To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick

A book review

To Defy a King looks at the reign of King John of England from the perspective of a younger generation of the Marshal family than in Chadwick's earlier novel The Scarlet Lion. Set in the same general time period and driven by many of the same events of John's reign, it succeeds in being a quite different novel, gripping even for readers familiar with the The Scarlet Lion.

Mahelt is the eldest daughter of William Marshal, who served as Marshal of England for Henry II, then Richard the Lionheart, and now King John. Although she has been cherished and indulged, she, like every daughter of the nobility, has a value beyond her intrinsic value as a loved child. Her marriage to Hugh Bigod, the son of the wealthy and influential Earl of Norfolk, is expected to help cement the Marshal family's influence and position, and to maintain it in the next generation.

One of this novel's great strengths is its freshness and realism. Though spirited and determined, Mahelt is no twenty-first-century girl in medieval clothing. She accepts her role in linking two powerful families, well aware of its importance. Unlike her own family, however, the Bigods insulate women from politics and expect their unquestioning obedience. With her keen mind and an understanding of political affairs gleaned from both her parents as well as her own experience, Mahelt begins to realize as she matures that it is not only unfair to exclude her, it may be hazardous, especially when King John's greedy and suspicious nature begins to endanger not only the Marshal family but the Bigods.

With vivid immediacy, To Defy a King tells a story of politics in the vicious era leading to the Magna Carta. At the same time, it is a moving and sexy love story and, above all, the story of a woman who refused to tolerate demeaning and abusive treatment - even from her king - in a time when many women accepted it as their lot. (2011; 519 pages, including an Author's Note about the history behind the story, a Select Bibliography, and an Author Interview)