The Forgotten Sister

I know a little something about Tudor history, but I didn’t know about Amy Robsart, Robert Dudley’s wife. He was the man Elizabeth I was in love with all those years. Allegedly. :-). Her story is a mystery, and the book has a parallel mystery set in the modern era. Really good read!

I like time travel

When Amy Robsart, Lady Dudley, tumbled down the stairs in September of 1560, it created an unsolved mystery that has fascinated readers, historians, and writers for centuries. Was she murdered? Did she commit suicide? Or was it, as it was ruled at the time, a tragic act of misfortune? In Nicola Cornick’s The Forgotten Sister, Amy Robsart’s death gets a new treatment.

In a metaphysical tale that has the key actors in the Lady Dudley tragedy reappearing throughout the centuries to repeat the circumstances of the original love triangle and mysterious death, we encounter celebrities Lizzie Kingdom, her best friend Dudley Lester, and his soon to be ex-wife Amelia Robsart (a distant descendent.) After Amelia dies from a fall in a home built from the stones of the house where the original Amy Robsart died, Lizzie Kingdom, who has the gift of psychometry, and Amelia’s brothers Arthur and Johnny try to figure out what happened and why. Lizzie wants to clear Dudley’s name, even though the press and the pubic are convinced they are having an affair and this is why Amelia died.

In the 16th century, the story of Amy Robsart and her tragic marriage to Lord Dudley, plays out with the original characters with one notable exception. Amy’s sister, Anna. According to historical record, Amy Robsart was an only child. The addition of a sister to the story adds an extra element of drama and intrigue.

As is typical of books with female protagonists, Amy is strong, intelligent, and very bitter about her treatment at the hands of her husband. Robert Dudley is, of course, cruel, extravagant, and besotted with another woman. In order to overcome her difficult circumstances and unhappy life, Amy plots an elaborate revenge which will free her from her marriage and ensure than Robert Dudley can never marry Queen Elizabeth I.

Meanwhile, in the present, Lizzie Kingdom is accused of involvement in not only Amelia Lester’s death but the disappearance of her brother Johnny. Johnny, who shared the gift of telepathy with Amelia, also has the ability to time travel. He returns to the 16th century to try and prevent Amy Robsart’s death in the hopes this will also prevent his sister’s death and bring her back. It is up to Lizze and Arthur to figure out how to break the repeating pattern of love triangles and tragic deaths and end the cycle once and for all.

I will be honest. Time travel, for me, is an issue of science. Of physics, albeit unproven physics. There is nothing w00-w00 about it. It does not have anything to do with psychic powers, or reincarnation, or metaphysics. This book, however, intrigued me. Perhaps it was the tragedy of the original story, the unsolved mystery, that kept me from rolling my eyes too much. After all, in fiction, you can create a world of possibilities science never dreamed of. And while I do not believe in psychic powers, curses, recycled souls, or much of anything in that category, it is a testament to the author’s storytelling ability that I enjoyed this book so much. The characters resounded with me, especially Lizzie. She was such a private person, strong and stubborn, but haunted. She had a decency one does not often find in strong fictional women.

That being said, I was annoyed at the portrayal of Amy Robsart. According to testimony given after her death, she was a Godly woman, who prayed several times a day. She sought help from God for her marriage, and the situation her husband put her in. In this novel, however, she is a bitter woman, angry and vengeful and determined to cheat her husband, use his reckless nature against him, and escape her marriage. While I admire the author’s desire to give this woman power and make her less of a victim, I find it disturbing that power equates with some kind of harsh revenge. That the only way a Tudor woman could rise above the poor treatment of her husband is to steal from him, plan her own death, and ensure he can never have what he desires most. I would think the best way to exact a revenge would be to find happiness without him. To be a better person than he is, more loved and admired, and more sympathetic. There are so many ways Amy’s original character could have been reflected, and the story be just as tragic and powerful.

I also found that the reason for Amy’s spirit being restless and angry a bit unclear. Yes, part of her plan was thwarted. But her revenge, making sure her husband could not marry the queen after she was gone, happened exactly the way she wanted. The resulting scandal ensured the two could never marry, keeping them forever apart. If she was looking for some sort of cosmic justice, that alone should have supplied it.

Overall, this is a really good story. It is well written, it provides enough intrigue and suspense to be compulsively readable, and the “solving” of the mystery of Amy Robsart’s death seems satisfying and plausible if a “forgotten sister” actually existed.

This book was a bit different than the usual books I read. I loved how the story went from past to present times. I was never confused as to what time period it was and what characters were being talked about. I loved that this book gave a possible conclusion to what really happened to Amy Robsart during the early reign of Elizabeth l. I loved each story and the characters. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

4.5 Stars Rounded Up! This book is SO GOOD! It is intriguing, moving, heart-wrenching, thrilling, and so much more. Whenever I picked up “The Forgotten Sister”, I was whisked away on an emotional journey, and was hooked from the first page to the last.

This is the second book I have read by Nicola Cornick, and oh I love her books! She truly knows how to bring a story to life. She brilliantly weaves together various aspects of a mystery until each and every puzzle piece comes in to place, and she keeps you holding your breath until the last moments. Her characters all feel so incredibly real; from the historical figures she brings to life to her fictional characters, all of their wants, fears, desires, and hopes are so clear and so-well written.

This book is split between the 16th Century Tudor Era and the 21st Century. Ms. Cornick draws from the question of the historical mystery surrounding Amy Dudley’s death. Although we may never know the circumstances surrounding her death, and what was the actual cause, Ms. Cornick has created a story in which the past mirrors the present and future. Is there a correlation between past events in people’s lives continuing into the future? If so, are the threads of the past forever woven into these character’s lives, or is there a way for them to break the pattern? You will just have to read to find out!

If you enjoy historical fiction, and / or dual-timeline novels, I highly recommend this book! It kept me turning the pages late into the early morning hours as I could not wait to see what happened next. I truly was on the edge of my seat, and there are quite a few twists and turns that made my mouth drop, and I was kept guessing on the connections of everything up until the very end.

Thank you so much to the author, Nicola Cornick, for sending me the ARC of this book, I so enjoyed it! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This story has dual time lines. I had a hard time getting into the past story. I thought the present day story much more interesting. I will say that the past story became more interesting more than half way through. Lizzie‘s character grew on me as the book went on. The idea of time travel appeals to me and to know things by touching them is interesting. I enjoyed the book!
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

The Forgotten Sister by Nicola Cornick is an excellent historical fiction that is a dual timeline novel. I have found in the past that either these dual timelines are in excellent taste and enthrall me, or they can be confusing, tedious, and disappointing. The Forgotten sister falls into the former of the two: an intriguing book that kept me engaged throughout its entirety, satisfied and interested from beginning to end.

This book alternates between16th Century England Amy Robsart and her husband, Robert Dudley the infamous companion to Elizabeth I, and the second taking place in current-day between a divorcing couple Dudley Lester and Amelia Robsart and a friend of Dudley’s, Lizzie Kingdom.

The author impressively created murder/mystery plots (of course the historical plot is known history in regards to the mysterious death of Robert Dudley’s wife) that mirrored each other and almost felt as if they were generational repeats/occurrences, and the similarities created give the reader almost a goose bump and eerie feel. Both situations ensnare multiple players, both include intrigue, mystery, deceptions, cloak and dagger actions, and suspense. Both stories involve mysterious deaths and through several revelations and a well-created plot that is slowly unraveled, the reader is able to pick apart the clues dispersed and get to the bottom of a wonderfully crafted, intricate, and almost paranormal plot that kept me enthralled throughout. We get a little bit of old infused with new. A perfect contrast, yet similar in so many ways. We see the cascading effects from past deceptions, faults, and transgressions. I have never read anything quite like this, and it was fascinating and ingenious. I love the concept that an episode of deception and betrayal and tragedy that stemmed from actual historical happenings can have long-standing effects for generations.

The extensive character cast was creative, complex, realistic, and fit perfectly into the plots and overall narrative.

I do not want to be any more specific as I have already been in hopes that I can prevent any spoilers for future interested readers, but let me just say that this is a fascinating, unique, and well-crafted historical fiction novel that will appeal to mystery fans and historical fiction fans alike.

5/5 stars

Thank you Graydon House/HarperCollins for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I don’t usually read historical fiction but The Forgotten Sister’s blurb enticed me.

The book is based on the actual historical mystery of the death of Amy Robsart so we actually get a bit of a history lesson mixed with fiction.
The story jumps from the 1500s and Amy Rosbart’s POV to present day and Lizzie Kingdom’s POV.

I think because it wasn’t all set in the past that the story really pulled me in. The author weaves a brilliant web of mystery and we begin to see how the two eras interlace. Another thing that thoroughly gripped me was Lizzie and her Psychometry, this absolutely fascinated me.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself so engrossed in the story that i couldn’t put it down. The author has done a fantastic job of solving (albeit fictionally) a mystery from history. The book flawlessly jumps from past to present and back again. I’m a little bit in awe of the entire story and this certainly won’t be the last historical romance that I read. If you are like me and don’t usually read historical but would like to give it a go The Forgotten Sister is a perfect book to start on to ease you in! Five stars!

Nicola Cornick is one of my go to authors. She writes beautiful, well researched and descriptive books that bring history to life in an authentic but interesting way. You don’t have to worry about her books reading like a refernce manual .
I was engrossed in the storyline right away and didn’t want to put it down once I’d started it. I literally finished it in a few hours,
This is a dual time line book blending historical and modern storylines from the POV of the two main female protagonists.
The premise was ingenious and the clever way she incorporates the parallels between the past and present made this an engrossing and entertaining read.
The storyline revolves around the mystery surrounding the death of Amy Robsart , it was well documented and still debated about today. The past is told from Amy’s point of view. .you feel sorry for her situation , overshadowed by the regard her husband has for the Lady Elizabeth and her consequent loneliness. Robert Dudley is capricious and vain. I didn’t find him a likeable character whatsoever. The modern-day sections were told from Lizzie’ Kingdom POV . It was really clever how traits from the historical character’s were incorporated in their modern counterparts. History is repeating itself when her friend Robert Lester wife Amelia is found at the bottom of her stairs with a broken neck . The media backlash against Robert and Lizzie is extreme. You can relate to Lizzie character, although she isn’t likeable to begin with ,she redeems herself by the end of the book. It all comes together at the finale and you feel like the characters of Amy and Amelia get closure . It was a brilliant book and I totally recommend it..

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