Bennett lacks passion in `Queen`s Lover`

New Delhi: If ever there was a poor little princess, it was Catherine de Valois.

Born to the mad King Charles VI of France and the unfaithful — some would say depraved — Queen Isabeau, Catherine grows up neglected, often lacking food, clean clothing and supervision. She seeks escape in marriage with King Henry V, who is in the midst of overrunning France after winning a decisive victory at Agincourt in 1415. But Henry dies shortly after the birth of their only child, leaving Catherine struggling to raise their son among unfriendly English and in-laws eager to use the young King Henry VI to their advantage. "The Queen`s Lover," Vanora Bennett`s fictional look at the real princess, focuses on Catherine`s relationship with Owain Tudor, a courtier to King Henry V who eventually becomes the princess` second husband. Their grandson ended the War of the Roses with a politically savvy marriage to another potential heir to the throne and founded the Tudor dynasty as King Henry VII. Catherine is born in the midst of the Hundred Years War in which the kings of France and England battled for control of France. Joan of Arc helped put her brother back on the throne of France after her mad father and ambitious husband agreed to remove him in favor of Catherine`s son. But Catherine herself was relatively sheltered, first controlled by her mother and then by her son`s regents. This lack of public life — common among medieval women — is the main weakness in Bennett`s tale: Catherine observes great events but largely does not participate in or influence them. Bennett works with what she has, making Catherine the instigator in the royal marriage with Henry V and creating a scene between Catherine and Joan of Arc. But mostly, her Catherine is passive and powerless, waiting for others to decide her fate. While the portrayal may accurately reflect the role of women in that time, it doesn`t make for a driving plot. Bennett also devotes much space to Catherine and Owain`s supposed relationship with Christine de Pizan, the greatest French writer of their time and a member of Isabeau`s court. She uses de Pizan as a plot device, having the writer befriend Owain and introduce him to Catherine. This allows the two to meet as teens instead of, as is historically more likely, adults when Owain is part of Henry V`s forces in France. But Bennett continues to involve de Pizan in the plot long after it`s needed, making her the third wheel in a romance built for two. Catherine`s story is interesting and her romance with Owain changed the course of English history. But Bennett`s telling is long-winded at nearly 600 pages. A tightly edited version that moved more quickly through the highlights of the couple`s secret romance might have been more compelling.