Review: The King's Intelligencer by Elizabeth St John

 I've been busy since the early summer judging the Historical Writers' Association Nonfiction Crown Awards, so it's been a marathon reading session of high quality historical nonfiction.

As I write this review we are in a little lull; having announced the long list a couple of weeks ago we will be meeting this week to decide the short list. I'd like to say that things will get spicy and heated, but they won't - everyone on the panel is too lovely for that! Anyway, as a little palate-cleanser as it were, I've had the chance to grab another historical fiction book that's been sitting on my sadly neglected TBR pile. 

And I can say it's been a privilege to have an advance copy of Elizabeth St John's latest page-turner. I've read all her novels and was particularly thrilled that this one, whilst it can be read as a standalone, references her last book, The Godmother's Secret, which is also an outstanding novel.

Here's the blurb for The King's Intelligencer:

"London, 1674: When children’s bones are unexpectedly unearthed in the Tower of London, England’s most haunting mystery—the fate of the missing princes—is reignited.

Franny Apsley, confidante to Lady Mary Stuart, heir to King Charles’s throne, becomes embroiled in the royal court’s excitement over the discovery of children’s bones. Could they be the missing princes? As a devastating family secret emerges, Franny is recruited by her cousin Nan Wilmot to determine the truth behind the bones. Her investigation, complicated by an attraction to the secretive court artist Nicholas Jameson and the influence of an enigmatic royal spy, reveals a startling plot threatening the throne and England’s stability.

In a glittering and debauched society where love is treacherous and loyalty masked, Franny must navigate a world where a woman’s voice is often silenced and confront the ultimate question: What is she willing to risk for the sake of her country, her happiness, and her family’s safety?"

My Review (without spoilers for either book):

Well, it's certainly true that there are secrets, and if you've read The Godmother's Secret then you will know some of what Franny sets out to discover. But this is not a backwards-looking book, for as always the author roots her story firmly in its time period. What came across strongly for me - aside from the always impeccable research - was how much Franny was tied, not only by her personal loyalty to her family, but to the framework of societal expectations. 

In many ways, this is not a quest that Franny willingly undertakes and we see her navigating a world of strictly observed protocol, being careful not to be seen in the 'wrong' places and being made unhappily aware of arranged marriage, where women have no say in the match, but must help their family by marrying. This applies whether it's to bolster the family's income, or, in the case of Lady Mary, to strengthen political alliances.

Family of course, is all. The modern reader will be, like me, fascinated that these people not only were real, but are also the ancestors of the author. Ancestry matters, and it did to the people in this novel, too. Crucially though, the actions of the ancestors have a bearing on the characters in this book and we see how they are threatened by the concerns of the day: income, religion, status. The glitter of the court can be a facade when you become aware that 'rich' people in fact own very little. Franny's family are in a precarious position and this could be made worse by what she discovers.

And talking of lines to the past, it is interesting to be reminded that people who to us are historical were also interested in history, and that of course division - political and religious - was not swept away by the restoration of Charles II in 1660. The political significance of the bones of the princes is brought to the fore and shows that historical periods are not discrete - history is an unbroken line and wherever along it you happen to live, what happened then matters now.

I suppose the point I'm really trying to make is how recognisable and relatable these characters are. The author of course will have a special relationship with them, given that they really are family, but they come alive so wonderfully on the page. Yes, they are authentically in their own world and period, but their human emotions, dramas and dilemmas seem very real to us, the reader. 

Franny is particularly three-dimensional, neither 'feisty heroine' nor obedient daughter. Yes, she's both those things, but she is also a little flawed, prone to envy, and a lover of mischief. This roundedness makes her a very sympathetic character. So too for Nicholas - we develop the same conflicted feelings for him (perhaps not quite so intense as Franny's) and we see both the good and the bad, meaning we can also sympathise with Franny's confusion. 

Indeed, there are no caricatures here. Even Rochester, the famed libertine, shows both a debauched and a tender side. And there are no real baddies, either. What is brought into sharp focus is how passionate everyone is about their beliefs, their duty, and their hopes for a country which has been through so much in living memory: civil war, plague, fire...

If you want to be thoroughly immersed in the late seventeenth century, and be caught up in an intriguing mystery, then this is definitely the book for you.

The King's Intelligencer will be published on October 15th and is available to pre-order now

Review: The Pirate's Physician by Amy Maroney

Judging the HWA Crown Nonfiction awards has taken up most of my reading time this summer, not that I'm complaining! It's been a pleasure and a privilege, but now I'm gradually catching up with some other reading.  Unless she has any books that she wrote in her teens/childhood hidden away unpublished in a desk drawer somewhere, I can confidently say that I've read all of Amy Maroney's books and novellas. So of course, when I heard that she had a new novella out, I had to read it! (Even if, because I've been working my way through a whole pile of books, it's taken me a while and I missed the launch.)

The Pirate's Physician is a standalone companion novella to the Sea & Stone Chronicles, and readers familiar with those books will recognise the odd name in this new adventure.

It features Giuliana Rinaldi, niece to Amalia, who lives in Genoa and might be able to help when Giuliana finds herself in a desperate predicament. Much of the story is taken up with Giuliana's quest to travel to Genoa, but fate, and scheming characters, conspire to prevent her.

Lucky, then, that a Basque Pirate is on hand to help out...

That's as much as I'll say about the plot, because it's a novella, not a novel, and you won't want to know too much in advance because you'll enjoy savouring every plot twist and turn, and there are plenty of those.

What I love about Maroney's writing is that, seemingly effortlessly, she picks the reader up and drops them right into the heart of her story. You can see the scenes at the harbour, you can hear the creak of the rigging on the ships, you can smell the food and even feel the streets underneath the characters' shoes. To create this world the author has had to undertake a serious amount of research, but she drops the details in so delicately it's like a master baker has slaved all morning in the kitchens and all you see, and get to enjoy, is the beautiful cake.

Giuliana is no fragile, cowering woman, but neither is she a feisty heroine who sits awkwardly in her time period. She is, first and foremost, a product of her age, and that means that she cannot be a full mistress of her own destiny and in this, Maroney reminds us just how dependent - and vulnerable - women were in this era. Along the way, she is offered various choices, none of which is perfect, and we are reminded that compromise was very much the order of the day for women, much more so than for a lot of men, particularly those men with financial independence.

However, there is a flicker of hope. I do hope that we haven't read the last of Giuliana and her pirate...

If you enjoy well-researched authentic historical fiction, with romance, drama, adventure and danger, then this story will not leave you disappointed. I highly recommend it.

Blurb:

When her world shatters, she dares to trust a pirate. Will she survive what comes next?

The Pirate's Physician is the story of Giuliana Rinaldi, a student at Salerno's famed medical school, whose lifelong dream of becoming a physician crumbles when her uncle and mentor dies suddenly.

Faced with an unwanted marriage to a ruthless merchant, Giuliana enlists the help of a Basque pirate and flees the only home she's ever known for the dangers of the open sea.

Will Giuliana make it to Genoa, where her only remaining relative awaits? Or will this impulsive decision seal her own doom?

Related Posts:

Guest post by Amy Maroney

My review of The Queen's Scribe

Guest post by Amy Maroney

Interview with Amy Maroney

Review: Son of Prophecy by Nathen Amin

 I've been so busy being part of the judging panel for the Historical Writers' Association Crown Nonfiction Award that I've fallen behind with my usual reading, and the review copy of Nathen Amin's Son of Prophecy has been sitting for too long on my shelf. Luckily there's been a pause in the judging as we've now decided on our longlist, and I've been able to get round to reading this wonderful book. 

Yes, this is a book about the rise of Henry Tudor but it begins with his forebear, Ednyved Fychan, the right-hand-man of Llewelyn Fawr (of whom readers of Sharon Penman or Edith Pargeter will be familiar).

What we have here is a well-constructed, impeccably researched book which charts the fates and fortunes of the members of the family which came to be known as the Tudors, and it is a fascinating read. I am familiar with the Welsh names, and the pronunciations thereof, but if you're not, don't worry. Amin has a knack of introducing the characters so deftly that at no point do the names become confusing.

So much has been written about the Tudors and yet this book adds to our understanding and needed to be written. It is a rarity - perhaps unique - in that it focuses on the history of the Welsh, through their battles with King John, Henry III, Edward I and into the period known as the Wars of the Roses. It is refreshing to read about history from the other side of the border, as it were, and yet Amin tells the story with an even hand, never shying away from pointing out where either side behaved badly, or even abominably.

That said, whether it was his intention or not, Jasper Tudor, for me anyway, emerges as a true hero - seemingly almost alone in being able to remain true to his allegiance throughout a period where so many changed their loyalties as often as political expediency dictated.

Amin also remains true to the title of his book: in showing us the history of a frankly beleaguered Wales he makes it clear why it was so important to have faith, a belief that one day the son of prophecy would rise up to reverse Welsh fortunes, even if a few along the way showed promise, only ultimately to fail. 

Learning so much about Henry Tudor's upbringing gives insight into the man he became, whereas so often we only read about him as he emerges victorious from the field at Bosworth. Additionally, by doing nothing more than laying out the bare bones of Margaret Beaufort's story, he elicits our sympathies without overtly directing us. 

Often books which focus on this period of history tend to concentrate on the Yorkist rule, their fallings out with Warwick and each other, and the scramble for the throne when Richard of Gloucester took charge of his young nephews and the crown. It's sometimes as if Henry Tudor then appeared from nowhere, to seize that crown on the field at Bosworth. Amin's book gives us the background to Henry's life, from his birth and his formative years in Wales, and his exile on the Continent until the moment came for him to take what he and his supporters believed was his crown by right. Yet the nuances are there; the very fact that Henry did not initially aim to be king shows how much more there is to this story, and Amin serves us the details which really round out his character. We even learn why he garnered a reputation in later life of being punctilious with his finances. We also see how his mother, Margaret, sought always to do right by her son, further his career, but not necessarily at any expense and she is seen here showing political astuteness and an ability to read the situation realistically.

Just as we should not forget how much of a Welsh story this was, neither did Henry. No, he didn't have buckets of Welsh blood, but he never forgot those in Wales who supported him and the book ends with the details of how Henry rewarded the Welshmen who had championed him, helping him to become that Son of Prophecy.

This is powerful story-telling and a riveting read and deepened my understanding of the period. I highly recommend it. 

Review: Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly

Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly was released on 15th June 2024 and I was sent an advance review copy since she and I share a publisher. My review is rather tardy because all summer I've been busy reading for the HWA (Historical Writers' Association) Crown Nonfiction Awards, as one of the judging panel. Hence I'm just now catching up with all the reading and writing from earlier in the year.

Still, better late than never, and what a treat this book was to read. Bennett Connolly has an easy, conversation style of writing which welcomes you from the opening pages and draws you into her story. This is her seventh book and her craft is polished and professional. She hints along the way that she has had to leave many of her heroines out of her story, and one senses the enormity of the research which she has diligently undertaken.

Concentrating on the stories of the women of the period, she does not isolate them. Focussing on her subjects but offering the wider context adds greatly to our understanding of the period and women's roles within it. To this end, she presents the stories thematically, rather than chronologically, but always with enough context so that the reader knows exactly where in the Tudor period these women lived - and died.

For it is certainly true that many of them met tragic and often violent ends, and one comes away with a sense that the Tudor period was one which was especially violent towards its high-ranking women. Lest we forget, this was an era where queens were executed, so there was little protection for those below the rank of royalty.

The fates of these women varied enormously and the stories range from those who demonstrate the Tudor ideal (Maria de Salinas, Lady Willoughby), to religious women such as Elizabeth Barton, known as the Nun of Kent, Anne Askew and Margaret Clitherow who met especially nasty ends. Even typing Margaret's name makes me shudder...

Portrait of Anne Askew

Then we have royal mistresses, such as Bessie Blount, Mary Boleyn and of course her rather more famous/infamous sister Anne. I found this passage particularly insightful as so much has been written about Anne Boleyn; Bennett Connolly puts forward some interesting observations about her. Indeed she also offers an alternative view of the woman alleged to have been partly responsible for Anne's downfall: Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford.

We've all heard of Lady Jane Grey, but her sisters also had sad lives, told in detail here, as are the fates of the French Queen Claude, Katherine Willoughby, and the tragic short life of Lady Mary Seymour, the child of Henry VIII's last wife, Kateryn Parr. The 'what if' was poignant here.

The overriding theme seems to be that so many of the women were not mistresses of their own fate, and we hear of Katherine Gordon, married to the pretender Perkin Warbeck and briefly imprisoned merely for having married him (she did not even know his true identity at the time of the wedding). And even if there might have been some evidence against her - planted, the author says - Margaret Pole, in her sixties, was certainly treated abhorrently and died in the most horrific way.

And yet, there were those who fought the system, and won. Of course there is a section on the woman who proved the men wrong - Elizabeth I - but Anne de Vere, Countess of Oxford, proved to be feistily litigious. Then there's Bess of Hardwick, of whom more perhaps is known.

The warrior women leave you in admiration at their courage: Catherine Sforza, Isabella of Castile, Grace O' Malley, and those who played high-stakes games, including Marie de Guise.

Of course there are the famous names, the familiar choices and as the author says, she couldn't not include Henry VIII's wives, but there too are women of whom most will not have heard, such as Helena Snakenborg. There's also a chapter on literary women, beginning with Margaret More .

As I said at the beginning of this review, it is clear that the author's research has been detailed and thorough, but it's used judiciously. The women speak to us from the pages, showing us how they swirled around the court, or the periphery thereof, making their marks, using their influence or, sadly, falling victim to the ambitions and machinations of powerful men. But throughout, what we get is a vivid picture of life in the upper echelons of Tudor society. Bennett Connolly's way with words shows us a picture of that world, colourful, vibrant, and violent.

Find more about Sharon Bennett Connolly on her website

Author Aimee Fleming: Margaret More Roper

Today I am delighted to hand over the blog to historian and author Aimee Fleming, whose new book, The Female Tudor Scholar and Writer: the Life and Times of Margaret More Roper, was published this week.

Over to Aimee...

*****

What drew me to write about Margaret More Roper? What makes her life a good story and a good subject for a book?

I first came to learn about Margaret More when I was studying at university, almost 20 years ago now! I chose the dissertation topic of ‘Women’s Education in Tudor England’, and this inevitably led me to read about the well-known educated ladies of the time: Elizabeth I,  Katherine Parr, Queen Mary I, and then Margaret cropped up. The more I read on the subject, the more Margaret was held up as the example of an educated Tudor woman, and yet there was so little actually about her and her family. All of the sources talked about her father and the wider events of the Tudor court, with just a small mention of Margaret and even less words given to her sisters and wider family.

Sir Thomas More and his descendants - painting
by Lockey based on Holbein

This is not unusual when dealing with Tudor women. Women were often seen as unimportant, or incapable of learning beyond what was expected of them – raising children, running a household, being chaste and respectful to the men in their lives. But, unlike many women of the time, Margaret’s abilities were well known. She had a reputation both in England, at the court of King Henry VIII and even with the King himself, and in Europe and further afield. Referenced as that ‘ornament of Britain’ by Erasmus, a close friend of Thomas More’s, and held up as an example to anyone, any woman. An inscription, recently found in a Qur’an held in the Bodleian Library, reads:

‘…whom in special Margaret Roper was alone the most noble any that ever lived in this world,for beauty for science for virtue for excellence…’

She comes up again and again in the records, mentioned in letters to and from her father when he was on his travels or on court business, or she appears in portraits of the whole More family, showing her front and centre of the group and dominating her side of the picture. She was involved in some of the most high-profile events of King Henry VIII’s reign, and wrote (alongside her father), letters that have gone on to colour the way we imagine life to have been during the turbulent 1530s.

She was daring, taking on the authorities on more than one occasion. She put herself in danger of following her father to the Tower for rescuing her father’s head from ‘being devoured by the fishes’ and keeping it and other possessions, despite them being dangerous for her to hold onto. 

Lucy Madox Brown painting of Margaret rescuing
her father's head

Publishing her translation of Erasmus’s studies of the Lord’s Prayers into English was risky as it had never been done before, especially by a woman. In doing so she paved the way for generations of women who followed, including her own daughter, to write and put their words out using printing presses and the English language. 

And yet, a huge number of people have never heard of her. 

Most will have heard of Thomas More, and while they may not know the ins-and-outs of his life, they at least know that he was important. In recent times depictions of Sir Thomas have shown a daughter there with him. They may even have mentioned her name. In A Man For All Seasons she is presented to the King as an obstinate and determined young woman, but not necessarily shown in the best light. This may be most people’s introduction to Margaret, but I do not necessarily think it’s a fair first impression. Pictures of Thomas, mostly produced in the last hundred or so years, often show Margaret interacting with her father – hugging him as he enters the tower, visiting him while there. They show her loyalty and devotion to her father, but have her very much in a supporting role and overshadowed by him. This doesn’t accurately show Margaret’s abilities, her courage in the face of adversity, and her determination to carry on her father’s work.

This is why Margaret made such a good subject for a book. Her story has been overshadowed by the men in her life – her father by his actions and writings, or her husband for his biography of Sir Thomas More which came to be so crucial as a source for all historians that have come since. But just a little digging reveals just how influential Margaret was and what impact she had, and still has, on our knowledge of the period. She was a scholar in her own right, and commanded respect even from King Henry VIII himself. There is evidence that she and her father worked together on several of his written works, and her determination to save so much of her father’s writings and correspondence means that without Margaret, our knowledge of the period would be significantly less detailed.

As soon as I started to learn more about her, Margaret’s life became a passion for me. She was formidable, a real trailblazer and deserves to be brought out of her father’s shadow. Writing the book was a challenge as what we know of Margaret is scattered and must be pieced together, but I hope that I have done her justice and shown that she deserves to be remembered and acknowledged.

*****

Author Bio: 

Aimee Fleming is a historian and author from North Yorkshire. She is happily married, with three growing boys and a whole host of pets. She studied history at the University of Wales, Bangor and then later completed a masters at the University of York as a mature student. She has a passion for history, particularly the Tudors and all things Early Modern.  

Find Aimee on Social Media: On X/Twitter and at her BLOG

Uncovering the Life of Frances, Tudor Countess

I'm delighted to hand the blog over to Tony Riches today as he talks about his new book and about Uncovering the Life of Frances, Tudor Countess:

"Over the past ten years I’ve built an extensive reference collection of books on everything Tudor and Elizabethan, from medicine to recipes, childbirth to government, as well as numerous biographies of key players in the story of the Tudors. All this research provides the backdrop within which the real lives and relationships of my chosen subjects develop and evolve.

I decided to explore the enigmatic Queen Elizabeth through three of her favourite men, Drake, Essex and Raleigh. Each saw her very differently, as Drake was in awe of her, Essex was like the son she never had, and Raleigh became captain of her guard. I also realised I would need to make the Elizabethan books a series of six, rather than a trilogy, and explore the complexity of Queen Elizabeth through the eyes of three of her ladies. 

I had plenty to choose from, but found the most interesting were Penelope, eldest daughter of the queen’s nemesis, Lady Lettice Knollys, Frances, the only surviving child of the queen’s spymaster, Walsingham, and one of her ‘Gentlewomen’, Bess Raleigh.

I had the advantage of already having written about Frances as the Countess of Essex, and her ill-fated marriage to Earl Robert Devereux. I also knew plenty about her father, as he has appeared in several of my books, yet the real character of Frances remained elusive. Sadly few of her letters survive, and even the date of her birth is not recorded, (although historians agree it must have been in 1567).

The only solution was diligent historical ‘detective work’, tracing where Frances lived, who she would have been with, and picking up tiny clues from biographies of her contemporaries. Of the many biographies I’ve studied, an unexpected source I found useful was Daphne du Maurier’s work on Francis and Anthony Bacon, who became important advisors to Frances in her struggle to understand and influence events at the Elizabethan court.

When I set out on this ‘journey’ to tell the story of the Tudors I had no idea how much I would learn about fascinating women such as Frances Walsingham, who witnessed the key events of the Elizabethan era first-hand, yet is so little known – until now."

Frances – Tudor Countess is new from Amazon in eBook and Paperback, and an audiobook edition will be produced this year:

GB https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D1YQYL8

US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1YQYL8G

Tony Riches Author Bio:

Tony Riches is a full-time UK author of best-selling Tudor historical fiction. He lives in Pembrokeshire, West Wales and is a specialist in the history of the Wars of the Roses and the lives of the Tudors. 

For more information about Tony’s books please visit his
Website and his blog, The Writing Desk and find him on Facebook, Twitter and Bluesky  

You can find out more about his research on his popular podcast series, ‘Stories of the Tudors’

Media Links:

Website: https://www.tonyriches.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonyriches

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tonyriches.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonyriches.author/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyriches/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyriches.author/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Riches/e/B006UZWOXA

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5604088.Tony_Riches

Out Today - A Memory of Murder by Helen Hollick

Today is publication day for A Memory of Murder by Helen Hollick, the fifth in her series of Jan Christopher Cosy Murder Mysteries.

You might know that Helen is a prolific and hugely successful author of Historical Fiction, including a series about King Arthur and her Seawitch pirate novels. Lately she's branched out into cosy murder stories set in the 1970s.

Helen had wanted to become a journalist when leaving secondary school, but the careers advice was not helpful and instead, she worked in a Chingford library where she stayed for 13 years although she was not very happy there; what she really wanted to do was write. Working at the library of course gave her access to books, and it was there that she came across the Roman historical novels of Rosemary Sutcliff, the Arthurian trilogy by Mary Stewart, and the historian Geoffrey Ashe. She was hooked on Roman Britain - and King Arthur!

Reading everything she could, she realised that she had her own characters of Arthur and Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), and wanted to tell their stories. She found an agent who placed her with William Heinemann and the first in her Aruthurian Trilogy was published just after her fortieth birthday.

Since then, Helen has had USA Today bestseller success with her novel about Queen Emma, and also written about Harold Godwineson. 

For the last few years she has been taking her readers on high seas adventures with her pirate character Jesamiah Acorne in the highly acclaimed Seawitch novels but, during lockdown in 2020, her writing went in seemingly a very different direction.

But it's not such a leap as you might suppose, for Jan Christopher works in a library too, and many of the incidents and escapades related in the books really happened, as Helen draws on her memories of her years working in Chingford Library.

There, of course, the similarity ends for, unlike Jan, Helen was never witness to murder (thank goodness). All five of the books sit beautifully in their 1970s setting and evoke the sights, sounds, smells and social mores of that era. Jan's uncle is a Detective Chief Inspector, and her guardian since Jan's father was killed when she was young.

Those who've read the previous four books will know this, but in Book Five, we learn more about Jan's earlier life and about her parents. I'll say no more, for fear of spoilers, but I will tell those who already count these books among their favourites, that the gorgeous and glorious Laurie, Detective Sergeant and Jan's fiancé, is still on the scene!

Here's the blurb:

Easter 1973.

The North London library where Jan Christopher works is in upheaval because the decorators are in to spruce the place up, but there is more for her policeman uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, and her fiancé, DS Laurie Walker to worry about than a few inconvenient pots of paint.

An eleven-year-old girl has not returned home after school, and strange ‘gifts’ are being surreptitiously left for the detective chief inspector’s family to find. 

Could these items have anything to do with the unsolved murder, fifteen years ago, of Jan’s policeman father?

As with all of the books in the series, you can be sure there are plenty of red herrings along the way...

A Memory of Murder can be bought HERE

and you can find all of Helen's books HERE

Helen's website is HERE

and you can find her on Social Media:

Facebook

Twitter

Praise for earlier books in the series:

“Well-paced with action interspersed with red herrings, shady suspects, and some nice passages of information which, ultimately are inconsequential, but are actually very interesting. Characterisations are excellent – especially Aunt Madge! I love Aunt Madge!”

“An enjoyable read with a twist in who done it. I spent the entire read trying to decide what was a clue and what wasn’t... Kept me thinking. I call that a success.”

“A delicious distraction... What a lovely way to spend an afternoon!”