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The Girl King by Meg Clothier: book review




The Girl King (2011) is set during the 12th century reign – known as the Golden Age – of Tamar the Great – the female king of Kartvelia (Georgia). It begins in 1177 in Tbilisi in her father’s court when she is 17 years old, and spans almost 30 years of her reign from 1184 to her death.

Ivan Orbeli renounces the ageing King (George III) Giorgi Bagrationi and plans an attack. Tamar is sent to the mountains for safety and her 14-year-old sister Susa is sent to a monastery with her mother Burdukhan. In the mountains Tamar befriends Zakari Mkhargrdzeli and Davit Soslani, son of Jadaron the ruler of Osset lands.

Betrayed by people close to her, with people changing allegiances, Tamar is fearless and resourceful. Her father defeats Orbeli, killing him in battle, but dies later, aged and sickly. Will people honour Tamar as king? Not a band of men who want to overthrow her. Aunt Rusudan begs Tamar to make peace: ‘Child, you think being king is about destroying your enemies … it’s about preserving your kingdom.’ Rusudan then convinces Tamar’s enemies that the unwed Tamar would need a husband, who would become the most powerful man in the kingdom – not king, but quite.

Tamar is spoilt for choice: ‘I have driven every bachelor between the two seas into a frenzy of passion … if the pox had stolen away my nose, they’d still be in raptures over my beauty. You know what they love.’ She consults her best friend, poet Shota Rustaveli, for advice. He answers, ‘Thrones are lovable.’

Others suggest a northern man for her husband – more north than the mountains – such as a Russian. Lord Yuri Bogoliubsky, ‘ruler of Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov and the great cities north of Kiev’ is available for consideration. Tamar orders Soslani and Zak to bring her some lion cubs from Shirvan – is this a test or a distraction? Shota Rustaveli – later in life – pens an epic poem (probably the longest poem in history) about The Knight in the Panther’s Skin. So who does Tamar choose?

Clothier mainly focuses on the pursuit of love – the big decision – and the choice between the love for a man or the love for a country – and she does this entertainingly and amusingly.

‘History is trumped by story-telling’ the author says. Clothier confesses in the Historical Notes that she has been speculative in parts, fused real events together, and made a chronological switch in timelines. Despite the literary liberties, this is a fast-paced interesting story that is well-told, whether you know the true history of Tamar the Great or not.

Tamar the Great (circa 1160-1213) was Georgia’s equivalent of England’s Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and poet Shota Rustaveli (circa 1172-1216) was Georgia’s equivalent of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) – except 400 years earlier. So readers of historical fiction and medieval history will enjoy this fairly accurate story of love, war, loyalty, and heroism in the picturesque countryside of Kartvelia – modern day Georgia.









MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, currently living in Georgia, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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