Kate Emerson

This novel tells the fictionalized account of the life of Jane Popyncourt, a girl from Brittany who flees to England with her mother and finds a place in the court of Henry VII, and later Henry VIII. A fast-paced Tudor novel, this tale was filled with the expected romance, mystery, intrigue, and scandal. My biggest issue with the novel was the lack of facts. While many other novelists such as Allison Weir and Philippa Gregory have taken liberties with the details (and even bigger parts) of lives of these characters, the stories that they choose are well-rooted in rumors and ideas surrounding the Tudors. Though little is known about Jane, Emerson took a few too many liberties in my opinion, especially when asserting that she is the illegitimate granddaughter of Henry VII when it appears that he was very devoted to his wife, unlike his son would come to be with his wives.… (plus d'informations)

I was first introduced to Emerson by reading the first book in her series, the Pleasure Palace, but haven't read the rest of the books in the series. It does very well as a stand-alone book (coming from me, that's high praise).

The story is told in two parts, the past and the present - the premise is Audrey, who is sick, is telling her 8 year old daughter, Hester, her life story - a dangerous life story which could get them all killed. There's some holes left open in the plot (perhaps on purpose as this is a series), but basically you are led to believe that Audrey is the king's daughter because he pays a lot of attention to her, attention not given the rest of her family.

I don't particularly like books or shows where you bounce back and forth from past to present, but I didn't mind it in this book - Emerson does this very well. I did have a problem with Audrey telling her daughter all this stuff at such a young age. I understand it would have been too difficult to write her daughter a letter that someone else might discover, but honestly, why would her daughter even need to know that she might be related to the king? No one was acknowledging them, so what did it matter?

I also found it really sad that Audrey obsessed most of her early adult years over a man who really didn't love her, and then she ended up marrying him and wondered why her life didn't turn out better than it did.… (plus d'informations)

I enjoyed this book, for the most part, and would recommend it to other fans of historical fiction, especially other Tudor fans like I am.

That being said, though I did love the main character, Jane, I felt the "big mystery/secret" was very obvious, from the very first time it was hinted about. The series being called "Secrets of the Tudor Court", I was looking for secrets, plural, and the only other "secret" was a pretty silly, no one really cares kind of secret. I was definitely disappointed in that aspect.

My other big disappointment is from all of the reviews I had read about this book (reviews read after I bought the book), I was really expecting to get swept away in the historical narration & details, and I actually found them extremely lacking. If it wasn't for the historical names thrown about & the names of various castles/locations, you wouldn't have had any idea that the book took place during the Tudor court.

Otherwise, the book was a fast read, and I mostly likely would read the next book in the series, but I wouldn't rush to read it, either.… (plus d'informations)

3.5 - 4 stars

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would; the ludicrous title really doesn't fit at all (thankfully). There were some problems though; I thought Jane's story was slightly contrived at times and you could tell almost from the beginning what her family secret was. The story wasn't as gripping as it could have been and was lacking a little bit that wow-factor that makes you want to keep turning the pages.

On the plus side, the author stuck closely to the historical facts and by far the most enjoyable aspect of the book for me was the descriptions of court life, e.g. the pageants, the meals, the clothes, the living arrangements. The itinerant nature of the court was also well described, and it's things like this that bring a book to life for me.… (plus d'informations)