Inés – or how Catherine Mathis converted a legend into a novel

Today, I am hosting Catherine Mathis and her new release, Inés. Set in the early 14^th century, Ms Mathis has based her narrative on the legends around Pedro of Portugal and Inés de Castro, one of the many love stories that don’t have a happy ending. (See my post HERE!) As I have a major interest in Castile and the other Iberian kingdoms during the late 13^th and 14^th century, I leapt at the chance to read a book set in the Lusitanian/Portuguese kingdom (Castilian chroniclers tend to refer to “the Lusitanian king” when referring to the rulers of Portugal) See my review further down.

So: onto the book!

An heir to the throne, a gorgeous blonde lady-in-waiting, the king’s trusted advisor. When a father and son don’t understand each other, the son pays an outrageous price.

Love, jealousy, loyalty, and revenge roil the court of 14th century Portugal.

In this engrossing launch to the Queens of Portugal trilogy, Catherine Mathis gives a fresh take on the tale of Pedro and Inês, Portugal’s real-life Romeo and Juliet. Pedro’s father would not have been king if not for his trusted advisor, Gonçalves. Once king, he wants no part in neighbouring Castile’s royal convulsions though his son, Pedro, befriends powerful Castilians.

The all-consuming drive of the king is to ensure his line rules Portugal for centuries to come. He needs legitimate, strong heirs. The Infante Pedro loves a woman not deemed worthy to wear the crown as queen. Between father and son is Gonçalves, the king’s powerful, unquestioned counselor who is mentor to the son. Both Gonçalves and Pedro seek the attention of Inês.

There is a horrific cost to winning the love of Inês. She will not release her grip on Pedro until he keeps the two sworn oaths he made to her. Can Pedro do the impossible to satisfy Inês?

Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/br8OBY

Catherine Mathis was born in Berlin, the daughter of an American spy. As she grew up in Washington, D.C., her spy father turned into a drug enforcement agent. His career change wrecked any chance at high school popularity. She graduated from Sewanee | The University of the South with a degree in history focused on the medieval period. After a career in finance, she returned to her first love of medieval history to ‘Share Iberian Tales.’ Outside of writing, spare time joys are family, friends, reading, collecting folk/outsider art, and travel.

Author Links:

Website:      www.catherinemathis.com

Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007239702480

Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/cmathisauthor/

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Catherine-Mathis/author/B0F7FZHJ9T

Goodreads:      https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6987876.Catherine_Mathis

My review:

It is evident Ms Mathis has done a lot of research on locations and settings, and she gives a vibrant description of medieval Portugal without drowning the reader in detail.  Among her central cast, I am especially fond of her depiction of Afonso IV, a man driven to always do his duty by his kingdom. Side by side with Afonso is his impressive wife, Beatriz. Had Afonso listened to her rather than to his tight group of counsellors led by Alvar Goncalves, thinks might have turned out very differently. As it is, Afonso listens to Goncalves—a man whose ardent loyalty mingles with his personal desire for revenge—resulting in the tragedy that lies at the heart of the Pedro and Ines legend. Ms Mathis deserves a lot of credit for how well she has managed to bring to life one of the more macabre scenes in the legend, one involving the coronation of a very dead queen.

All in all, Inés is well-written and entertaining—but this reader has a lot of issues with what is presented as historical facts in the narrative. Historical Fiction is a blend of suppositions and facts, and while sometimes we encounter huge gaps in a distant life that we can choose to fill with speculation, it is important to stick to the facts we know, especially when dealing with real historical figures—or clarify the liberties we may have taken in a Historical Note.

Inés does not have a Historical Note, and instead we are left trying to work our way through casual mentions of royals that did not exist, multiple incorrect dates, people being present at battles when they most definitely weren’t, and even a mother who purportedly died in a bawdy house when in fact this noble lady was alive long after her issue passed. It all detracts significantly from what is otherwise an intense and well-plotted read. In this,  Ms Mathis has been severely let down by her editors.

I can but hope Ms Mathis will be better supported by her publishers in her next book, featuring the deliciously evil Leonor de Telles!

****

I must admit I agonised a bit about this review, but given my own obsession with double-checking my facts—coupled with a similar obsession for this period and setting—I could not write an honest review without commenting on the historical inaccuracies. All historical fiction books will include some minor errors—yup, even mine, despite my fact-checking obsession—because authors are not infallible. But it is one thing to have your 14th century real historical person present his beloved with chocolate (!!!!) another thing entirely to have him ride off to battle when he was already dead…

As to Pedro and Inés, the legend describes an illicit love—Pedro was married elsewhere—that blossomed into something so strong it seemed fated. Ms Mathis has Pedro and Inés wed before he takes her to bed while I believe they never married. Inés and Pedro were related—her paternal grandmother was Pedro’s maternal aunt—so a marriage would have required a papal dispensation, and no pope would have given Pedro a dispensation without Daddy’s express approval.

When Pedro, in 1360, pushed through the claim that he did marry Inés by having various people, including the bishop of Guarda, testify that this was true (albeit they were all a bit fuzzy as to when it happened) he apparently referred to a papal dispensation from John XXII. This particular pope expired in 1334, when Pedro was fourteen, i.e. long before he even met Inés. Ergo, that dispensation would have been a forgery…