The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason
ARC, Paperback, 480 of pages
Harper Paperbacks
November 23, 2010
★★★½☆☆
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Received from the publisher for review
“The court of James I is a dangerous place, with factions led by warring cousins Robert Cecil and Francis Bacon. While Europe seethes with conflict between Protestants and Catholics, James sees himself as a grand peacemaker—and wants to make his mark by trading his children for political treaties.
Henry, Prince of Wales, and his sister, Elizabeth, find themselves far more popular than their distrusted father, a perilous position for a child of a jealous king. When Elizabeth is introduced to one suitor, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, she feels the unexpected possibility of happiness. But her fate is not her own to choose—and when her parents brutally withdraw their support for the union, Elizabeth must take command of her own future, with the help of an unexpected ally, the slave girl Tallie, who seeks her own, very different freedom.”This novel is a quick read and the plot speeds right along. The beginning of the novel feels somewhat frivolous, but by the time you reach the middle of the book it gains some weight. I think this is on purpose to show how Elizabeth grows up from an innocent child to a woman. There was also a cute love story between Elizabeth and Frederick that you were rooting for by the end of the book.
This was an interesting story and one whose characters I have not encountered elsewhere. We get up close and personal with the court of James I – his wife Anne of Denmark and children, Henry, Charles, and Elizabeth. This is quite the interesting court. James I is a very paranoid king – and rightly so – but it was shocking some of the actions that he took to protect himself, even from his family. Throughout the story we find out a lot about Henry, Elizabeth, and King James, but left wanting some regarding Queen Anne. The author may have left us distant from her in order to show how she was distant to the rest of her family – however, I did want to know more about her.
This wasn’t a novel with a lot of depth, more of a surface story, but it was enjoyable. I would recommend this if you are looking for a fun read but not expecting to tax your mind too much. I came away from reading it with a sense of enjoyment, but not with too much else and the events of the story don’t stick with you for a long time.
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Also by Christie Dickason
The Firemaster’s Mistress
The Principessa
Indochine
A Noble Assaassin
The Lady Tree
Quicksilver
The Memory Palace
The Dragon Riders
Tears of the Tiger
Find Christie Dickason: Website | Blog
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court
Hmm, interesting. I've never read of that time period/characters, either, and it does sound like a fascinating topic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your take.
Nice review -- I own this one but haven't read it but I'm bumping it higher on my TBR since it's a more superficial read. I was afraid it might be heavy and feature people I wasn't familiar with (and hence, might lose me) but it sounds like it'll be something I could race through easily.
ReplyDeleteI too have not read anything specific of this time so this sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, Heather. I've had this one on my shelf for a long time -- looks like I now won't be in a hurry to read it.
ReplyDeleteFaith - one of the most interesting aspects for me was that James I was very paranoid of someone trying to take his life like they took his mother's, Mary Queen of Scots. He was certainly the most interesting.
ReplyDeleteAudra - It will be a breeze to read. Everything that happens is pretty well spelled out and it's not terribly heavy.
Mystica - It doesn't seem to be a topic that is written about much, as least that I have seen.
Melissa - It sat on my shelf for just over a year before I decided to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteMhhhmmmm, sounds like an interesting read. =) I would probably be a paranoid King (well, queen in my case) but probably not enough to distant myself from my family. Good review. ^.^
ReplyDeleteCarole Rae - You said it - I would be a little cautious if I was him too.
ReplyDelete