About The Queen's Pleasure
Publication Date: June 26, 2012
Kendington Publishing
384p
SYNOPSIS
When young Robert Dudley, an earl's son, meets squire's daughter Amy Robsart, it is love at first sight. They marry despite parental misgivings, but their passion quickly fades, and the ambitious Dudley returns to court. Swept up in the turmoil of Tudor politics, Dudley is imprisoned in the Tower. Also a prisoner is Dudley's childhood playmate, the princess Elizabeth. In the shadow of the axe, their passion ignites. When Elizabeth becomes queen, rumours rage that Dudley means to free himself of Amy in order to wed her. And when Amy is found dead in unlikely circumstances, suspicion falls on Dudley - and the Queen...Still hotly debated amongst scholars - was Amy's death an accident, suicide, or murder? - the fascinating subject matter makes for an enthralling read for fans of historical fiction.
About Brandy Purdy
Brandy Purdy (Emily Purdy in the UK) is the author of the historical novels THE CONFESSION OF PIERS GAVESTON, THE BOLEYN WIFE (THE TUDOR WIFE), THE TUDOR THRONE (MARY & ELIZABETH), and THE QUEEN'S PLEASURE (A COURT AFFAIR). An ardent book lover since early childhood, she first became interested in history at the age of nine or ten years old when she read a book of ghost stories which contained a chapter about Anne Boleyn haunting the Tower of London. Visit her website at www.brandypurdy.com, you can also follow her, and her cat Tabby, via her blog at http://brandypurdy.blogspot.com or on Facebook as Brandy Purdy - Emily Purdy.
The Queen's Pleasure will be published in the UK under the title A Court Affair by Emily Purdy
Link to tour schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.blogspot.com/2012/05/brandy-purdy-on-tour-for-queens.html
Twitter Hashtag: #QueensPleasureVirtualTour
My Thoughts:
The Queen's Pleasure is the fictional account of a real person, Amy Robisart. Born in Norfolk, the heiress of farmer Sir John Robsart of Syderstone. She married Robert Dudley just before she turned 18, and they were both young and in love. Amy is best known for her untimely death of suspicious circumstances.
Lady Jane Grey became Queen and after her rule of a fortnight as England's queen, Robert Dudley was sentenced to death and imprisoned in the Tower of London. At the same time Princess Elizabeth, lifelong friend of Robert Dudley,was also imprisoned in the tower. Robert is eventually freed. With the accession of Elizabeth I to queen, she awarded Robert with the title, Master of the Horse, where he spent most of his time at court. Amy on the other hand was kept away from court which suited her fine at the time. This became increasingly hard on Amy and all she wanted was to spend time with her husband and start a family. Robert had high hopes on becoming King of England and did whatever he could to achieve that goal, including wooing Elizabeth I. As time goes by Amy becomes more and more despondent with the feeling that her husband no longer loves her and her rival is the Queen of England.
Amy becomes ill with breast cancer and after she dies,there were rumors that Robert wanted her dead and that he had hired someone to poison Amy so he could continue his pursuit of Elizabeth and England. Elizabeth has decided to that she will never marry, including Robert. There different theories as to the what really happened and we all know that Elizabeth I was England's Virgin Queen and that Robert Dudley died without achieving his goal of becoming King and had to live with the rumors that he caused his wife's death.
I found Amy to be a very tragic figure and Robert to be a cad of the lowest form. Brandy Purdy tells the story of Amy in an intimate and honest way that I found appealing although at times I felt like giving Amy a swift kick in the backside and for her to tell her husband that enough was enough. In Medieval times though, husbands were rarely faithful to their wives and the main reasons for marriage was for their lands, money and property. I did not much like Robert in this book but I felt that in the end his reward was not being able to obtain his goals.
As with all of Brandy's books, I enjoyed this one very much and highly recommend it to the lover of Tudor history. It is always nice to get a different point of view, even though it is fiction of course.
I received a review copy of The Queen's Pleasure from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and the author and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
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