Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Glenys, The Cartographer's Daughter is an epic fantasy romantic novella written by Ronnda Eileen Henry. Master Glendower and his daughter, Glenys, were stunned to hear that they had been summoned to the Royal Palace. The father and his widowed daughter were mapmakers and cartographers, whose innovative “bird’s-eye view” drawings setting out the natural features of the lands owned by the Duke of Holsby had caught the attention of Prince Abelard. The prince offered them a commission to make such drawings of the entirety of Holsby; furthermore, he wanted new boundaries set out between each of the six regions that would divide them equally. Glendower was confident a task of this magnitude could be accomplished, but it would take him, his daughter and their assistants a year to complete. The prince indicated that he would be sending Captain Lewin and his men as an escort for the cartographers. Lewin was a serious man whose demeanor somehow seemed at odds with the man behind the official title and uniform. Glenys felt strangely drawn to him; something she had never expected to feel after losing her husband, who had been the love of her life.

Ronnda Eileen Henry’s epic fantasy romantic novella, Glenys, The Cartographer's Daughter, is one of her series of continuing tales about the young women who live in the Kingdom of Penruddock. While the six regions are often ravaged by war amongst themselves or outlying countries, at the time when Glenys and her father are commissioned to make maps for the prince, peace reigns in a kingdom which seems idyllic save for the cultural traditions that make being a woman in Penruddock far less than it could be. Henry’s heroine, Glenys, is a non-traditional woman, thanks to her father who allowed her to marry for love, and, when she was widowed, allowed her to remain single unless she chose otherwise. This story, which brings together the more traditional widower, Captain Lewin, and Glenys is both entertaining and illuminating as they each try to understand the other’s world view and find a way to allow their growing affection to thrive. I enjoyed seeing how Henry deftly weaves the social themes into her stories and having this tale also deal with cartography, a subject of some interest to me, was a treat indeed. Glenys, The Cartographer's Daughter is most highly recommended.