The She-Wolf

The She-Wolf
Maurice Druon

“This is the original Game of Thrones.” George R.R. Martin.Charles IV is now king of France and his sister is Edward II of England’s Queen. Having been imprisoned by Edward as leader of the rebellious English barons, Roger Mortimer escapes to France, where he joins the war against the English Aquitaine. But it is his love affair with Isabella, the ‘She-Wolf of France’, who has come seemingly to negotiate a treaty of peace that seals his fate…

Copyright (#ulink_f8edf9c9-02c2-5fa2-8715-989ed5dd9ead)

HarperVoyager

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First published in Great Britain by Rupert Hart-Davis 1960

Arrow edition 1988

First published in ebook in Great Britain 2014

Copyright © Maurice Druon 1955

Jacket layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

Cover illustration © Patrick Knowles

Maurice Druon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007492251

US Ebook Edition © March 2015 ISBN: 9780007591879

Version: 2015-01-07

‘History is a novel that has been lived’

E. & J. DE GONCOURT

‘It is terrifying to think how much research is needed to determine the truth of even the most unimportant fact’

STENDHAL

‘She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs, That tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate …’

THOMAS GRAY

Contents

Cover (#uf036770b-b710-59d8-8d79-03277fd0155c)

Title Page (#u46856f87-3179-54ff-84d8-ad425f84ae0f)

Copyright (#u1adcfe57-a77f-5a00-b93b-d735acdc4a8b)

Epigraph (#u9b5f5908-6a40-5a22-850e-90963bfabad6)

Foreword (#u2a50e686-88b4-5884-92e4-7980b68c842b)

The Characters in this Book (#u6207a875-fcb1-5c55-9146-fc1f9964a7f4)

Family Tree (#u690a8199-1475-51af-98fe-45bc2f3eaba5)

The She-Wolf of France (#ud7955524-5527-57b1-89a8-585fc9232a4b)

Prologue (#u0d517a0a-1751-5f74-87ce-ef26a9096014)

Part One: From the Thames to the Garonne (#u73bcadab-64cb-5621-aec9-e00d203670f2)

1. ‘No One ever Escapes from the Tower of London’ (#u58b3d6ae-5caa-59ee-8ace-21f22f325ca7)

2. The Harassed Queen (#ub846a71e-b5f4-5d8f-8f03-708e9a10d3fc)

3. Messer Tolomei has a New Customer (#u77ca178f-7849-5130-ac8e-ec726feef692)

4. The False Crusade (#u8388ab63-e334-5d85-b686-203af8438bd1)

5. A Time of Waiting (#litres_trial_promo)

6. The Bombards (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: Isabella in Love (#litres_trial_promo)

1. Dinner with Pope John (#litres_trial_promo)

2. The Holy Father’s Penance (#litres_trial_promo)

3. The Road to Paris (#litres_trial_promo)

4. King Charles (#litres_trial_promo)

5. The Cross of Blood (#litres_trial_promo)