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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
