Search - The Fool's Tale

Set in twelfth century Wales, there are characaters I both disliked and admired at different times in the story. It also has moments of hilarious comedy and extreme tragedy. The relationships between the Welsh King, his new Norman wife (marriage of convenience), and the castle's resident "fool" (also the Kings best friend and confident through life) transforms and threatens all in this novel of intrigue and love. The author does a good job of character development and although her use of "modern day" "conversation seemed at times unbelievable in this setting I enjoyed the tale. It was difficult through the first few chapters to sort out the many different characters, mainly because of the Welsh names, but the printed cast of characters at the beginning of the book was a helpful resource.

The Fool's Tale takes place in 1198 in Wales when a marriage bound lands together rather than love, and Queen's were to be grateful and obedient to their King. The story is full of hummor, tragedy and historical folk lore. The characters grabe you from the begining and it's hard to put down. I was shocked by the ending and went searching for more books by Nicole Galland when I was finished.

Enjoyable historical fiction. It had the passion and intrigue promised on the back of the book.

The three main characters -- the king, the best friend and the (politically chosen) bride -- are tangled together because of "love & loyalty", and "societal identity & hatred".