Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Obtained from: Netgalley/Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Read: August 8, 2013
The court of Henry VIII is rife with intrigue, rivalries and romance - and none are better placed to understand this than the women at its heart. Katherine Parr, widowed for the second time aged thirty-one, is obliged to return to court but, suspicious of the ageing king and those who surround him, she does so with reluctance. Nevertheless, when she finds herself caught up in a passionate affair with the dashing and seductive Thomas Seymour, she believes she might finally be able to marry for love. But her presence at court has attracted the attentions of another... Captivated by her honesty and intelligence, Henry Tudor has his own plans for Katherine and no one is in the position to refuse a proposal from the king. So with her charismatic lover dispatched to the continent, Katherine must accept the hand of the ailing egotistical monarch and become Henry's sixth wife - and yet she has still not quite given up on love.
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Elizabeth Fremantle seems to have been equally intrigued by the last of Henry's brides, carefully recreating her story in her debut novel, Queen's Gambit. Here the cold and calculating ambition of both men and women come to life in an endless galliard of alternating political alliances, suspicion and fear. Brutal and cold, this is the world in which Katherine lived, the role which she was forced into knowing the odds of survival were not in her favor.
I liked this one for several reasons, but in particular for its portrayal of Katherine affair with Thomas Seymour. Intelligent and clever she recognizes him for what he is early in the novel, but starved for romantic affection her allows herself to disregard his faults in hopes of obtaining marital bliss. History tells us how their union ends, but I really appreciated the internal conflict Fremantle gifted Katherine in this story. Katherine's is a sad fate and I liked the idea that she wasn't entirely blind to it.
Tudor lit is a dime a dozen and let's be honest, the story doesn't change. What marks a title and makes it noteworthy is the adapted research and the ability to maintain the intensity while illustrating Henry's court without falling into the same old rhythm of all the authors who came before you. Fremantle achieves this. Queen's Gambit is a powerful and vivid narrative that brilliantly brings to light the strength and fortitude of the woman forced to endure marriage to an aged and depraved monarch. An absolute must have for any Tudor reader.
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But none notice that she is moving with difficulty through a world that is tipped on its side, or see that she fears falling off its edge.
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Check out all the stops on Elizabeth FreMantle's Queen's Gambit Virtual Book Tour
Wednesday, August 14
Review at The Library of Alexandra
Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Review at The Library of Alexandra
Review & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Friday, September 6
Review at History Undressed
Review at Impressions in Ink
Review & Giveaway at Drey’s Library
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book
Review at History Undressed
Review at Impressions in Ink
Review & Giveaway at Drey’s Library
Review & Giveaway at Always with a Book
Thursday, September 12
Review at Closed the Cover
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Review at Carole’s Ramblings and Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Review at Closed the Cover
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Review at Carole’s Ramblings and Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Friday, September 13
Review & Giveaway at Books in the Burbs
Review & Giveaway at A Dream Within a Dream
Review & Giveaway at Books in the Burbs
Review & Giveaway at A Dream Within a Dream
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