Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.
Today I am bringing you my review for the Historical Fiction short story collection, In The Shadow of Queens, by Alison Weir.
In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to not include spoilers in my reviews.
In The Shadow of Queens Plot:
If you have seen more of my book reviews you will know that short stories are not usually my favourite thing, because they don’t give you very long to become immersed in the story and the characters in my opinion. However, this collection is split into sections each of them depicting the time period of one of Henry VIII’s wives. For example the first two short stories are in the time Catherine of Aragon was Queen and so on for all six wives. I enjoyed how each story was showing you something different, about the queens and about the state of England in general. My personal favourite was the short story that was written from the point of view of a young Anne Boleyn, while she was at the French court and her engagement to a young man. This story wove such a complex, emotional story that brought to life how a young woman had to learn that life wouldn’t be romantic or kind and showed how women had to learn to keep their hearts and not give them away freely.
In The Shadow of Queens Characters:
The most fascinating part of this collection was definitely the characters, there were stories told from the points of view of people within the court that you may never have known existed and although Alison Weir uses artistic license to create a brilliant story you can see how much research went into each story to give you a glimpse into people’s lives.
In The Shadow of Queens Writing and Dialogue:
I haven’t yet read her tudor queens series, although I di have the books, but after reading the short stories I am excited to get into the main novels because I know they will have depth and her wonderful writing style draws you right into the centre of the Tudor court.
In The Shadow of Queens Overall:
I gave this book four stars because I loved getting a peak into so many different areas of this period but short stories still don’t hook me enough to give this book five stars.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Behind every great king stands a queen. And behind every queen, the whole court watches on…
Over the years of his reign, six different women took their place beside King Henry VIII of England as his wife and queen.
But the real stories of the six Tudor queens belong to those who lived among them. Played out in glittering palaces and whispering courts, these are tales of the people who loved and served these women, and those who lied and betrayed them.
Collected together for the first time, In the Shadow of Queens reveals thirteen startling stories from the Tudor court, told by those at the very heart of that world.
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