Isolde/Iseult

One of the new books I plan on reading this year is Twillight of Avalon by Anna Elliott, a new version of the Tristan and Isolde/Iseult story. It will be released May 5, 2009.

She is a healer, a storyteller, a warrior, and a queen without a throne. In the shadow of King Arthur's Britain, one woman knows the truth that could save a kingdom from the hands of a tyrant...
Ancient grudges, old wounds, and the quest for power rule in the newly widowed Queen Isolde's court. Hardly a generation after the downfall of Camelot, Isolde grieves for her slain husband, King Constantine, a man she secretly knows to have been murdered by the scheming Lord Marche -- the man who has just assumed his title as High King. Though her skills as a healer are renowned throughout the kingdom, in the wake of Con's death, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery threaten her freedom and her ability to bring Marche to justice. Burdened by their suspicion and her own grief, Isolde must conquer the court's distrust and superstition to protect her throne and the future of Britain.
One of her few allies is Trystan, a prisoner with a lonely and troubled past. Neither Saxon nor Briton, he is unmoved by the political scheming, rumors, and accusations swirling around the fair queen. Together they escape, and as their companionship turns from friendship to love, they must find a way to prove what they know to be true -- that Marche's deceptions threaten not only their lives but the sovereignty of the British kingdom.
In Twilight of Avalon, Anna Elliott returns to the roots of the legend of Trystan and Isolde to shape a very different story -- one based in the earliest written versions of the Arthurian tales -- a captivating epic brimming with historic authenticity, sweeping romance, and the powerful magic of legend.

I read Bedier's Romance of Tristan and Iseult a year or so ago and thought it was such a sad story. Shortly after that, I went to a performance of the symphony here in Denver and one of the pieces was from Wagner's opera - it was so beautiful and moving. Just the music alone almost made me cry. Some day I would love to see an opera performance. Below are some other depictions of Isolde in historical fiction:

1985

2003

1988

unknown year

1994

1971 (I believe this one is YA )