Book Review: Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham

Pages: 323
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Released: June 1, 2012
Received: Own
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I enjoy Susan Higginbotham's novels. In this one, we get to see the events surrounding Edward VI's reign and death, Jane Grey's short-lived reign, and Mary I's rise to the throne. I've read about this period before, but never through the eyes of Jane Dudley and Frances Grey, the mothers of the ill-fated Guilford Dudley and Jane Grey. Chapters alternate between these perspectives, breathing new life into this period of history and definitely contributing to my enjoyment of the book.

Were they both as innocent of social climbing as Susan Higginbotham makes them out to be? Maybe. Their treatment by Mary seems to imply that they weren't the schemers many books make them out to be.

While both of the mothers were sympathetic, it was hard to like Jane Grey. I've seen her portrayed as an innocent victim and as a snooty religious fanatic, and her portrayal here is sort of a mix between the two. Her youth is frequently brought up and it is important to remember how she was still young and learning. But, she's still really annoying. Almost so annoying that when she died it was all I could do not to feel happy about that.

I also liked how Susan Higginbotham didn't cast either Mary or Elizabeth as a villain. Both women were made out to be good-hearted, if not always making the best choices. Elizabeth plays a very, very minor role, but Mary has several scenes and I found myself looking forward to reading them. I'd enjoy reading a Mary-focused book, if the author ever chose to write one.

What I like about the books like this that focus on a real person, but not one of the Major Players is that I tend to connect even more dots between historical figures. The relationships and social positions of the wives, their husbands, their rivals, and their children helped flesh out my understanding of how all of these people were connected and influenced events. I definitely feel like I've deepened my understanding of this time period.


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Book Review: Mariana by Susana Kearsley

Pages: 382
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Released: 1994
Received: Library, now own
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

I picked this one up on a total impulse. Melissa from Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf was reading this and I saw one of her updates on Goodreads. Something about the book grabbed my attention, and I downloaded it right then and there from the library. Thank you, Overdrive!

I started reading and I was immediately sucked into the story. Something about Susanna Kearsley's writing felt familiar, comfortable, and almost Daphne du Maurier-ish.

Much like a du Maurier book, Mariana moseys through the plot. Nothing is rushed, but at the same time nothing feels slow or dragging. It's all just a relaxing meander through old ruins, large historical houses, laid back visits to the local pub, and languid trips back through time. I enjoyed all of the characters, and while none really stood out, they all felt like familiar old friends. 

This is one of those heroine gets mentally sucked into the past type books where we slowly learn about a past history. I tend to like those kinds of stories, and Mariana can now be counted among my favorites. There's a little explanation given as to how all the time-slipping works and it's good enough for me to accept.

There's a twist at the end that I wish had been foreshadowed better. As it was, I accept it, and actually like it, but it was a little too about-face for my taste. Or maybe I'm just a very blind reader!

This was a great book to escape into and let the real world drift away. It's my first by Susanna Kearsley, but I'm now looking forward to making my way through her other works. The only challenge will be deciding where to begin!

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Book Review: Two Elizabeth I Novels

Legacy by Susan Kay
4.5 out of 5 stars

I'm not a big Elizabeth I fan. Respect her, sure. Feel for her over her many crappy situations? Definitely. But like her? No, sorry, I don't think she was a very nice (or sane!) person.

So, Legacy really worked for me, because Susan Kay makes a really compelling case for why we should all feel bad for poor Elizabeth and her difficult situations (true) while still portraying Elizabeth as off-her-rocker crazy and cruel. And, also, admirable, shrewd, and cunning. All of the facets of Elizabeth are captured here.

There's also a ton of historical detail packed into this very large book (over 600 pages! My gosh was that hard, but it was consistently engaging!). I still felt like some things were glossed over more than I would have liked (particularly her later years and politics, this book is more front heavy), but I feel like that's a little quibble in the face of everything I did get.

I started reading Alison Weir's Elizabeth I biography right after finishing Legacy and I ended up DNF-ing it because it didn't offer anything that Legacy hadn't already given me. It also didn't contradict anything. So, high praise.

I've read several books on Elizabeth now and I'll probably pick up a few more at some point, but for now I'm comfortable with keeping Legacy as my go-to Elizabeth book. I read a library copy, but I'd like to have a copy of my own.

The Queen's Handmaiden by Jennifer Ashley
4.5 out of 5 stars

I read this book before I read Legacy and up until that point I would have considered this the book that really cemented an image of Elizabeth in my head (and she's not a nice lady in this book either, though she is sympathetic and smart). That's still true, but Legacy took the foundation built in The Queen's Handmaiden and expanded on it. Though, this book is also very front heavy and focuses a lot more on Elizabeth's pre-queen (living with the Seymours) and early queen years.

The Queen's Handmaiden focuses on Eloise a fictional seamstress who is responsible for concocting Elizabeth's famed dresses and, through these clothes, public image. It's like Queen of Fashion (awesome heavy historical non-fic about how Marie Antoinette's fashion affected history) meets The Winter Palace (so-so lite historical fiction about Catherine the Great's early years as observed by a fictional maid) and falls somewhere between the two in terms of historical details and likability.

Deceptively filled with historical details, The Queen's Handmaiden was a fun way to learn about history and Elizabeth. I'm definitely the type of reader who enjoys learning about history through fashion and how the fashion choices of monarchs influenced their public image. Jennifer Ashley did a great job showing this, and making Eloise the main character helped create a tense atmosphere as I waited with baited breath to see if her latest concoction would aid in Elizabeth's political gambits.

While I usually don't love the "fictional third party observer" approach, Eloise was an endearing character in her own right and I liked following her story just as much as the hard historical parts. Some of it bordered on a little too conveniently sweet, but I appreciated that both because I like sweet stories and because it helped balance out Elizabeth's loveless life.

I read this book through the library, but I'd like to own a copy someday.



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