I really do not like the kitsch female portraits on the covers of Gregory's books..the faces are too C21st and not convincing. An imagined female, Spanish character imbued with hidden Jewish beliefs within a climate (England) of religious conflict - Catholicism vs Protestantism. Hiding behind an additional mask as a fool to royalty (Elizabeth Woodville and Queen Mary Tudor) she manages to avoid deeper investigations of her own faith....how realistic this would have been begs to be questioned given the inquisition around even corner. I need to remind myself that this Queen's Fool was in fact a teenager as it beggars belief she was so taken in by Robert Dudley to put her own jewish family and husband in such danger.

Historical novel about Jews living under cover as Christians in Tudor England and the teenage girl who is dragged into court politics inadvertently. The more successful parts of the novel are the bits about her entirely made up Jewish characters. I can't really buy the bits that portray Elizabeth as a manipulating bitch even when she's 14 and her much older stepfather is grooming and by our standards sexually abusing her. And Mary Tudor is not nearly as nice as Gregory shows her; in the end, even she couldn't get past the fact that Mary was the one who was fanatical to send people to the stake for heresy, and it was other people in her government who wanted to be more moderate. ( )

The first part of this book was a bit tiresome. It wasn't until the last half that I really enjoyed it and began to care for the characters. Not my favorite Gregory book but I'd recommend it if you've enjoyed the others. ( )

The Queen's Fool was interesting to read as it shows the viewpoint of a member of the Tudor court who is viewed as a 'fool' but also has great affection for the two rivals. It depicts wonderfully how people had to choose sides and wish they had chosen correctly. ( )

Book number twelve in the Tudor saga, The Queen’s Fool seems to me to be one of Gregory’s weaker efforts, or perhaps I am growing tired of her at last. I love historical fiction that contains MORE of the historical and LESS of the fiction. I have loved Gregory at times because I felt her fictional accounts fit so perfectly into the narrative that we know to be true, into the facts that surround the tale. I cannot say that I felt she did a good job here, though, as I walked away thinking that the story was completely ludicrous in view of the known facts and that, rather than offering me a believable interpretation of the people, she had offered an interpretation that I would judge has less than an hair’s breadth of being true.

I’m not sure I can buy Bloody Mary Tudor as a sweet girl who was trying to save the souls of one and all by burning them at the stake. Wouldn’t it make a bit more sense that this woman, who was treated so poorly by her father and his cronies, while being no doubt influenced by her mother’s unwavering adherence to Catholicism, might have had a bit of a vengeful streak in her that would have made burning people and lopping off heads an easier task? I kept asking myself unanswerable questions: Would you continue to love a person and put them above your own safety and that of your father if they signed an order to have you interrogated by the Inquisition? Can a person truly serve two masters faithfully? I know, it makes for a character who can relate first hand what is going on in both camps, but really, wouldn’t your true feelings lean one way or the other? And, finally, history tells us Elizabeth I was a strong and independent woman. I just can’t buy this slutty, femme fatale version of her. If she had been this woman, could she have survived to have reigned and would these men have respected her judgment as history tells us they did?

So, given these failings, how can I give it a 3-star rating? Well, Gregory knows her craft well enough to spin a tale that you want to see through to fruition. She makes you stay, even at those moments when you are shaking your head and saying, “I don’t think so.” I’ll give her a star for that alone. With another author, I would probably have been out of there less than half way in.

I have two more novels to read in this series of books about the Plantagenets and Tudors. Since I have not read them in complete order, I have already read the next book in line, The Virgin’s Lover, which is the continuation of this book into the life and reign of Elizabeth I. I thought it also a weaker novel than her norm. Perhaps Gregory is tired, perhaps I am tired, or perhaps she doesn’t like Elizabeth and feels moved to malign her?I am hoping that the last two will revert to the quality of some of the earlier ones. The book about Katherine Parr should be more interesting if handled well, since I am not as familiar with her and might not notice the historical inconsistencies quite as much. The last will be The Last Tudor, which by its title promises to be the last in this long, long line. I admit I will not be unhappy to have it done.
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