Item: Queen's Gambit
Rating: 4.00
Author: whitney

by E C Fremantle

If you love the BBC's The White Queen you'll love this.

Meet the woman who survived Henry VIII in Elizabeth Fremantle's first novel, Queen's Gambit...

My name is Katherine Parr.
I'm 31 years old and already twice widowed.
I'm in love with a man I can't have, and am about to wed a man no-one would want - for my husband-to-be is none other than Henry VIII, who has already beheaded two wives, cast aside two more, and watched one die in childbirth.

What will become of me once I'm wearing his ring and become Queen of England?

They say that the sharpest blades are sheathed in the softest pouches.
Only time will tell what I am really made of...

For fans of Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, Elizabeth Fremantle's first novel, Queen's Gambit, is a riveting account of the Tudor queen who married four men and outlived three of them - including Henry VIII.

Rich in atmosphere and period detail, and told through the eyes of Katherine and her young maid Dot, it tells the story of two very different women during a terrifying and turbulent time. If you loved Wolf Hall, The Other Boleyn Girl or the BBC drama series The Tudors, then Elizabeth Fremantle's Queen's Gambit is the book for you.

'Gripping' Woman & Home
'Sumptuous' Metro
'A major new voice in historical fiction'The Bookseller
'Rich and enticing' Stylist
'Electric' Good Housekeeping
'Wildly entertaining' Huffington Post

Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first in English and an MA in creative Writing from Birkbeck. As a Fashion Editor she has contributed to various publications including Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair and the Erotic Review and has had her fiction published in the Mechanic's Institute Review. Queen's Gambit is her first novel; her second, Sisters of Treason, will be published early in 2014.

Excluding the Boleyn sisters I have read very few books on Henry's many wives particularly his sixth and last wife, Kathrine Parr.

Elizabeth Fremantle's novel is soaking in detail from the descriptions of the elaborate dresses and jewels to the filth of living conditions creating a vivid portrait of 1500s court.

I have always enjoyed books that are told from different perspectives which Queen's Gambit conquers seamlessly. I was interested in Kathrine Parr's point of view but let's face it, we all know her most pressing problems were her inability to produce an heir and circumvent being burned at the stake. I preferred reading the novel through the eyes of secondary characters, the Queen's maid-servant Dot and personal Physician Huicke. Both were devoted to the queen and had unique, original voices with a story just as interesting to tell. I would have been devastated if either had been sent to the guillotine.

The pacing of Queen's Gambit was thrilling, reading at top speed to see what would happen next. Wait a minute, didn't I just say that Kathrine Parr's story was predictable? Perhaps, but as I stated earlier I know very little of Henry's spouses. Thus everything was a bright as a new spring morning.

Queen's Gambit is an enthralling novel of epic proportions, being a fantastic novel of historical fiction.

I received a readers copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Queen's Gambit (The Tudor Trilogy)

by E C Fremantle

Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on Aug 25, 2013

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