Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle
by
Natasa Djordjevic
- 9:22 AM
“There are events in life from which we learn our most profound lessons and sometimes those events are the ones of which we are most ashamed.”
It’s a rare thing when an author can create real tension in a story whose ending is already known. Ms. Fremantle has done exactly that in this beautifully written, well-researched, and engrossing story about the last Queen of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr. Further, she has created a central character in Katherine Parr who is believable, sympathetic, and interesting.
Elizabeth Fremantle has added depth and warmth to the time of Queen Katherine, the last wife of Henry VIII. She had an amazing ability to balance home life and royal duties and to stay poised under pressure. While trying to bring about the reformation of the Church, she had to walk a tightrope among politicians and nobles. Not least of all was her volatile husband, the King.
This novel shows Katherine Parr as a person, a loving step-mother, a woman with intelligence and ambition- holding her family and friends together through perilous times. I was enthralled with this woman of rich dynamic.
While the book is about Katherine, it’s also told from the second perspective of her servant, Dot. This allows you a view into two worlds - from the very top to near the very bottom. Fremantle is a master at bringing both worlds to life, never neglecting even the small details that make all the difference in helping to immerse a reader in the time period. I feel this novel gave Katherine the credit she deserves and painted a beautiful picture of the woman and her times.
