If you’re in the mood for a  quick historical fiction fix, pick up a copy of Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham.  Author of The Trailor’s Wife, Higginbotham spins a romantic tale that will make you laugh and leave you smiling, while guiding you through the early reign of King Edward III.

book description:

“Forced to marry Hugh le Despenser, the son and grandson of disgraced traitors, Bess de Montacute, just 13 years old, is appalled at his less-than-desirable past. Meanwhile, Hugh must give up the woman he really loves in order to marry the reluctant Bess. Far apart in age and haunted by the past, can Hugh and Bess somehow make their marriage work?

Just as walls break down and love begins to grow, the merciless plague endangers all whom the couple holds dear, threatening the life and love they have built.

Award-winning author Susan Higginbotham’s impeccable research will delight avid historical fiction readers, and her enchanting characters will surely capture every reader’s heart. Fans of her first novel, The Traitor’s Wife, will be thrilled to find that this story follows the next generation of the Despenser family.”

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I posted my book review a couple of weeks ago, but to reiterate I will post it again:

This is a romantic story of the relationship between Hugh le Despenser (son of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester) and his wife, Bess. After reading so many books in a row lacking chivalrous characters (The Last Queen, My Enemy the Queen, Forever Amber) it was very enjoyable to get to know this Hugh, who was not only a gentleman, but also very funny.

Both Hugh’s father and grandfather were executed by Queen Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer. He spent years imprisoned and even more proving his loyalty to the new King Edward III, fighting the Scots and then the French. Bess was not inclined to marry a traitor’s son, but soon began to know him for a good man. She really grows up throughout this novel and shows great courage through the Plague of 1348-1349.

I read The Traitor’s Wife a couple of years ago which is a lengthy and detailed story of Hugh le Despenser (the father of the Hugh from Hugh and Bess) as told through the eyes of his wife, Eleanor. Since I had the history still in the back of my mind I was able to understand more of this new novel, which is almost a continuation, as the writing is so similar.

I didn’t quite like Edward III, but I think he was the closest to an evil antagonist in this story, as well as Joan of Kent. I remember reading of her in The First Princess of Wales by Karen Harper and found the same events in both books, but with slightly different details. Joan was a doomed character from the start in this novel because she marries our protagonist’s brother and soon shows she is not what she seems. In Karen Harper’s book she is the protagonist and so the story revolved more around her plight.

Hugh and Bess is a quick read at 275 pages, but it is fun and, with more modern wording, a nice break from heavy reads with never-ending historical detail – which I love, but sometimes need to step away to freshen my mind with a more simplified read.

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If you can’t get enough Despenser, you’ll really enjoy The Traitor’s Wife.  There is no abridgement here on the reign of Edward II.  Through his niece’s eyes, you see the king, his court and constant problems among the nobles and the favorites.

book description:

“A bewitching tale of treachery and betrayal set in fourteenth-century England, The Traitor’s Wife tells the story of Eleanor de Clare, a young woman who becomes entangled in a twisted web of royal affairs.

Young Eleanor, niece of King Edward II, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella’s household. But before long, Eleanor realizes that her beloved Uncle Edward is not the mighty ruler his kingdom — or his queen — expected.

Hugh’s unbridled ambition and his intimate relationship with Edward arouse widespread resentment, even as Eleanor remains fiercely loyal to her husband and to her king. However, her allegiance may cost her dearly.

From the battlefield to the bedchamber and through hope and despair, treachery and fidelity, The Traitor’s Wife is a tale of an extraordinary woman living in an extraordinary time.”

Read more about this book at the following sites:

Musings of a Bibliophile (7/28)

Passages to the Past (8/1)

My Friend Amy (8/1)

Reading Adventures (8/2)

Jennifer’s Random Musings (8/2)

Peeking Between the Pages (8/3)

Historical Novels.info (8/3)

Grace’s Book Blog (8/4)

The Written World (8/5)

Mrs. Magoo Reads (8/5)

Jenn’s Bookshelf (8/6)

The Tome Traveller’s Weblog (8/7)

Galley Cat (8/8)

Book Addiction (8/9)

Steven Till (8/10)

Medieval Bookworm (8/11)

Carla Nayland (8/11)

The Literate Housewife Review (8/12)

Diary of an Eccentric (8/13)

Bookfoolery and Babble (8/14)