Travels with a Medieval Queen

The author of Bitter Almonds presents an historical work about Constance of Hauteville, like her, an expatriate and mother of a bicultural family. The wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and mother to the Emperor Frederick II, she journeyed from Germany south to reconquer her father's throne. This is the beautifully illustrated chronicle of Simeti's travels as she searches the landscapes and the monuments that survive from the 12th century for clues to the inner life of a mother who was also a monarch.