Day of Sun and Glory: The King’s Greatest Enemy, Book 2
1321, and there is rebellion in England. Adam de Guirande, whom we met in the first book of this superb new series, In the Shadow of the Storm, has just about survived the fallout from Roger Mortimer’s attempted coup. Those who served Mortimer are at risk of being branded a traitor by the King, Edward II, and his beloved chancellor, Hugh Despenser. Adam finds himself skating on thin ice when Mortimer escapes the Tower of London and flees to France; Adam has to keep himself and his family safe, but luckily his spirited wife, Kit and Queen Isabella prove to be a staunch allies.
This is an engrossing story of love, hate, intrigue and the fight to survive in one of England’s most troubled periods of history. It is about a man attempting to keep himself and those he cherishes safe. It is about kings, queens and knights, plots, counterplots, loyalty and treachery. And Anna Belfrage pulls off the compelling narrative with skilful ease, keeping the reader turning the pages, catching our breath, biting our lip, laughing out loud or sobbing with pent-up despair. She has the remarkable ability to grab her reader by the throat, hurl us into the story and wring us through every possible emotion until we reach the last page – and even then, leave us eager for more!
It is a book with some ‘romantic’ detail in places: Kit and Adam are a couple very much in love (and this is an adult book for adult readers with adult scenes). It is an historical novel that is so believably real you can almost feel that you are there watching intently as the lives, loves and fears of these characters unfold.
This is what all historical fiction should be like. Superb.
