I loved the richness, detail, and huge amount of research that went into making this novel such a fulfilling read. I savoured it, taking my time with reading it.

There were so many characters, but each felt real, flawed and constrained by their circumstance while battling with emotions.

Personally, I don't enjoy a cliffhanger ending (I much prefer a closed door, open window) but I'm eagerly awaiting the second installment

Jestem mocno zawiedziony ta ksiazka. Szukalem ciekawej powiesci historycznej i, mimo, ze sama otoczka historyczna jest tu swietna, to ksiazka nie ujela mnie. Po pierwsze wydawala sie mocno naiwna i pretenesjonalna. Bohaterowie caly czas rozmyslali na glos i tlumaczyli swoje postepowanie czytelnikowi. Caly watek historii milosnej pomiedzy siostra (a wlasciwie siostrami) Boleslawa a Olafem, 'wannabe' krolem Norwegow jest niesamowicie irracjonalny i karkolomnie zbudowany. Religijne egzaltacje bohaterow i ich ogolna duchowosc sa jeszcze bardziej nieprawdopodbne i, podobnie jak same postaci bohaterow, narysowane zdecydowanie zbyt wspolczesnie. Jest tez brak zachowania zgodnosci z historia i jej tlem spoleczno-kulturowym. Zaczynajac od jezyka a konczac na obrzadku religijnym. Bardzo szkoda, bo sam kontekst historyczny i wydarzenia dziejace sie naokolo byly wielce ciekawe. Szkoda tylko, ze wszystko zdawalo sie przebiegac gdzies poza scena. O ile jeszcze poczatek dawal nadzieje na rozwiniecie sie historii, to kiedy to nastapilo bylem mocno zawiedziony. Bolaly tez plytkie i infantylne profile bohaterow. Na plus mozna wymienic to, ze ksiazke czytalo sie latwo i napisana jest sprawnym jezykiem. Dzieki temu, pomimo, ze gruba na przeszlo 600 stron, konczy sie nadspodziewanie szybko ;)

Świętosława (pronounced shvee-in-toe-slah-vah) is one of the Duke of Poland's three daughters. As an aristocratic female in the Middle Ages, she will be married off to create an alliance with surrounding territories. Her brother Bolesław (boh-less-lahv) will succeed his father Mieszko (mee-esh-koh) as the Duke of Poland. The story takes place in the Middle Ages, beginning in the late 900s.

The other narrators in the book are men from outside Poland -- Olav Tryggvason in Rus (Russia/Belarus) and Sven the future King of Denmark. Sven begins in Denmark and travels to Poland, returning to his home with a new bride.

Mieszko's three daughters have their own preferences for which man they want to marry, but their father has other plans. It seems that the women are all unlucky in love, and part 2 of the novel follows the siblings (Bolesław included) in their new marriages.

The story is full of political intrigue between the various Scandinavian rulers. This makes for a slow novel, plodding along waiting for something to happen. The scenes with battles are short and don't add much excitement to the novel.

In all honesty, I only made it a third of the way through the audiobook. When I saw there were 15 hours left, I made the decision to cut my losses. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to the characters, and I wasn't interested in the plot.

I've listened to several audiobooks narrated by Cassandra Campbell, and this one holds up to her standard for great performances. She deftly pronounces all of the Polish names and places.

The audiobook is hard to follow with all the foreign names. I think it would be easier to keep track of in print, although you probably wouldn't be pronouncing the names right in your head.

Recommended only for fans of medieval historical fiction, especially those looking for a story that doesn't center around England.

Note: This novel was originally published in Polish as Harda (2016).

I received an electronic audio recording of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I also received a digital audio recording of this title from the publisher through Libro.fm as a librarian review copy. I read the latter edition.

Read the review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/widow-queen

The Widow Queen was far more expansive than I ever imagined it would be. From Poland, to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, even England! The story of this one woman touches so much of early medieval Europe, and she played such a significant role in so many things. This book does such a great job of capturing all that, with realistic historical detail, nuanced characters, and complex relationships. There are multiple POVs in this story, and they were all so interesting! I loved this book and I’m excited for the follow-up to be translated to English!

I did enjoy this book and am looking forward to reading the second one. This one really left you on a cliffhanger. I don't know a lot about the history of this area or the Vikings in general, although it is a topic that I've been meaning to start getting into a bit more. From my initial looks, it doesn't seem like there is much that is known for sure about this time and these people, so I'd go out on a limb and say it is way more fiction than historical. Regardless, it was an interesting read. My only issue... and maybe this will be fixed?... is that earlier on in the book there were some conversations that were not translated into English, and there was nothing to say what the characters were talking about. Because of that, I'd have given it 3.5 stars but since I can't do half stars, I rounded up.

The historical element is fairly good - the author clearly cares about the time period she researched. If this had been a non-fiction book, I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more. But as a piece of fiction, it lost me.

First of all, I went into the book believing it was about Świętosława aka Queen Sigrid. But most of it isn't. The book is divided into different POVs who, in the majority, are boring men. Even when we have an interesting premise - Olav looking for his mother -, the subplot is for some reason resolved off-screen. Świętosława, when given the time to shine, turns into a protagonist that, in other circumstances, I could've rooted for. But her protagonism, as well as other parts of the novel, are diminished by the absolutely awful romance subplot. Three sisters falling in love with the same man just by looking at him? And this silly infatuation lasts for decades despite the characters having zero chemistry and, really, not even knowing each other? What a disappointment.

Taka ocena niepewna, takie naciągane 3 - nie podszedł mi klimat, cały czas gadanie o tych chrztach, pełno jakichś postaci, które mnie w ogóle nie interesują, najlepiej by było jakby historia się skupiła na głównej bohaterce, bo ta cała reszta to za dużo i za długo. Takie do przesłuchania w tramwaju albo do sprzątania

This was a fascinating and delicious immersion into 10th century Europe, full of Vikings and kings, ruthless political struggles, conflict between paganism and Christianity, and several women holding their own as empresses and queens in a world run by men. While the uncertainty surrounding the real Swietoslawa’s life makes her part in this tale primarily one of conjecture, this is a beautiful tribute to a woman who was very nearly written out of history. I also wonder that in all my previous historical travels, I have never run across Theophanu before. Her life is better attested, but rarely discussed today. On the whole this was one of those books that pulled me into a world I’d never encountered before, and it left me with a burning need to learn more.