My Review of A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O'Brien

My Review of A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O'Brien


Anne O'Brien has expertly taken a real historical figure - Lady Constance Despenser, revived her and told her story in A Tapestry of Treason. Constance is a woman whom, initially, it's not too easy to sympathise with but you can't help but admire her as she's wonderfully abrasive and takes no prisoners. Constance only conforms to the societal feminine expectations of her time when she is forced to. I loved the title with its alliteration of something typically feminine: tapestry, with the masculine: treason. It sums up Constance superbly as a woman borne before her time, she'd be in the highest echelons of power if she were around today and deservedly so.

O'Brien depicts Constance as an intelligent political strategiser who sometimes gets carried away with ideas without seeing the pitfalls that are apparent to everyone else. I enjoy the way that she is assertive and not cowed in the presence of her so called betters, even if they are a king. I also applauded when she does not fall into the cliche of using her sexual whiles to get what she wants, seemingly unable to rouse desire in her husband it does not occur to her that she could in other men, but nor would she wish to.

The first person narrative allows the reader into Constance's innermost thoughts and means that we know this stupendously researched fictionalised version of her better than her own so called loved ones. The dramatic irony elicited by this device is where both the real sympathy and empathy are to be found for her character. Yes, Constance can be cruel and callous but as readers we understand why.

It's an epic read at almost double the length of many books but well worth the effort. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in the intrigues of the English royal court six hundred years ago. This was my first Anne O'Brien novel but it definitely won't be my last.

Thank you to Lily Capewell and @HQStories for my gifted copy.