I have never read anything like Lear Wife.
The book opens with Queen Lear being told that her husband and daughters are dead, and from the abbey King Lear banished her to, she slowly tells her story. She tells us of her memories of her first husband Michael, of her marriage to Lear, of Kent, of her relationship with her daughters and the failure to bear a male heir. All are weaved seamlessly into the present events unfolding at the convent.
J R Thorpe has a very unique writing style with unusual poetic language. Very satisfyingly, the Queen she writes for Lear’s King sits perfectly among Shakespeare’s pantheon of head strong women who are the power behind the throne. Because of it’s distinctiveness it did take me a while to get into it, longer than usual, but in the end I was swept away by this strong, incomparable voice of Lear’s wife.
Review by Hannah (Visitor Operations Assistant)
