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The Maid of the White Hands: The Second of the Tristan and Isolde Novels Kindle Edition
Across the sea in France, a young princess who shares Isolde's name enters the story. King Hoel named his daughtor in honor of Isolde of Ireland, and young Isolde of France has always been determined to outdo her beautiful namesake. She is a physician, too, and is called "Blanche Mains," for her white hands and healing touch. Blanche is of an age to be married, and she has chosen her husband—Tristan of Lyonesse. Her father objects, but fate favors Blanche. King Mark has become suspicious of his wife and nephew, and when Tristan is wounded in battle, he sees a chance to separate them for good.
Mark sends Tristan to France to be healed by Blanche, who makes the most of the opportunity. Tristan's letters to Isolde are intercepted, and he is told that she has given him up. Near death from his wounds, Tristan sends one last, desparate letter to Isolde by a trusted servant. He is dying, he tells her, and asks for one final sign of their love. If she can forgive him for betraying her, she must come to France in a ship set with white sails. If the ship's sails are black, however, he will know that she no longer loves him. Isolde immediately leaves for France, but when Blanche sees the white-sailed ship from the castle window, she pulls the curtains and tells Tristan that the sails are black. To her horror, he turns his face to the wall and dies.
There ends the traditional medieval story of Tristan and Isolde—with betrayal, death, and grief. But the original Irish lengend ends differently, and so does this book, wth magic and drama as only Rosalind Miles could write it.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherCrown
- Publication dateDecember 18, 2007
- File size2279 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Across the sea in France, a young princess who shares Isolde's name enters the story. King Hoel named his daughtor in honor of Isolde of Ireland, and young Isolde of France has always been determined to outdo her beautiful namesake. She is a physician, too, and is called "Blanche Mains," for her white hands and healing touch. Blanche is of an age to be married, and she has chosen her husband Tristan of Lyonesse. Her father objects, but fate favors Blanche. King Mark has become suspicious of his wife and nephew, and when Tristan is wounded in battle, he sees a chance to separate them for good.
Mark sends Tristan to France to be healed by Blanche, who makes the most of the opportunity. Tristan's letters to Isolde are intercepted, and he is told that she has given him up. Near death from his wounds, Tristan sends one last, desparate letter to Isolde by a trusted servant. He is dying, he tells her, and asks for one final sign of their love. If she can forgive him for betraying her, she must come to France in a ship set with white sails. If the ship's sails are black, however, he will know that she no longer loves him. Isolde immediately leaves for France, but when Blanche sees the white-sailed ship from the castle window, she pulls the curtains and tells Tristan that the sails are black. To her horror, he turns his face to the wall and dies.
There ends the traditional medieval story of Tristan and Isolde with betrayal, death, and grief. But the original Irish lengend ends differently, and so does this book, wth magic and drama as only Rosalind Miles could write it.
From the Back Cover
Across the sea in France, a young princess who shares Isolde's name enters the story. King Hoel named his daughtor in honor of Isolde of Ireland, and young Isolde of France has always been determined to outdo her beautiful namesake. She is a physician, too, and is called "Blanche Mains," for her white hands and healing touch. Blanche is of an age to be married, and she has chosen her husband—Tristan of Lyonesse. Her father objects, but fate favors Blanche. King Mark has become suspicious of his wife and nephew, and when Tristan is wounded in battle, he sees a chance to separate them for good.
Mark sends Tristan to France to be healed by Blanche, who makes the most of the opportunity. Tristan's letters to Isolde are intercepted, and he is told that she has given him up. Near death from his wounds, Tristan sends one last, desparate letter to Isolde by a trusted servant. He is dying, he tells her, and asks for one final sign of their love. If she can forgive him for betraying her, she must come to France in a ship set with white sails. If the ship's sails are black, however, he will know that she no longer loves him. Isolde immediately leaves for France, but when Blanche sees the white-sailed ship from the castle window, she pulls the curtains and tells Tristan that the sails are black. To her horror, he turns his face to the wall and dies.
There ends the traditional medieval story of Tristan and Isolde—with betrayal, death, and grief. But the original Irish lengend ends differently, and so does this book, wth magic and drama as only Rosalind Miles could write it.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The worst of the winter storms lashed the Western Isle. Raging seas beat on the ancient citadel of Dubh Lein and the night-riding demons howled through the sky overhead. But in the Queen's Chamber the air was hushed and still.
One tall candle lit the figure on the bed. Her white silk shift gleamed in the torchlight shining from the walls, and on her hand she wore the ancient ring of Queens. Beneath the billowing blood-red canopy, the long elegant body and strong face were as beautiful as ever they had been in her life. But the skin had the pallor of oncoming death, and the long henna-colored hair streamed out on the pillows as if the sleeper had already been laid to rest in the quiet earth.
A low fire burned sadly on the hearth, and standing braziers warmed the far corners of the room. Moving to and fro on silent feet, the Queen's women fed the glowing coals with sweet herbs, rosemary, thyme, and rue. They took care not to disturb the tall, hawk-faced old man watching by the bed. Imposing as he was, after so many long hours and days he was part of the sickroom now.
Hovering by the door, the youngest of the maids wept and wrung her hands. "She should be in the infirmary. That's the place to die."
"Hush, child."
The chief attendant placed a comforting finger on the girl's trembling lips. "All the Queens of Ireland die in this bed. Her mother and her mother's mother went from here to the Otherworld. As Queen Isolde will, when her time comes."
Isolde . . .
A sudden gust of wind stirred the shadows in the room. Clustered around the walls, countless swan lamps flickered and danced, each tiny flame sheltered by upreared wings. The warm light played over the crimson hangings of the bed, the low gnarled ceiling, and the cream-washed walls, and lingered lovingly on the still watcher keeping his solitary vigil in the shining gloom.
"Young Queen Isolde?" The little maid's tearstained face lit with the memory of a merry laugh and a cloud of glowing hair. "She'll be coming back now, won't she? She'll be our next Queen?" Her eyes moved uncertainly to the still figure in the bed. "If . . . ?"
"When the Queen dies, yes," said the older woman with soft certainty. "Ireland has always obeyed the Mother-right. The throne has passed from mother to daughter since time was born. Isolde will be Queen."
Fools! How could they be so sure?
The hooded figure standing beside the bed wrinkled his lips in a savage snarl. Didn't they hear the booted feet below, the clink of spurs, the rattling of swords? Didn't they know that the wolves were already gathering, drawn by the scent of blood? He looked down. Why, even the unconscious woman lying here knew that her knights and lords had come to carve up her kingdom before she had breathed her last.
And before her rightful heir could return to claim her throne. The old man gave another silent snarl. How many ages had the throne of the Western Isle passed down from mother to daughter in the line of queens? Yet every rising generation was at the mercy of rapacious men. He raised his eyes to the ceiling in a furious prayer. Hurry, Isolde, hurry, or you will come too late!
In the chamber below, the young knight leaned back and looked around with a challenging stare.
"She's our next Queen, you say. Tell us then, Gilhan, why isn't she here?"
The knight at the head of the table smiled thinly and eyed the speaker as coldly as he dared. So Breccan was already questioning Isolde's right to the throne? This was going to be worse than he thought.
"Rest assured, Sir Breccan," he said with elaborate courtesy, "Queen Isolde will be with us soon."
"She's still in Camelot with the High King and Queen?"
Gilhan nodded. "Visiting on behalf of her husband, King Mark."
"But has she been sent for?" Breccan's hard gaze fastened on Gilhan. "Does she know that the old Queen's dying--that you're ready to make her our Queen?"
Gilhan felt a strong tremor of unease.
"Not yet," he replied calmly, schooling himself to ignore Breccan's predatory air and the equally hard-faced men seated on either side. Breccan's knights were already feared throughout Dubh Lein. No one would be surprised if their master seized the chance to advance himself and them.
"I'll send to her now." Breccan nodded to the tallest of his knights. "You'll go, Ravigel." He turned back to Gilhan. "He's the best man I've got."
"Not so, Sir Breccan," said Gilhan silkily. "I am Lord of the Council. I shall send word." Swiftly he reviewed the assembled company with growing doubt. Who could he count on? Who would support him here?
He did not need to look at the dark, brooding figure on his left, staring at Breccan as if he were a scorpion, to know that this man at least was loyal to the rule of Queens. Ireland had been the Sacred Island of the Druids as far back as any man could count. As Chief of the Druids in the Western Isle, Cormac would defend the Mother-right to the death.
But the Queen had rarely summoned Cormac to court. When she sought his mystical wisdom, she traveled to the Druids' secret grove, a world away. Gilhan suppressed a sigh. Cormac's life in the green heart of the forest, a living world of sweetness, faith, and trust, was a poor preparation for the false smiles and hidden knives at court.
Who else was there? Gilhan glanced around the long table with a sinking heart. The dying Queen had been a creature of fierce and fleeting passions, governed by her body's every whim. Too many of these men had been her lover, some for one night alone, and all of them discarded sooner or later for another man. Hardly the way, Gilhan reflected grimly, to secure their loyalty now.
And others, however faithful in the past, would run with the pack to greet the rising sun. Take Vaindor, thought Gilhan with dry disdain, watching an imposing older knight smiling with approval on Breccan and his band. It was a long time since Vaindor, one of the Queen's former champions, had played any significant role at the court of Dubh Lein. Breccan had only to flatter Vaindor's arrogance and the knight would be his for life. Others too could be easily influenced. Take old Doneal there, restlessly drumming his battle-scarred fingers on the table: if Breccan offered him the smell of blood and the excitement of a raid, he'd leap at the chance to swing a sword again.
Indeed, after the long, dull years of the Queen's decline, most of them would rally behind a leader who offered them war, when all the country wanted was peace. Gods above, Gilhan lamented inwardly, where are the men of strength and honor we used to have? Where are the older knights whom the Queen in her excesses drove away? Even one of them now would be worth his weight in gold--old Fideal, say, or any of her former champions, who in her younger days had loved her more than the world. But Fideal was one of many who had gone away from court, determined to seek a simpler way of life. Who was left? Gilhan forced himself to stifle his concern. Cormac the Druid might prove to be the only ally he had.
He turned on Breccan. "Why the unseemly haste?" he said sternly. "The Queen's soul is passing into the Beyond. We are here to honor the Mother-right and prepare for Isolde's return."
Breccan smiled at him, a white show of handsome teeth. "Are we so?"
Gilhan made his voice soft and dangerous. "Do you question that?"
"Never!" Breccan widened his eyes in an innocent stare. "But some think the Mother-right is a thing of the past. They say the Romans brought in the rightful rule of men when they tossed their troublesome women off the nearest rock."
Sir Doneal's old eyes lit with reminiscent fire. "Still, our warrior queens showed the Romans a thing or two. Great battles, eh?" He chuckled. "And thousands of dead Romans piled in heaps for the crows!"
"Old days, old ways," said Gilhan forcefully. "The Romans are long gone."
Breccan hid a teasing grin. Oh, how he loved tormenting these old fools! "But the Christians are here. And where Christians rule, the days of the Queens are done."
Gilhan's face darkened. "Is this the fate you foresee for our Queens?" He paused, weighing his words. "Where's your loyalty, sir?"
"What?" Breccan's hand flew to his sword. "You dare to question my loyalty, Gilhan? When my kin have been champions of the Throne since time began?" He gestured to the knight seated on his left. "When my own brother was the Queen's last chosen one?"
"Sir Tolen, yes."
Gilhan treated the slumped figure beside Breccan to a pitiless stare. Yes, Breccan came from the island's leading clan, a long line of men chosen to be royal champions and companions of the couch, all loyal, brave, and born with a flashing charm. As the last of many men favored by Ireland's queens, Tolen had been an inevitable choice ten years ago, almost too handsome to be borne, gifted with raw sensuality and feral grace.
But the horizontal hours and self-indulgent years had taken their toll. How had this bloated, red-faced ruin of a man ever graced the Queen's bed? And how must Breccan resent his older brother's favored place with the Queen, when he, younger, fitter, faster, bolder, and hungrier, was forced to prowl the wilderness beyond the gates, barred from the enchanted place of love and power?
Tolen felt their gaze and stirred. "What?"
"It's nothing, Tolen. Nothing to do with you," snapped Breccan. "Now Gilhan, about the Queen . . ."
Gilhan sat very still. A fearful vision of the future unfolded before his eyes. He saw a world without the rule of Queens, where chosen ones li...
Product details
- ASIN : B000XUAEIK
- Publisher : Crown (December 18, 2007)
- Publication date : December 18, 2007
- Language : English
- File size : 2279 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 354 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,093,282 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,014 in Historical Fantasy Fiction
- #2,023 in Medieval Historical Fiction (Books)
- #4,793 in Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
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There's a heroine who fits every stereotype of the "classic heroine": Fair/pale, bright hair, paragon of beauty, symbolizes absolute virtues of goodness which is never justified but supposed to be assumed, is a poor poor princess with men falling over themselves at first sight. Seems to get out of tough scraps by mysteriously whipping out talents introduced as weak plot devices.
You have a seductress who fits every stereotype of slattern possible: Darker featured, sumptuous in dress, powerful man cannot resist her charms, naturally an antagonist of the floppy heroine that does nothing all day but apparently but radiate "goodness" out of her arse as a counterpoint to the evil charms. Seems to do not much more than wear dresses in various shades of green, and fawn all over a king in a lascivious manner.
The dashing knight of the day who fits every stereotype of "heroism": Upright and honest to the point of stupidity, has no sense of self-preservation beyond bravely living off twigs or whatever you'd eat in a forest, thinks of nothing but reunited himself to the Maiden with White Hands. Dude, you are sooo smitten with this chick, but her kind manner and nice hands is ALL you can remember? I guess these two drips deserve each other.
These books make wonderful shelf fillers.
The story plods on with Tristan and Isolde losing each other, and finding each other again and again. It is an okay read but the tale is not told with much passion or intensity. The mushy prose expressed by Tristan and Isolde, of their inner thoughts, is at times somewhat nauseating.
I've read all of Rosalind Miles novels and this is by far the worst one to date. It's passable read if you have no other book to occupy your time. It is not in the same class of novels as Mile's novel "I, Elizabeth." This was a novel that surpassed all my expectations of a captivating, all encompassing novel.
Since I first read the story by Beroul, in High School, many, many years ago, I loved it. So beautiful yet so tragic. Cross-stared lovers in the resemblance of Romeo and Juliette. How magnificent!
But I have never read of a sadder Tristan, even to the point of being ridiculous, and taking this book into account, I wonder how Tristan and Isolde and their love story have made it through time.
Period.
Isolde becomes queen in her own right and Andred continues to conspire against Tristan to secure his own place as the named successor of King Mark of Cornwall. The newest character in the mix will not be new to anyone familiar with the Isolde and Tristan tragedy...Blanche - Princess of France. It certainly gives nothing away to say that ruthlessness, treachery, and deceit continue to work against the steadfast love between Tristan and Isolde. It would, however, give much away to tell you if their love endures... in life...or in death.
Miles continues her skillfull mastery of English and Irish legend in a way that makes this book enticing, exciting, and well worth reading. The only thing preventing me from giving this book 5 stars is that I cannot help but compare it to the Guenivere series and I found her take on that tale just a bit more unique to a ledgend I had heard before. This book does follow the traditional tragedy a bit more closely but she spins a wonderful new tale despite the longevity of the original source.