The Widow Queen is a dense, well-researched reimagining of Polish history. It takes place from 984 to 997, and we presumably follow Świętosława, a daughter of Mieszko I, the first ruler of Poland. That being said, I think more of the book follows the men in her life than her though she is still a prominent figure.

I’m not going to lie, I struggled a bit through this one. For one, this is not an area of history I’m familiar with so sometimes I had a hard time keeping the names straight. The fact that all of the men seemed to have the same “conquer everything” personality didn’t help with that, though I guess in some respects the similar personalities made sense. 

My biggest issue with this book is that it doesn’t seem to have a plot. Cherezińska takes us through a lot of the key moments of this era but just when the book seems like it’s going to have its climax and resolution the book ends. Presumably the completed duology will read as a cohesive narrative; however, I’m not sure if I will pick up the sequel.