My Lady's Shadow

by Coirle Mooney

A page-turning Medieval drama you don’t want to miss! For fans of Philippa Gregory, Elizabeth Chadwick, Carol McGrath and Anne O’Brien.

Will Maria find a way to change her destiny…?

1198, France

Lady Maria of Turenne has long been engaged in a flirtation with Count Hugh La Marche. It is a match which her father has strongly encouraged. However, Maria is her own woman and she is determined to choose for herself. Maria is unaware that her clever, scheming maid, Maryse, is secretly in love with the count.

Soon after, the young troubadour, Gui d’Ussel, arrives at the castle and Maria is instantly captivated by him. He shares her distaste of convention and her love of the arts and they soon become inseparable. Meanwhile, Maryse develops a strong dislike for Gui and her resentment for Maria grows.

Angered by her treatment of the Count of La Marche, Maria’s father has arranged a new wedding match. This time, Maria will not be allowed to decline.

Forced into marrying a wealthy viscount against her will, Maria and Gui are torn apart from each other. However, Maria is determined to find a way to use the power she has gained through marriage to raise Gui in society.

Will Maria and Gui find a way to be together? Can Maria escape her marriage?

Or will they be fated to remain apart?

MY LADY’S SHADOW is a beautifully written Medieval historical novel set in 12th-century France.

Genres: Historical

245 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 19, 2022

Reviews

[Mr Robin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book by Irish author Coirle Mooney, who is known as a writer of fictional historical stories. My Lady’s Shadow is based in southern France’s Languedoc, in the time of Philippe Augustus (the French monarch from 1180 to 1223) in the now very modern region of Occitanie with the capital Toulouse. The story’s main character is Maryse who is indeed the shadow (or attending lady) for the young Lady Maria of Turenne. Lady Maria had been courted for a lengthy period by a local count, but she had insisted that she would remain superior if they were to marry and the count refused to accept this and went off to the crusades, leaving Maria without a suitable candidate for marriage. This was not acceptable to her father, who insists she must choose a husband quickly and then provides three gentlemen from which she must choose. Apparently, this is the sort of thing that goes on in medieval times and Lady Maria eventually picks an elderly widowed Viscount, who at least has an estate but has no heir yet. Maria does not love this man, but that seems to be unimportant at this level in the community. Lady Maria, of course, finds a secret and much younger lover elsewhere! Maryse, as my Lady’s shadow, decides she also ought to be married, before she gets too old, so she agrees to marry an aged yeoman who was quite wealthy but of no significant status. So the story goes on with various interesting characters, including Lady Maria’s younger sisters for example, both of whom agree to marry people they really do not love, but who are of appropriate status. Later in the book Maryse finds a way to avoid marrying the old yeoman and ends up finding someone she does love; how she gets there I am going to leave to you to find out, as there are many surprising twists and turns on the way, with a behaviour that is acceptable to all in the French twelve century. Many thanks go to Sapere for the review copy.

[Ann-Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in the late 1100s in France I was curious to read this book as it was set in a period I know very little about – the time of ‘Courtly love’. The story centres around Maria, daughter of a Viscount, and her maid Maryse. Maria is betrothed to Count Hugh La Marche but falls in love with Gui, a troubadour, whilst Maryse is secretly in love with the Count. Maria is forced to marry a man of her father’s choosing and Maryse conducts numerous affairs. Sadly I found both main characters unlikable and the whole story uninteresting. I found it odd that people held debates by writing and reading poetry, the winner being the one who writes the best poem. Not for me I’m afraid.

Thanks to Sapere Books for a review copy.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow burn

This book started out really slow for me and I almost gave up on it. I'm certainly glad I didn't. The relationship between the two women coming full circle is very endearing. I will admit though that I didn't like either of them until the very end. Although the title states it takes place in France, I didn't see to much acknowledgment of it. Rate it 3.5 stars.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the usual amount of court intrigue that I would expect. It does seem to drag a bit at times. I just can’t get too excited about this time period.
Thanks to the publisher for the copy

[Cheryl]

DNF