THE SAD STORY OF EDABELLA
by Colin Falconer
They are the original glamour supercouple;
everyone thinks they are just perfect for each other. He is lean, good-looking,
powerful and famous; she is beautiful, elegant and young. These days we would
give them one of those cutesy names like Brangella or Bennifer.
Edabella.
But here is the real situation: he has
married her because it is expected of him. He needs a wife to shore up his
public image and sons to take over the family business. And so he hides his
true sexual orientation from her, at least initially.
Here is her situation: she has married him
because he is appears a good match and his prospects appear excellent. There
was, it is true, quite a bit of pressure from her father, who is accustomed to
getting his own way with everyone.
After they are married she finds herself
starved of affection, and thinks initially that it is her fault. The fact that
her husband may not be straight has, as yet, not occurred to her. She has
nothing to compare him to.
But she bears his children and over the
years they become quite good friends. But something is missing from their
marriage, as she becomes acutely aware.
Now am I describing a situation from which
period in human history? If you said: ‘my friend just last week,’ you could be
correct. I know one relationship counsellor who tells me that one in every three men that she counsels
is ‘on the downlow;’ that is, they are married but don’t want to be - at least,
not with a woman. Some are having an affair, or are actively promiscuous, with
other men.
But what drew me to write about Isabella
and Edward was not only the poignancy of their story - but its sheer
timelessness.
What is here, behind the pageantry and the
wars, played out in the palaces of Westminster, the lonely abbeys of
Northumberland and the battlefields of Scotland, was a tragedy that still takes
place every day in this 21st century, though it is rarely openly discussed.
The main difference is that when such a
marriage of convenience comes to its sorry conclusion today, it does not bring
down the King of England or result in private assassination.
Many historians seem to me to have weighed this
tragic story through a prism, searching for a hero and a villain in it -
calling Isabella a she-wolf, or labelling Edward a hopeless dandy. But what if there
were no villains, except perhaps the same two ageless villains who still wreak
havoc today - silence and shame.
It is what I love most about history the
fiction that comes from it; it is not about stories that happened long ago with
no relevance today. I love it because history has so much to tell us about the
conflicts that dog our society, even centuries later.
Edabella were so much people of their time;
yet they are so much of our time as well.
ISABELLA,
Braveheart of France.
She was taught to obey. Now she has learned to
rebel.
12 year old Isabella, a French princess marries
the King of England - only to discover he has a terrible secret. Ten long years
later she is in utter despair - does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a
spiritual death - or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for
herself?
Isabella is just twelve years old when she
marries Edward II of England. For the young princess it is love at first sight
- but Edward has a terrible secret that threatens to tear their marriage - and
England apart.
Who is Piers Gaveston - and why is his presence
in the king’s court about to plunge England into civil war?
The young queen believes in the love songs of
the troubadours and her own exalted destiny - but she finds reality very
different. As she grows to a woman in the deadly maelstrom of Edward’s court,
she must decide between her husband, her children, even her life - and one
breath-taking gamble that will change the course of history.
This is the story of Isabella, the only woman
ever to invade England - and win.
In the tradition of Philippa Gregory and
Elizabeth Chadwick, ISABELLA is thoroughly researched and fast paced, the
little known story of the one invasion the English never talk about.
READ IT!
Trailer link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGBgmrsZLMA
Colin Falconer is the author of over twenty
historical novels. See his blog page to see more posts about history
and historical fiction.
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