One Knight Stand
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Allen & Unwin
Amie Kaufman, who lives by the sea in Melbourne, and Meagan Spooner, who lives in the mountains of North Carolina, wrote their first medieval romp, during the Covid pandemic.
Lady’s Knight was a fiercely feminist and deliciously queer version of A Knight’s Tale. Gwen of Ellsdale made her own armor and fought for Lady Isobelle of Avington’s freedom, defeating ancient patriarchy with modern-day sensibilities.
In the sapphic sequel, much to the consternation of Isobelle’s guardian Lord Whimsitt, Sir Gwen and Lady Isobelle are a couple, even though the relationship was frowned upon. And being able to marry was at least another 500 years down the track.
Unable to get her dowry, Isobelle gives up the luxury of the castle to travel with Gwen, who Whimsitt sends to slay dragons, or in this case, a sea monster. Whimsitt had never forgiven Gwen or Isobelle “for daring to make their own choices and govern their own lives”.
Gwen and Isobelle are accompanied by Isobelle’s ladies in waiting, who want to help protect her and don’t want to miss any of the fun … not that Isobelle isn’t perfectly capable of protecting herself – and Gwen.
Along the way to Galanty-Upone-the-Sea, they rescue a damsel in distress, a witch by the name of Tabitha, who needs to go to the town to find out what happened to her mother.
This Young Adult love story is quite chaste, with passion bubbling beneath the surface as Gwen and Isobelle are forced to do battle with numerous monsters – an actual monster with the ability to reincarnate, and human ones as well.
The other monsters are ones that linger in dreams and the mind, preventing people from living their best lives. Most of the monsters are confronted and defeated, but as Gwen and Isobelle know, there is no such thing as a happy ending (for now).
Lezly Herbert
