The Table of Less Valued Knights

Marc Notes: 8; Electronic monograph in HTML format.; Issued also in print format. Review Quotes: Praise for "The Table of Less Valued Knights" ""The Table of Less Valued Knights "infects Arthurian legend with a brio not seen since "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."" "New Statesman" (UK)"Bold literary and historical misadventures, told with a twist and a lightness of touch." "The Guardian""A light, fun frolic, "The Table of Less Valued Knights" will keep you entertained throughout and is a must to toss into your beach bag during the final weeks of summer." "Winnipeg Free Press"Biographical Note: MARIE PHILLIPS was born in London in 1976. She is the author of the #1 national and international bestseller G"ods Behaving Badly," the writer, with Robert Hudson, of the BBC Radio 4 series and book "Warhorses of Letters" and the co-author, as Vanessa Parody, of the erotic spoof "Fifty Shelves of Grey."Publisher Marketing: From Marie Phillips, author of the #1 national and international bestseller "Gods Behaving Badly," comes a charming, funny story about a down-on-his-luck knight of Camelot, his eccentric band of misfits and their madcap quest to restore order to their lives, and the realm. Sir Humphrey du Val has had enough. Relegated to the Table of Less Valued Knights--Camelot's least prestigious spot, boringly rectangular in shape and with one leg shorter than the other so that it has to be propped up with a folded napkin to stop it from rocking--he has been banned by King Arthur from going on quests, and hasn't left the castle in 15 years. After a chance meeting with Elaine, a young maiden in search of her kidnapped fiance, Sir Humphrey, along with his squire Conrad (an undersized giant) and Jemima (Conrad's elephant), sets off on a journey to find the distressed damsel's betrothed, hoping to restore himself to a place of honour at the Round Table. Meanwhile, Martha, an errant queen on the run from her new power-hungry husband, is in disguise and on a quest of her own to find her long-lost brother, the true ruler of her realm. Martha soon runs--literally--into Humphrey's eccentric group, who take the incognito queen captive, believing her to be a boy. As they journey through countryside, castles and villages, they gather unlikely friends and enemies along the way. While each member of the party secretly harbours their own ambitions for the quest, their collective success, and the fate of the realm, rests on their grudging cooperation and unexpectedly interconnected lives. "The Princess Bride" meets "Monty Python and the Holy Grail "in this funny, charming, and delightful tale about lesser-known heroes in Arthurian England."