Persia Woolley

The Guinevere Trilogy — (1987-1991) Publisher: In the tradition of The Once and Future King and Mists of Avalon, Persia Woolley has created a rich, highly readable, startlingly original recreation of the tale of Arthur — seen from Guinevere's point of view.

Child of the Northern Spring

Child of the Northern Spring is not, strictly speaking, a retelling of the Arthurian legend. I discovered it on a used-bookstore shelf and didn't realize that it was the first book in a trilogy, and that it only dealt with Guinevere's early life, up until her marriage to Arthur.

Persia Woolley’s Guinevere isn't the annoying, preachy character you might recall from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, but neither is she the fascinating character readers might be hoping for. She’s like many other young romance heroines: a sweet, tomboyish girl who loves horses.

I was looking forward to seeing how she developed, though, as she grew older and took on the mantle of Queen. Readers should be advised that this doesn’t happen in Child of the Northern Spring. The book ends just as the age of glory and pageantry begins. As it turned out, I did read and enjoy the two later books, but was left a little disappointed by this installment.  

Child of the Northern Spring has now been reprinted, and I’m quite pleased with the new edition; not only is the cover beautiful, but it clearly states that this is book one in a trilogy. If the edition I read had made that clear, my experience might have been a happier one. —Kelly Lasiter

Queen of the Summer Stars

I didn't plan on reading Queen of the Summer Stars, since I was disappointed with the previous installment, Child of the Northern Spring. But one day I was in an Arthurian mood, saw the last two volumes at the library, and said "Hey, what the heck?" I was pleasantly surprised by books two and three; I'm glad I changed my mind and read them.

Queen of the Summer Stars starts slowly. Guinevere seems more like a fly-on-the-wall narrator than a character for the first half of the book. She constantly regales us with all of the doings in Camelot — every banquet, affair, and border skirmish. But she doesn't talk much about what's going on in her own head. The result of this is that, whenever she suddenly acts with strong emotion, it comes out of left field. For example, at one point she lets two strangers talk her into trading a treasured family heirloom for a fertility potion from a Saxon witch. The scene was shocking because, while we know Gwen is sad about her infertility, we never knew she was that desperate. The emotional buildup wasn't there in the text, so her actions were unexpected.

However, Guinevere comes out of her shell when she begins to fall in love with Lancelot. They hadn't always been close. When Lance first came to Camelot, he was standoffish and rude to her. She disliked him even though he was a dead ringer for her childhood sweetheart. But they developed a friendship over the years, and then one fateful night, Lancelot rescues a delirious Guinevere from the tyrannical Maelgwn. She thinks he spoke words of love during their night ride — but was it just the delirium talking? A dream? Or long-denied truth? Now, Guinevere and Lancelot struggle to figure out a way to acknowledge their love without betraying Arthur. This book presents perhaps the classiest, most dignified portrait of that romance of any retelling I have ever read, and for that I commend Persia Woolley highly.

Guinevere has the chance to run away with Lancelot and live happily ever after, but Arthur needs her, and so does her new adopted son, Mordred, who is Arthur's son by the vulgar and vicious Morgause. Guinevere must make tough choices, and nothing will ever be the same again at Camelot.

So, although I didn't expect to like this book, I was proven wrong. I recommend it, especially for the touching portrayal of the Guinevere-Lancelot romance. See also the third book, Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn. —Kelly Lasiter

Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn

Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn is a good book, even though it perpetuates the flaws seen in Persia Woolley's previous Guinevere Trilogy novels, Child of the Northern Spring and Queen of the Summer Stars. Woolley's Guinevere still has a habit of distancing herself from the story, briskly rattling off the legendary happenings like an anchorwoman for the Camelot Nightly News; and Woolley's desire to tell the Arthurian legend without the use of supernatural elements results in cumbersome and byzantine plot devices as the author attempts to explain magical events without the magic. But all of this aside, this is a compelling and enjoyable conclusion to the series.

In Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn, the dream of Camelot begins to fall apart. There are quarrels: Guinevere and Lancelot fight bitterly over Elaine of Carbonek, whom Lancelot accidentally slept with. Mordred, whose best friend is a Saxon captive, comes to believe the Saxons are not as bad as they’re reputed to be, and wants to include them in the Round Table, but Arthur, veteran of countless Saxon wars, holds his old prejudices dear, and refuses his son's request. Then, into this tumultuous court comes the young bard Taliesin, singing of the Grail, and the Round Table warriors begin to scatter to the four winds in search of the mysterious object.

Woolley deftly describes the tale told by each returning knight. She does a great job of showing how the Grail means different things to different people, and what sort of meaning each man finds. (And woman, too, for Guinevere will find her own personal Grail by the end of the story.)

Also wonderfully done is the treatment of Guinevere's punishment for adultery. The usual retelling shows Arthur standing by heartlessly as his Queen is sentenced to the stake, and Lancelot ruthlessly killing his friends to save her. Woolley has a more complicated but more believable theory about what really happened behind the scenes, one that rings true to the characters of the brave Queen, the idealistic King, and the deadly but good-hearted knight. I won't give it away, but it's good.

Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn, and the Guinevere Trilogy in general, ought to be remembered above all for its sensitive portrayal of the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle. Gwen and Lance truly have a love for the ages, but Gwen also shares a special bond with Arthur, which holds Camelot together more than they realize. Guinevere is the human touch that balances Arthur's ideals. —Kelly Lasiter