I rounded this up to 4 stars..maybe 3.75 or so, and the reason is, I felt the characters were not as developed as they could have been. Elfrida was pretty much ruled by her passions,especially for Edgar, and I am not sure that did her justice. She was after all an important figure as Queen and Dowager Queen for many years, but it was a novel after all.
M.J.Porter, in his quite excellent historical note, probably explains this, as he says that: first, it is the least historical novel he has written and, secondly, that he usually focuses on men in this period. The author bases most of his sources on contemporary accounts, which is good. He also says that were he to write a sequel it would be of Elfrida and be ten years later.
Edgar,known as 'The Peaceful', although we did not get into much of this in this tale, was the first King of all England. He built a very large navy and kept the Danes from pillaging as well as keeping peace in the Danelaw. Shires and Hundreds were briefly mentioned as he met with his Eldermen as well as his and his Queen's support of monastic reform.
He died at only 33 years of age but I think there were some very good years that could be part of a sequel or two. Overall I did like the book and am going to look at others this prolific writer had penned.
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