Will I love The Lost Queen?

I love historical fiction, and this is another very fine example. I had to refer to the historical note as I was so taken by a piece of history--another revealing of suppressed women's history--and to realize how her story fits into the Arthur "myth."

This book stayed with me long after I finished it.

What gripped me most was the way Signe Pike gave Languoreth fierce humanity, a woman, well, a girl, who was given to royal marriage, had a good husband, yet, for all her childish love affair, still took on a lover. This story pitted family against family, friend against friend, in the political upheaval of Christianity against paganism.

I felt Pike captured Languoreth's torn heart beautifully, with every unfairness to every heart entwined in her decisions. I also appreciated the deep dive into the Arthurian historicity of the story in the… show more.

So many brilliant authors have explored the Arthurian legends that I had trouble believing that there could be more to say. Signe Pike, though, researched the earliest appearance of the legend of Merlin and traced it, surprisingly, to 6th-century Scotland where she set this tale. Merlin and his sister are given their early Celtic names, Lailoken and Languoreth and there is a Scottish/Celtic feel to the book that evokes that historical time and place. I was particularly moved by Pike’s exploration of the dilemma of the peace-weaving queen, forced to choose between loyalty to her birth family and… show more.