Description

Series: Book 5 in the The Tudor Series series

Rating: ****

Tags: Fiction, Historical fiction, Britain, Lang:en

Summary

Review

After winning the Parker Romantic Novel of the Year in 2002 for the brilliant The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory returns to the Tudor court in this equally absorbing novel. It is 1553, Henry VIII is dead and his young son Edward is now king. 14-year-old Hannah Green, a determined Jewish girl with the gift of foresight, has come to England with her bookseller father to escape the Inquisition in Spain. After a chance meeting with the dashing Lord Robert Dudley at her father's bookshop, Hannah finds a new life as a court fool - and a spy. Reporting to Dudley all that happens around the sickly king, Hannah is also sent to spy on Princess Mary, with whom she strikes up a loyal and lasting friendship. When Edward dies, Hannah finds herself directly involved in the plots and schemes that abound at court as Mary comes to the throne, and struggles with her loyalty to the queen and subsequently to her sister Elizabeth. She wrestles with her sexual awakening, her love for Dudley and her betrothal to her cousin, Daniel, but ultimately cannot fight the male-dominant world she lives in as with her gift of foresight she is constantly manipulated by the powerful men around her for their own ends. Will Hannah be able to survive in a time of treachery, bloodshed and burnings, where her own religious beliefs could be questioned at any time? Unlike the many authors who concentrate on the times of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, Philippa Gregory has turned her attention to the tumultuous period between the two reigns and takes us from the death of Edward VI up to Elizabeth's ascension with an assured historical touch. We see behind the pomp of the Tudor Court and into the minds of Mary and Elizabeth, rivals for the throne like their mothers before them. This is a powerful and moving tale of an important period in history, seen through the eyes of a young woman who is both observer and player in these tempestuous times. (Kirkus UK)

Praise for THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL: 'It is a credit to Gregory that she is able to sustain interest in an epic-length tale when the ending is one of the most well-known moments in English history. The very believable dialogue and detail take you all the way into the claustrophobic privy chambers of the royal palaces...Gregory has launched herself into a popular period and produced something with that most underrated of virtues: readability.' THE TIMES 'This is an intelligent variation on a familiar tale [with] witty use of metaphor' TLS 'This compulsively readable novel is a wonderful account of the tudor court...This is the finest historical novel of this year' DAILY MAIL

Product Description

A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love.

It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.

Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen's Fool is another rich and emotionally resonant gem from this wonderful storyteller.