The Lute Player: A Novel of Richard the Lionhearted

Beloved author Norah Lofts brings to life the romance and adventure of the crusading king Richard the Lionhearted through the eyes of his most humble and trusted companion -- his lute player.

One of the most renowned figures in medieval history, Richard the Lionhearted, inspired by a vision of the Holy Land, led his knights onto the battlefields of the Third Crusade. During the years of fighting and intrigue, Richard's life was intertwined with the lives of two strong, vibrant, and drastically different women who loved him -- Berengaria, princess of Navarre, and his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. While his marriage to Berengaria was ill-fated, Eleanor loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. But it is Blondel, the king's lute player, who here steps forward from the shadows to tell this tale of romance, war, and betrayal.

In her trademark style, Norah Lofts paints a complex and human portrait of a legendary king.

"Exquisite and triumphant, this deep look into Richard's world will dazzle...." -- Publishers Weekly

"Norah Lofts gets the mix of historical fact and lively characterizations just right." -- Anne Easter Smith, author of A Rose for the Crown and The King's Grace

The bestselling author of "The King's Pleasure" and "Here Was a Man" returns with this latest title in her Richard the Lionhearted series.

Norah Lofts was one of the best known and best loved of all historical novelists, renowned for her authentic use of period detail. Born in 1904 in Norfolk, England, Lofts wrote more than fifty books of fiction, nonfiction, and short stories over the course of her half-century-long writing career, including The King's Pleasure and Here Was a Man, and was a bestselling author on both sides of the Atlantic.