I, Jacqueline
Hilda Lewis, Tempus, an imprint of The History Press,2009, $12.95/C$13.95, pb, 352pp.9780752445649

I, Jacqueline is the story of Countess Jacqueline of Bavaria, whose father was Count William VI, and his sole heir to the throne of Holland. If you ever dreamed of being a princess, the life of Jacqueline of Hainaut would be one of your least likely choices. She was born to a cold unloving mother who had ambition beyond her daughter’s love. Driven by ambition, power and money, Margaret of Burgundy had a trenchant of treachery that would only serve to further her and her brother the Duke of Burgundy’s lofty aspirations. Her father adored her, and on his death bed in 1417, he forewarns her against her mother’s deceitful intentions. Jacqueline learns quickly that she must fight for her rights of rulership and property.
She comes close to becoming the Queen of France as a result of her first marriage. When her husband dies, a second marriage renders a the ridicule of a loveless marriage to her cousin of Brabant. He is an impotent, wimpy and adulterous cad who relished tormenting Jacqueline with his connubial concubine. Love evades Jacqueline and she vows to rule her kingdom as their Prince, but her mother and brother, the Duke of Burgundy are braying in the background ready to pounce on any misstep she makes. Her father had one other daughter, Beatrix who would be the only real companion and a constant source of love, devotion and happiness for Jacqueline. Lewis provides diminutive details to each character molding and shaping them into a colorful cast of personalities that come alive as you read. Lewis provides symmetry between the sensitive moving historical drama of a tragic heroine and European history. I, Jacqueline will touch your heart.