The daughter of the Queen’s nemesis, Penelope Devereux, arrives at court blithely unaware of its pitfalls and finds herself in love with one man, yet married off to another. Bestowed with beauty and charm she and her brother, The Earl of Essex, are drawn quickly into the aging Queen’s favour. But Penelope is saddled with a husband who loathes her and chooses to strike out, risking her reputation to seek satisfaction elsewhere. But life at the heart of the court is not only characterised by the highs and lows of romance, there are formidable factions at work who would like to see the Devereux family brought down. It seems The Earl of Essex can do no wrong in the eyes of the Queen but as his influence grows so his enemies gather and it is Penelope who must draw on all her political savvy to prevent the unthinkable from happening.
Told from the perspective of Penelope and her brother’s greatest enemy the politician Cecil, this story, wrought with love, hatred and envy, unfolds over two decades in which we see the last gasps of Elizabeth’s reign, and the deadly scramble for power in a dying dynasty.
My thoughts:
It was hard, but I refrained from googling so I could see how it all turned out! Oh, but it was so hard! My fingers were itching to see how it all would play out, but I stayed my course, and finished the book, and then googled! A good historical fiction novel always makes me google everything, and everyone.
Penelope Deveraux, the name does not tell me anything. Her brother, Earl Essex tells me more. But then the author does mention how history likes to erase those women who did more than they should.
Penelope comes to the court of Queen Elizabeth and becomes a favorite, and then we get to follow her life. Her unhappy marriage, how poetry was written about her beauty. Her lover and scandalous life. And her mind, if she had been born a man she would have gone places. Now she schemed in the background.
I know from page one that it would be good, and it was. I liked reading about Penelope, and how the author portrayed her. She lived an interesting life, not always a happy one, but she did her best. A fascinating story
Conclusion:
It does make me want to go back and read what else she has written. The author keeps you on your toes so that you never lose interest.
Oh, and yes it's part of a trilogy, but not really. It's a stand alone. Just as previous books were stand alones about different people. They just happened to be part of the same court,
Paperback, 560 pages
Published June 9th 2015 by Simon & Schuster
The Tudor Trilogy #3
Historical fiction
For review
Penelope does sound like a great character to read about
ReplyDeleteThat she was
DeleteThe Tudors are always awesome to read about. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one
ReplyDeleteThey are interesting for sure
DeleteYeah, Elizabeth and Essex. And his sister. Maybe. :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh maybe
DeleteI've never heard of these books before but they sound interesting, though not my age reading >.<
ReplyDeleteBut historical fiction is pretty cool, thanks for sharing!
Asma @ IceyBooks
I have always loved his fic and since I wanted the real stuff I started reading it at 10, hehe
DeleteOh what a mark of a good book... when you want to read her other works. I, myself, wouldn't have resisted and googled it all. I also do that with historical works. :D
ReplyDeleteLol, it was so hard not to google. I wanted to see how they all lived and died
DeleteSo is this Penelope a real person?
ReplyDeleteYes, a real person
DeleteI love good historical fiction!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI am not a big historical fiction reader but have read some and this does sound good. Will add it to my possible list.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good and interesting one :)
DeleteIt's great to have an author like that, it sounds good!
ReplyDeleteA kind, very flattering review. I need to meet this Penelope that melted your heart, Linda :) Hope your weekend is going well <3
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteAll good so far. I hope you are having a good time too
What did we do before Google? lol
ReplyDeleteKaren @For What It's Worth
I have NO idea
DeleteYep..if I find myself wanting to google that is very good indeed. Adding the trilogy to my list!
ReplyDeleteOh that google, I so wanna spoil things
DeleteI really liked Sisters of Treason and this sounds very good too. I'm not a fan of Essex but maybe I would like his sister more.
ReplyDeleteEssex was such a playboy so I get that
DeleteYou are so good at these type of books! I used to be such a huge fan of the Tudor novels. Sadly, I haven't read one in a while. I like how you can sort of verify the story as you go along. Lol.
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you :)
DeleteI was a bit tudored out at one time, but since this is the Elizabeth I can do it
O_o, adding it to my wish list!
ReplyDeleteyay
DeleteI love reading about this time period, so like Karina, I am adding this one to my wishlist. Glad you loved it!
ReplyDeleteIt's a fascinating period in time
DeleteSounds really, really good.
ReplyDeleteI am bad for wanting to google stuff as well.
Hehe, it's a curse
DeleteSounds good! I don't read much historical fiction but up for trying a new one :D
ReplyDeleteYay
Delete