Wife, about the reign of King Edward II. Despite the large cast in this book and the multiple Edwards, Hughs, and Joans, readers will not have a hard time keeping track of the characters and even if they get stuck, there is a handy character breakdown in the front of the book. I don't know much about 14th Century England, but I do remember Robert the Bruce from Braveheart, who does make a few appearances...more
Michele
I am very picky about historical fiction.

I like my historical fiction very, very well-researched. Don't mess with known history or rearrange timelines just to fit a plot. Don't over-modernize the dialogue. And above all, do NOT dumb it down just to appeal to a vapid audience.

Well, I am here to shout it from the rooftops that author Susan Higginbotham does none of the above. And she does is very, very well.

The Traitor's Wife recounts the reign of England's King Edward II, as seen through the eyes...more
Debbie
The traitor's wife of the title is Eleanor le Despenser, wife of Hugh le Despenser, niece of King Edward II and grand-daughter of old King Edward I.

The story begins in 1306, when Eleanor, aged 13, marries Hugh le Despenser. It ends in 1337 with Eleanor's death. Over the course of those 31 years Eleanor is caught up with the fortunes of her uncle the King, as her husband Hugh becomes his trusted advisor and then his lover. As Edward's wife, Queen Isabella, plots against him with her lover Roger M...more
Cheryl
Loved it, loved it, loved it! I'm so glad I finished it because I was getting absolutely no sleep and my husband has been grumbling about how he had been ignored over the past several days.

The story of Eleanor and Hugh le Despenser was magnificent. Full of real alive characters, humor, sadness, skullduggery, romance, and more political twists and turns than the Clinton/Bush administrations!

Anyone can read the book description so I'm not going to bother with a synopsis. It would be a waste of you...more
Debbie
Update: Finished it and agree with other reviewers (whose comments I did not read before posting below, yesterday). Second half was an easier read than the first half which was difficult to slog through. Was not my favorite historical fiction - the author did extensive research but failed to tell the tale effectively IMO. I'm glad I finished it and can move on.

Kind of struggling with this one. 1300's England ... Many characters with the same names; sometimes the author refers to a character by n...more
Kristen
I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars, since half stars aren't available, with the understanding that I rarely give 5 stars for anything. I ended up going with 3 just because I thought so much of the first half of the book was kind of boring. It was good enough in parts to grab my attention and keep me reading, but other parts I kind of wanted to quit and read something else. I'm not sure why, since I enjoyed the author's writing style a great deal and the research was impeccable. Maybe becaus...more
Christen
I have mixed feelings about this book. My main problem is character portrayal. I know that we are supposed to sympathize with Eleanor and the Despensers, but I found nothing to like about them in spite of the author’s best efforts. Eleanor is weak, willfully blind to all of her husband’s and uncle’s many faults, and is portrayed as a dim bulb in all respects. I think the book would have really benefited from Eleanor being part of, or at least aware of, all the action and intrigue going on around...more
Betty
In fourteenth-century England, young Eleanor de Clare, favorite niece of King Edward II, whose gay relationship causes much trouble in the kingdom, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment to Queen Isabella’s household as a lady-in-waiting. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Eleanor’s beloved uncle is not the king the nobles of the land—or his queen—expected. Hugh’s unbridled ambition and his intimate relationship with Edward arouse widespread resentment, even...more
Tara Chevrestt
It took me a while to finish, but I finally did. I like this author's style and most importantly, the way she writes about the most delicate of subjects.

For those not familiar with English royal history, this particular King Edward was gay. This novelized version of the time of his reign explores his two well known lovers and what happened to them. One of his lovers was the husband of his very own niece. It is this niece, Eleanor, that the story follows the most. She is a very likable character....more
Teri
Wow. Well, I have to first admit that I've spent so much time reading about Tudor England and then the War of the Roses that I knew nothing about the Edwards. Did I get a breaking in. It was a bit slow going for me in the beginnning I have to admit. The description on Susan Higginbotham's website intrigued me..

"In fourteenth-century England, young Eleanor de Clare, favorite niece of King Edward II, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment to Queen Isabella”s househ...more
Christy B
I ventured into uncharted territory picking up this book. I had never gone back this far in either fiction or non fiction. The farthest I ever went back beforehand was the 1600s. And I'm not very educated in English history before the 1800s, so I learned a lot. One of the things that is great about historical fiction, is that you end up wanting to learn more about the people and events you're reading about. That's what happened here, I learned about a period of history I wasn't educated in befor...more
Marti
The Traitor's Wife started out okay and kind of logged down for a while, but then it gained in interest and I found myself racing to the end. I found the main character of Eleanor de la Clare a fascinating woman of the Middle Ages. She had 10 children, nine of which survived. She had two husbands. She was found guilty of treason and theft among others. Eleanor was the niece and cousin of two Kings of England. Her story was quite interesting. The constant bickering and fighting for power and rich...more
Rio (Lynne)
What a story! This covers the reign of Edward II through his niece Eleanor De Clare. She marries Hugh le Despenser, one of Edward's favorites and through greed becomes the traitor's wife. The debauchery, passion, arrogance, back stabbing and cruelty of these times kept me from putting this book down. Higginbotham moved me, made me tear up and even shocked me at times. Not something many authors can do. Those of us familiar with this time in history know how cruel it was, but the author's descrip...more
Sarah Wagner
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Lori Anderson
Jul 17, 2009 Lori Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: historical fiction fans
I passed this on the way to the checkout at Barnes and Noble -- why is it every good book lately has been that way?

Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. I was captivated from word one, and can't believe this was the author's first book. I loved how she ended the book, with a perfect closure, and then continued with an Afterword that caught us up on the historical facts behind all the players as far as is known in actual history.

Loved, loved, loved. I can't tell you how much I loved th...more
Cathy
After reading "Forever Queen", I was looking for historical fiction from the time frame 1100 to 1300's A.D. This book takes place in that time frame. Unfortunately, I'm at 39% on the Kindle and think it's time to quit this book and find a different one. This book had almost no character development, no development of scene or costume, no true feeling of what it was like to live in those times. Aside from the fact that they ride horses and wear headdresses,the dialogue could have taken place any...more
Julie
I am continuing my reading journey of the Plantagenets in medieval England. I had never read much about the Edward II reign, so bought this book specifically for that reason. I disliked the first half of the book so much that I would have stopped reading it if I hadn't wanted to know about the Isabella/Mortimer team which deposed Edward II. After Edward was imprisoned and the "Traitor" (Hugh Despencer the younger) was executed, the book improved dramatically with the continuing story of Despence...more
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Would real people act this way? 7 28 Oct 01, 2012 05:49am  
Goodreads Librari...: Should this ASIN book be deleted? 5 45 Nov 15, 2011 01:49pm  
The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II (Paperback)
The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II (Paperback)
The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II (ebook)
The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II (Paperback)
The Traitor's Wife (ebook)

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I am the author of two historical novels set in fourteenth-century England: The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II and Hugh and Bess. Both were reissued in 2009 by Sourcebooks.

My third novel, The Stolen Crown, is set during the Wars of the Roses. It features Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and his wife, Katherine Woodville, as narrators. My fourth novel, The Queen of Last Hopes,...more
More about Susan Higginbotham...
The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England Hugh and Bess: A Love Story The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou Her Highness, the Traitor The Prince Who Did Not Become King: Edward of Lancaster, 1453-1471

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