Queenmaker

About the Book

A man's weapons are sword and spear; a woman's are her wits....

      ~

"You are a fool."  David's voice wooed no longer; kings have no great store of patience with denial.

"Perhaps I am, but not such a fool as to think ten years can be wiped out with a word."

"A king's word," David said.  "A king's wishes.  Who are you to set yourself against the king?"

"A woman," I said.  "A woman with her rights under the Law.  You cannot keep me here.  Even the king is not above the Law, David."

"The king is the Law, Michal."

"Did Yahweh tell you that?"

I thought he would be angry, but he only laughed.  "No, it was Samuel and Saul between them who taught me that lesson."  David took up my hair again, smoothing it between his hands, and twined its length twice around my throat.  "You must learn it too, Michal, and then we will be happy together."

  ~  

LIVE LONG, O' QUEEN!

All the world knows of the deeds of King David, how he slew the giant Goliath, united the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  But none knew him so well -- knew him as a man -- as his queen, Michal.  She saw the truth behind the songs, behind the beauty, behind the praise of men and the favor of God.

For forty years and more, Michal lived and reigned in David's court.  Daughter of a king, beautiful, proud, the prize David would risk his kingdom to win.  In the palace, behind carved wooden doors, beneath the burning sun of the desert, or fleeing from Absalom's warriors, Michal was at the center of the intrigues of the court. She could ask anything of David and see it granted; anything but one thing, the chief thing, the greatest thing:  her own happiness.

Michal turns her eye and her mind to the greatest period in Biblical history and brings us into her world.  Speaking as a sister, a wife, a mother, a lover, a woman both scorned and worshipped, wise counselor and abandoned harlot, Queen Michal unfolds for us her innermost thoughts and plans, her hopes and pains, as the fire of God burns and war, passion, murder, prophecy, and love fill the Promised Land.

Unforgettable characters; public deeds and private thoughts; tales of valor and whispers in the shadows -- QUEENMAKER gives us the court of the kings as only a woman could see it.

~ ~ ~

Praise for QUEENMAKER:

"I enjoyed it very much; [QUEENMAKER] is a splendid evocation of the period."

     - Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of THE MISTS OF AVALON.

"From the first word to the last, QUEENMAKER flowed through my heart.  It's a tale that transcends the ages and has the makings of a classic."

     - Haley Elizabeth Garwood, author of THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN and SWORDS ACROSS THE THAMES

"QUEENMAKER is a powerfully moving work, and I would recommend it anytime to anyone...Michal and David are a spellbinding pair."

     - Roberta Gellis, award-winning author of the ROSELYNDE Chronicles and THE BULL GOD

"QUEENMAKER is simply mesmerizing.  India Edghill has created a world brimming with lush sensuality and riveting characters, whose loves and hates, wisdom and follies, make this powerful tale unforgettable."

     - Nicole Jordan, nationally best-selling author of THE PASSION

"A decidedly original -- and fascinating -- take on the Biblical story of David and Michal from a woman's perspective.  Lyrical, evocative, and elegantly told."

     - Susan Krinard, acclaimed author of TOUCH OF THE WOLF

"It's beautifully told...the development of Michal's personality and the wisdom she acquired of her times make damned good reading."

     - Anne McCaffrey, bestselling author of the PERN series

"It is seldom one finds suc

About the Author

India Edghill's long-standing passion for history dates to the sixth grade, when she was told she couldn't do another book report about horses -- and so did one on the Trojan War instead (having heard there was a horse involved....). That sparked an interest in ancient history later fueled by the works of Mary Renault and Henry Treece. She worked her way through the centuries to the Tudor period via Margaret Irwin's classic trilogy about Queen Elizabeth I, the Napoleonic Wars with Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharp, and into the Victorian era by careful study of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman Diaries. India Edghill is the author of two previous novels: ONE WAY MIRROR and FILE M FOR MURDER. Her short fiction has appeared in SILVER BIRCH, BLOOD MOON, CATFANTASTIC IV and V, THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, and MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY'S FANTASY MAGAZINE. She lives in upstate New York.