Review: Terrific Read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2014
I really enjoyed this novel; the characters were well-drawn and sympathetic, the research thorough and the fictitious character of Bridget Manning engaging, so I was pleased to discover this is the first book in a series.Although the start was a little slow, I felt this was necessary, to introduce Bridget, the peaceful world she was forced to leave because of the Dissolution, and to provide the contrast with the tumultuous life of the Tudor court she had no option but to join. As an orphan with no close family, she was grateful to accept a helping hand and a home from Queen Anne Boleyn, a distant relative.An innocent young girl with no experience of life, Bridget found herself thrust into an unstable world. She had hoped to find security, but security -- for anyone -- was more elusive by the day as Anne Boleyn fought to cling on to the love of her husband, Henry VIII, against the king's rapidly waning passion and his increasing attraction to Jane Seymour, Anne's Maid of Honour. Because Anne had committed the ultimate, unforgiveable sin; like her predecessor, Catherine of Aragon, she had failed to give birth to the healthy son she had promised the king. Quickly, Bridget became the queen's trusted confidante in this frightening world. She was forced to grow up, try to cope with a fast-changing situation, and to provide a shoulder for the increasingly insecure queen. Life, death and everything in between, was soon Bridget's daily fare. She found love, but she also discovered hate so strong it woud soon destroy everything familiar for the third time in her short life.The author drew me in and kept hold with a story filled with tension, intrigue and not a little terror.