The Queen’s Fool (Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #12)

by Philippa Gregory

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I am of mixed feelings about The Queen's Fool. I found the characters to be inconsistent and weak, but even as I say that, I feel as though I am being unfair to the author - I am not learned on Tudor England, and perhaps the view she offers is realistic. Nonetheless, I found all the main characters a bit pathetic, which led to a lot of skimming and page turning. The book, much like a plot in an English court, requires patience and waiting for things to move along, as they do at their own very slow pace.

The fictionalized content in this book is greater than the other two I have read (The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance) since the protagonist herself is a work of fiction. Hannah, being a "seer," leads this particular book on the edge of a fantasy, being as often her episodes are what drives the entire plot forward. Gregory repeats herself often, then changes her mind, then repeats herself again - I'm not sure if all the characters are disloyal and ambivalent, or if it was the author herself who could not make up her mind.

That said, it wasn't a terrible read. It served for entertainment, and despite my dislike of the character and the speed of the storyline, Gregory does have a way of drawing her reader right into the world of Tudor England and enchanting us with the scenery and bringing to life the way things were. For that, she gets three stars.

((Cross-posted to my blog: The Literary Phoenix))