Alison Weir is widely known for her historical fiction, but she researches and writes historical biographies as well. Inspired as a young woman by Anya Seton's 1954 historical romance, Katherine, the popular novelist has always wanted to chronicle the lives of John of Gaunt and his long-term mistress and eventual third wife, Katherine Swynford. This book fulfills that dream. Despite its somewhat suggestive subtitle - "The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess" - this book was not intended to paint a lurid portrait of a couple who defied the conventions of their era, although the course their match took was anything but typical. Weir wrote it because Katherine is of great historical importance.



John of Gaunt (1340-1399) was a member of the House of Plantagenet. He was the son of Edward III of England and his wife, Philippa of Hainault. Gaunt, who was one of the most influential and powerful men of his age, was Dukd of Lancaster and of Aquitaine. Katherine, of humbler origin, was governess to Gaunt's children by his first wife, Blanche of Lancaster.

Gaunt fathered many children, both within and out of wedlock. Katherine bore Gaunt four children who were subsequently made legitimate after an appeal to the Pope when the couple married in 1396. Gaunt's ancestral line, both from his wives and his mistress, figured prominently in the War of the Roses. Katherine's son was the grandfather of Henry VII. Every monarch of England from Henry IV to Elizabeth II can trace ancestry back to John of Gaunt.

While records relating to Swynford are scant, those of Gaunt enable Weir to engage in enough intelligent speculation that a convincing portrait of Katherine does emerge from the text. Additionally, Swynford's sister Philippa married Geoffrey Chaucer, which allows Weir, with her customary attention to detail, to expand the scope of the biography and explore the political and cultural life of the times.

Narrator Judith Boyd has many exceptional audiobook recordings to her credit. She has recorded Ann Granger's mysteries and many other unabridged works of fiction and non fiction. Her voice is pleasing to the ear without being in any way distracting. Her enthusiastic and well-paced narration holds her audience's attention, even when relating complex and sophisticated historical events.