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A review by leahsbooks
The Widow Queen by Elżbieta Cherezińska
4.0
Rounded to 3.5 stars.
This book is a fascinating look at Polish history, and some lesser known figures. I'm partial to well-done historical fiction, especially that which focuses on times and places of which I have little to no knowledge of. And this one fits the bill.
My father spent his early years in Poland, and I've heard lots of spoken Polish, as well as seen it written. And despite my father's insistence that "words are pronounced exactly as they're spelled," I also know that my brain and mouth doesn't form these words easily (read: at all). So I chose to get the audiobook for this read. And while it made the names easier to understand, it also made it kind of difficult to keep track of everything. Because there's a LOT of information and characters throughout this book. Granted, it's nearly 24 hours long, but the narrator did a great job with the voices, accents, and Polish words, something that I would have struggled with reading this as a print book.
While the story mainly focuses on Swientoslawa, it also incorporates the people around her, including her brother, half-sisters, and other royal figures. The chapters and sections jump between different key players in the story, and while it was a struggle at times to keep track of everything, I chalked that mainly up to my reading this in audiobook format, rather than a shortcoming of the story.
Swientoslawa was such an intriguing character, and I loved the way her father held unusual views about the value of daughters. He raised three smart, loyal, and stubborn women who were well-versed in the politics of the time and had a great understanding of ruling. It touches on the clash between Christianity and older belief systems, and how that can create strife within a kingdom, as well as the sometimes ruthless way in which a religion is spread.
Despite the length of this book, I was always intrigued. It isn't slow moving at all, which is rare to find in a book of this length, and it held my attention from start to finish. I loved seeing how everything unfolded, even though the story ends on a cliffhanger. Now I have to just be patient for the next book to come out so I can find out what happens next.
This book is a fascinating look at Polish history, and some lesser known figures. I'm partial to well-done historical fiction, especially that which focuses on times and places of which I have little to no knowledge of. And this one fits the bill.
My father spent his early years in Poland, and I've heard lots of spoken Polish, as well as seen it written. And despite my father's insistence that "words are pronounced exactly as they're spelled," I also know that my brain and mouth doesn't form these words easily (read: at all). So I chose to get the audiobook for this read. And while it made the names easier to understand, it also made it kind of difficult to keep track of everything. Because there's a LOT of information and characters throughout this book. Granted, it's nearly 24 hours long, but the narrator did a great job with the voices, accents, and Polish words, something that I would have struggled with reading this as a print book.
While the story mainly focuses on Swientoslawa, it also incorporates the people around her, including her brother, half-sisters, and other royal figures. The chapters and sections jump between different key players in the story, and while it was a struggle at times to keep track of everything, I chalked that mainly up to my reading this in audiobook format, rather than a shortcoming of the story.
Swientoslawa was such an intriguing character, and I loved the way her father held unusual views about the value of daughters. He raised three smart, loyal, and stubborn women who were well-versed in the politics of the time and had a great understanding of ruling. It touches on the clash between Christianity and older belief systems, and how that can create strife within a kingdom, as well as the sometimes ruthless way in which a religion is spread.
Despite the length of this book, I was always intrigued. It isn't slow moving at all, which is rare to find in a book of this length, and it held my attention from start to finish. I loved seeing how everything unfolded, even though the story ends on a cliffhanger. Now I have to just be patient for the next book to come out so I can find out what happens next.