A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love. It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of “Sight,” the ability to … ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward’s protector, who brings her to court as a “holy fool” for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.
Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen’s Fool is another rich and emotionally resonant gem from this wonderful storyteller.
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This was the second Phillipa Gregory novel for me. (the first was after seeing the Bolyen Girl movie) I was hooked. The history is not always exactly as it happened but it’s a novel. The character is quite unique and it’s been a few years since I read this and I’ve never forgotten it. You are in and around the years surrounding and including, the Tudor era in these books and you have to blink into the light when you tear your eyes away. Or ears, as I’ve also listened to books in this Tudor series on audio. They are always well done. The Queen’s Fool is not a jester, she is a young woman, a companion, working in tumultuous times and keeping her own secrets.
The story is told from Hannah Green’s perspective, a young Jewish girl who flees Spain with her father to escape persecution. Hannah is a seer, a sought after talent during the troubled times for the Tudor court, so she is brought to court has a fool, first to King Edward, then to Queen Mary and then Princess Elizabeth. The story is full of drama, passion and disloyalty, Everyone waiting for King Edward to die, while Mary fought for her throne, and Elizabeth battles to be the next Queen. And through all this Hannah the Fool was torn between her loyalty to both Mary and Elizabeth, and her love for two men, her Master Sir Robert Dudley and her betrothed Daniel Carpenter. The Queen’s Fool is a beautifully written, memorable characters that make the story come alive. Philippa Gregory’s best book, I would recommend this book not just to historical fiction lover’s, this book would captivate anyone.
I came into this book skeptical, the first book in the series not told from the point of view of a real person who had existed, not mention adding in the whole “seer” aspect. I think that preconceived notions such as this can be challenging to overcome. As my subsequent review will illustrate, I was able to set some of that aside, but some of it not so much.
What I liked about “The Queen’s Fool”:
The moments when we spent time with the “real people” – Yes, fictionalized for the sake of the book, but people who at one time actually existed on this plane (albeit not likely as they are portrayed in the book — I don’t know, the difference makes sense to me and it’s my review!). Robert Dudley and Queen Mary I and Princess Elizabeth: to consider what it must have been like to live out these lives recorded in history books and navigate survival in this degree of upheaval and move the chess pieces in a never-ending game of power grab (well, never-ending until you left this mortal coil, naturally or…shall we say…assisted?), it boggles my mind. I would have hid in a shadowy corner and hoped no one remembered me.
Daniel – He certainly had his hands full with Hannah, determined though he was to be a decent man in the culture of those times, and her fighting him literally every step of the way, loving him when she couldn’t have him and hating him when she did. The guy just wanted to do the right thing, the respectable and honorable thing, and for all of that… well, to say more would be to flirt with spoilers.
What I didn’t care for:
Well beyond even romance-driven historical fiction – While the amorous scenes were relatively few overall, the first few pages felt like straight up smut.
Hannah – It isn’t that her struggles weren’t real struggles felt by women and Jews and citizens of this time period. I did appreciate that aspect of the book. But her sense of loyalty was so fickle? all-encompassing? transferrable? hypocritical? that it felt impossible to take her loyalty seriously, ever. Ultimately, I didn’t find her sympathetic as the narrator because she just shapeshifted into binding herself to whomever she thought might protect her in the present moment and labelling it ‘loyalty’.
The storytelling method deployed – After all this time in the series (read in chronological order rather than by publication date), it is disconcerting and odd to have the story told from the perspective of a fictional character, and one with “the power of Sight” at that. It felt out of character to the series, for me, and I failed to appreciate it as much as I might have otherwise.
Proofreading issues – Namely, the improper usage of ‘I’ where it should have been ‘me’, which is something that sets my teeth on edge. I know the grammar tyrants receive a lot of eye rolls but this is printed text that presumably went through several rounds of editing and proofreading. I always recall the rule of thumb as I was instructed, which is to take the other name out of the sentence: the two parents looked at Daniel, the two parents looked at me, the two parents looked at Daniel and me, NOT the two parents looked at Daniel and I, because you would not say the two parents looked at I. /rant Pretty basic stuff is my point.
I like pure historical fiction and I like historical fiction that imagines what life was like for actual people who existed, but I struggle with historical fiction that is narrated by a fictional character peering through the window at real people’s lives, which feels forced and weird for me. When a work is formed around entirely fictional characters, I need them to not be spending the vast majority of their time interacting with, or even really encountering, people who actually lived and breathed. Ultimately, here is the thing about this book and its straddling of fiction and fact: I think I would have liked it better as a standalone novel rather than part of a series of which I have formed particular expectations, eleven books in. (Granted, it was only the second one of the series published, but I am reading chronologically so the difference is glaringly obvious.) Part of me even wonders if Ms Gregory came to the conclusion, after this book, that this format wouldn’t work as well for this series as those which were narrated by fictional versions of people who actually lived. Whatever the case, the book itself was quite enjoyable on its own, but as it is part of a much larger series — and one that would be lacking a significant and important portion of history if it were merely skipped — I have to factor that into my rating; four stars becomes three on this merit alone.
A great story set in an interesting time. Loved it.
As always, Phillipa Gregory delivers a book I can hardly put down. I loved her portrayal of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. So good!!
An excellent way to understand the twists and turns of British history. Compelling characters and a plot that keeps you turning pages. Well-written, as are all her books.
I love everything Phillippa Gregory writes! This book shows medieval England from the point of view of someone who was on the edge of the action.