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traveling in my historical fiction bookbox

Hi! Rec'd this in Ladybug74's Historical Fiction Book Box today. I've read this book in the past. It will be going back in the box to continue its journey so that someone else might enjoy it!

Sent via media mail to "Squelati" in GA today. Delivery Confirmation # 0309 0330 0000 5407 8273 (Link to check Delivery Information: Click Here!)

Happy Traveling, Book Box! Happy Reading, "Squelati!"

I have a copy of this book in my permanent collection and these were the thoughts I recorded:
I finished reading this book the day after I started it. I had never much thought about the plight of Jews during the rule of monarchs such as Henry VII, Mary and Elizabeth, where religion was clearly a central part of everyone's life. Gregory's book may have been stretching the point of credibility for me (sorry, maybe I just don't know enough about Tudor courts but a female fool? Or a Holy Fool? Did such things exist?)

Gregory's portrayal of Princess Elizabeth is never quite flattering. She's pretty, and clever, but also melodramatic and slutty. She's everyone's worse vision of the Teen Drama Queen. I found myself feeling much more sympathetic toward Mary, who just seemed horribly, horribly lost in a world out of her control. Nothing she did was right, and all she wanted to be was a good Queen who saved the souls of her people from sin.

As for Hannah, the narrator, she was all right. As the vehicle to tell the story of the courtiers around her, she never captured my interest much, and the dalliances into her personal life felt like a drag away from the main story. Doesn't that sound terrible? But I suppose it makes an testament about how lives could be torn apart just to satisfy the whims of one spoiled monarch.

This book enjoyed a brief visit in San Jose, California before continuing its travels in ladybug74's Historical Fiction Bookbox!