The Queen's Fool [Audio Download]

If you are thinking about reading The Queens Fool you might like to know the chronological order of Philippa Gregory's books about the Tudor Court:-

The Constant Princess
The Other Boleyn Girl
(Read the book, the film misses out so much)
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Queen's Fool
The Virgins Lover
The Other Queen

Once I start to read these books I can't put them down.
I didn't think I was going to like The Queen's Fool as it was not directly about one of Henrys wives or daughters.
However Hannah Verde creeps slowly into your affections as the Royal Confidant and Holy Fool who falls for Robert Dudley who lovingly refers to her as 'Mistress Boy' Hannah nearly pays for that devotion with her life. when she is asked to use her gift of 'sight' to look into the future and advise of coming illness, death, births and ill doings in the royal household. Who will benefit and who will fall..only Hannah can provide the answers, but she plays a dangerous game.

Full of mystery and intrigue Hannah takes you from the bedside of the ailing Queen Mary to the frivolities at Hampton Court where the young Princess Elizabeth is waiting for her moment to be crowned the new Queen of England.

Will Hannahs loyalties cost her the chance to find once more the husband she walked out on and then too late realised was the love of her life.
Beginning with the demise of Kateryn Parr and endng with the death of Queen Mary and the first years of Elizabeths reign, this book is a must have holiday read, I loved it.

Long story, cut short.....Hannah Verde, Spanish, Jewish, settles in England with her father after their flight from the Spanish Inquisition, given over to the Royal court of young King Edward as his Holy Fool, on his death she transfers to Queen Mary as her fool and here the story begins.....

This is my third Philippa Gregory and as expected it is a solid story, but not on the same par as her Bolyen books. I felt as though I learned quite a lot about Queen Mary, who as the book progressed seemed to get more and more unhinged, and it's no surprise she earned the name 'Bloody Mary'. Elizabeth was portrayed as thouroughly unlikeable and self serving and I don't doubt that she was all that and more and even the main players at court were just as I imagined them to be; fickle, scheming, underhand, greedy and manipulative, but it was the main character who really spoiled things for me. No matter what situation was unfolding, Hannah was always right there in the thick of things and after a while she really started to grate on me.

She didn't have a bad word to say about anybody, regardless of how horribly they treated her, and she kept going back for more of the same. I realise she wouldn't have had a lot of say in matters regarding how she was put to use by her employers but one minute she's litterally wetting herself as she's about to be tortured as a heritic because Mary has a bee in her bonnet (to put it mildly) about non Catholics, even though she considers Hannah her trusted friend....then the next minute Hannah is all doe eyed at Mary's feet and defending her against any critics....it just doesn't make sense. She has the means to escape and put it all behind her, but she does everything in her power to stay.

She can't seem to make up her mind about where her loyalties lie for most of the book and dithers from one plot master to the next, depending on what's afoot at any given time. Mary, Elizabeth, Lord Robert Dudley, her betrothed, John Dee...and, and, and. I just couldn't relate to her because she just didn't seem to have the wit to remove herself from danger when the opportunity arose. The exit was right there for her, and she chose not to take it.

Having said that, the story itself was interesting and enjoyable, if a little slow. The pace wasn't as fast as in her other books but overall the story was a good one.

I haven't been put off and I still plan to work my way through her other books, but if this is your first try of Philippa Gregory, this isn't her best.

I was rather sceptical about this book when I heard it was going to be the October choice for my family book club. An historical novel. It conjured up terrible images in my mind. Bodice ripping yarns based on loose gossip and no fact. I even asked my Mother (who had suggested the book) what it was about and she said nothing. Not a great start.

But from the moment I opened it I could not put it down. The story flows so easily that before I knew it I had read 30 pages.

It is based in Tudor England. A time of great change and upheaval. Hannah is a little girl who has come to England with her father to flee the Spanish Inquisition. Her mother had been burned at the stake for being a heretic.

Hannah has a gift. A gift of the Sight. Something that could place her in great danger in such uncertain times. But luckily a Lord of the Kings court stumbles upon Hannah and her gift and takes her into his employment as the Kings Fool.

The rest is...history.

It wasn't just the story that captured my imagination but the backdrop of Tudor England. Being British myself I have visited many of the castles and houses mentioned in the Queens Fool so I was able to picture the settings with great accuracy. My Grandfather once took me to Hever Castle. I was standing in a room on a bit of old carpet. He told me to close my eyes and said "Charlotte, just think. King Henry the Eighth once walked across the floor you are standing on now". It sent shivers down my spine. My Grandfather gave me a love of British history and The Queens Fool has ignited that once again.