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Elizabeth Lambard Shore has a problem – an impotent husband
that she wants to divorce. But just as she
is about to resign herself to a life without children or passion, an
opportunity to change everything presents itself in the form of Lord William
Hastings. Elizabeth finds him exciting
and attractive, and in an effort to satisfy her own curiosity about what’s she been
missing in her marriage she brazenly solicits Hastings to be her teacher. Although he is somewhat reluctant, he doesn’t
protest overly much.
It isn’t long before Jane catches the eye of King Edward IV
and Hastings, thinking she would be good for Edward and therefore the country,
hands her over. Elizabeth - renamed Jane
by the King to avoid confusion with both his wife and his daughter - quickly figures
out that court is a dangerous place and that those who seek her favor one day
will just as quickly turn on her the next.
Although Jane is ultimately forced to face punishment for her sins, she
unwittingly finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that may cost her more
than she ever imagined.
Although I wouldn’t consider this a bodice ripper by any
means (there is very little actual sex), the focus of the story is more on
Jane’s romantic relationships – with Hastings, the king and her second husband,
William Lynom - than the history. Certainly historical events come into play,
but since it’s all told in first person by Jane, most of the history is told to her or
explained in terms of things she has heard.
Overall, I thought this was just OK. Jane is witty and charming and has an easy
going tell-it-like-it-is style that made it easy to like her. But her rather bold and outspoken character
felt just a little too modern and I thought some of the scenes eye-roll worthy and/or or just plain silly.
As far as I can tell, Mistress to the Crown is currently available
only in Australia.
Three’s a crowd: “Alas,
plot taken. The Queen will have to slide
in there and she won’t like a grave `a trois.”
Edward to Hastings when he says he wants to be buried where he stood in
life.
In case the FTC asks:
Review copy from the publisher.
I just downloaded this on Netgalley, so I'm going to be reading this in the coming weeks. I am curious to see if Jane strikes me as too modern as well.
January 24, 2013 at 5:29 PM
I'll be curious to see what you think! I just didn't buy into her character at all.
January 24, 2013 at 7:03 PM
I really tried to like this one, and at the beginning I did like Jane a lot and was very interested in her. But, sadly, I became very bored with her very quickly and it ended up being a DNF.
January 24, 2013 at 8:20 PM
I have this but I haven't read it yet. I hadn't read any of this author before.
The cover on this reminds me of the early Philippa Gregory Tudor novels.
January 25, 2013 at 3:36 AM
Becca - It was kind of boring. I think that's one of the problems with first person narration of someone who's really not in the middle of the action - everything happens around them.
Marg - I had never read anything by this author either. Her actual writing style was fine but the way she presented Jane and her story just didn't work for me.
January 25, 2013 at 6:03 AM
I'm planning to start this one on the weekend. I'm a little nervous about doing so though since, based on your reviews, your thoughts on books tend to match mine.
January 25, 2013 at 3:42 PM