The Stolen Crown

Carol McGrath

BEING a pawn in the game of kings would seem to be a princess’s fate but the widowed Empress Matilda – a granddaughter of the mighty William the Conqueror – has other ideas.

As heir to the throne of King Henry I, the 26-year-old is prepared to stand up to England’s most powerful men who believe women are not fit to rule, and fight for the royal destiny that she knows is rightfully hers.

Carol McGrath (pictured below), author of the acclaimed She-Wolves Trilogy, became fascinated by the strong women who were silenced by male-written records while completing a history degree, and was inspired to start exploring their lives. The result is a swathe of timely and refreshingly feminist retellings of some high-profile women of the past in enthralling novels feted for their intricacy, depth of research and powerful stories. And in this new historical odyssey, the Northern Irish author shines a spotlight on Matilda, the feisty widow of the Holy Roman Emperor who was thrust into first place in the line of English succession when her brother William drowned in a voyage across the Channel in 1120.

After some years of prevarication, the king declared that, should he die without a male heir, she was to be his rightful successor but what he didn’t reckon on was that not only would his barons and bishops rebel against his decision, but that Matilda’s cousin Stephen would make his own male claim to the throne and set in motion a turbulent period of medieval history which became known as the Anarchy.

When her brother died in a tragic accident on the Narrow Sea, Matilda (known as Maud) became the only legitimate child of Henry I. In 1127, now aged 26 and the childless widow of the Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich V, she is only too ready to one day rule England and Normandy.

But despite her father persuading his powerful barons to pledge allegiance to her, she is well aware that the ‘upstart abbots and vain, competing nobles’ do not like an independent woman and the headstrong Maud, who still regards herself as an empress and ranked higher even than a queen, is determined that they will submit to her firm hand once she is crowned. In her favour, Maud has three loyal supporters... her illegitimate half-brother Robert of Gloucester, her handsome childhood friend Brien Fitz Count whose warmth and care gives her the courage she needs, and Alice, the mummer and musician whose ‘clever way with herbs’ help to heal and ease discontent.

In the meantime, Henry arranges a strategically beneficial marriage for Maud to the 15-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou, a handsome but callow youth who makes a less than auspicious start to their married life. But when Henry dies, the country is plunged into instant chaos as her cousin Stephen of Blois – married to the icy heiress Matilda of Boulogne – claims the crown and forces Maud to race across England, evading capture as she goes, until she can win back the throne. The Anarchy has begun...

For centuries, Matilda’s strength, pride, fierce independence and single-mindedness have been labelled as unnatural and unwomanly but, by rescuing her from the jaws of male-dominated histories, McGrath has given this remarkable star of the Anarchy period the perfect stage on which to prove her impressive credentials. And by intertwining the complex and compelling Matilda’s action-packed and emotionally-charged story with that of a fictional young woman who becomes her close friend and ally, we see the dramatic course of the would-be queen’s life unfold from a double, and fascinating, perspective.

In her inimitable style, McGrath also fills the rollercoaster journey through almost twenty years of political and social upheaval with the rich and authentic period detail – whether that’s at court or away from the royal milieu – which her avid readers have come to admire. Packed with romance, real history, a cast of superbly imagined characters, and a thrilling account of some of the early years of the famous Plantagenet dynasty, The Stolen Crown is an entertaining tour-de-force. 
(Headline Accent, paperback, £10.99)