The Forever Queen
Sometimes, a desperate kingdom is in need of one great woman
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
A USA Today Bestseller!
"Hollick does a remarkable job of bringing to life a little known but powerful queen... an absorbing plot that never lags over the course of a fat, satisfying book."—Publishers Weekly
Sometimes, a desperate kingdom is in need of one great woman
Saxon England, 1002. Not only is Æthelred a failure as King, but his young bride, Emma of Normandy, soon discovers he is even worse as a husband. When the Danish Vikings, led by Swein Forkbeard and his son, Cnut, cause a maelstrom of chaos, Emma, as Queen, must take control if the Kingdom-and her crown-are to be salvaged. Smarter than history remembers, and stronger than the foreign invaders who threaten England's shores, Emma risks everything on a gamble that could either fulfill her ambitions and dreams or destroy her completely.
Emma, the Queen of Saxon England, comes to life through the exquisite writing of Helen Hollick, who shows in this epic tale how one of the most compelling and vivid heroines in English history stood tall through a turbulent fifty-year reign of proud determination, tragic despair, and triumph over treachery.
What Reviewers Are Saying
"Hollick is a master at making each historic scene come alive in the mind of a character with the most to lose... rich, tasty, sugary sludge of historical fiction... the best the genre has to offer."—Historical Novels Review
"Brilliant prose, historical accuracy, and rich detail bring this violent era to life. The Forever Queen stands as a well-detailed biographical account of one of England's strongest, most determined queens."— Historical Novel Review Blog
"A rich and descriptive tapestry of Anglo Saxon history, warring factions, political intrigue and betrayal, brutal violence, and yes, love."—Queen of Happy Endings
Praise for Helen Hollick
"A very talented writer."—Sharon Kay Penman, bestselling author of Devil's Brood
"If only all historical fiction could be this good." —Historical Novels Review
"Hollick juggles a large cast of characters and a bloody, tangled plot with great skill."—Publishers Weekly
"Helen Hollick has it all. She tells a great story." —Bernard Cornwell
(This book was previously published in the U.K. as THE HOLLOW CROWN.)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hollick gets medieval in this excellent historical. As a young teenager, Emma of Normandy is married off to Aethelred of England to secure an alliance in 1002 C.E., and though initially frightened of her crude and violent husband, she soon learns that his bluster is a cover for his weakness and cowardice. When Aethelred dies, his throne is taken by a Viking usurper, Cnut, who claims Emma along with the crown. In him, Emma finds a love that she doesn't expect, but constant political treachery threatens their marriage, their lives, and the inheritance of their children. Hollick does a remarkable job of bringing to life a little known but powerful queen, as well as the milieu and world she inhabited. The scope is vast and the cast is huge, but Hollick remains firmly in control, giving readers an absorbing plot that never lags over the course of a fat, satisfying book. The Midnight Show MurdersAl Roker and Dick LochteDelacorte, $26 (304p) TV weatherman Roker and crime veteran Lochte's fast-paced, exciting sequel to The Morning Show Murders takes Roker's alter ego, Billy Blessing, a TV personality on a Today-like show in Manhattan, to Los Angeles. Billy's network bosses have tapped him to be the first weekly guest announcer of a new show, O'Day at Night, hosted by Irish comedian Des O'Day. When a bomb explosion blows an important cast member to bits on the set of O'Day at Night, Billy once again turns sleuth. The case awakens unpleasant memories of the beginning of Billy's career as a cook in L.A. when he unsuccessfully tried to undermine the alibi of Roger Charbonnet, an arrogant but well-connected young chef suspected of killing Tiffany Arden, a failed starlet turned restaurant bookkeeper. A cop who remembers the Arden murder thinks Roger may have been responsible for the bombing. Wry humor lifts this above most celebrity-written fiction.
