Author: Philippa Gregory
Published: 2004, Touchstone
Rating: 4/5
Hannah Verde is an educated young woman and her father owns a bookshop. They are in possession of forbidden books and they are also Jewish. Hannah is begged as a spiritual fool to first King Edward, then to his sister the Catholic Mary. Forced to hide her true religion as Catholics seek to purify England of all heretical beliefs, Hannah finds herself trapped between loyalty to herself and of the Queen. Hannah is rare gem who loves the Queen and yet also admires the Protestant Princess Elizabeth. She is the key character in showing the complicated relationship between the sisters.
Gregory made a very good decision in having this period of the Tudors told from the view of a different character. Through Hannah the reader sees the effects the warring religions in England had on both the common person and those of royal blood. The reader is able to have three stories in one through Hannah: Mary, Elizabeth and Hannah herself.
Sounds like another Gregory winner - can't wait to check this one out!
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