The Queen's Lady - Eve Edwards

The Queen’s Lady – Eve Edwards

Pages: 324
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)
Release Date: 3rd February 2011

Other Titles in this Series: The Other Countess

Surrey, England, 1584
 When Lady Jane Rievaulx begins service to the Queen at Richmond Palace, she is thrilled at the court’s newest arrival...Master James Lacey.

Despite her previous courtship with his older brother, James is the man she truly loves. And for his part, he cannot deny his fascination with her. However, James is setting sail on a treacherous journey to the Americas, seeking absolution for what he sees as past sins.

But when Lady Jane is forced into a terrible situation by her own family, there is only one man to save her. Will Master James return to his lady – before it’s too late?

The Other Countess was one of last summer’s highlights for me so I was incredibly anxious to get my hands on The Queen’s Lady. And I loved it just as much!

As a sort of sequel to The Other Countess, a secondary character, Lady Jane, became the focus of the story. We caught up with her about a year after the end of The Other Countess and the horrible situation she was left in. I really grew to like her in the first book so I was glad to learn more about her. We also got the chance to catch up with Will and Ellie which is lovely as I always enjoy seeing how characters lives have progressed after I’ve turned the last pages of a book.

The hatred for Jane’s dad and brother, Henry, that began for me in The Other Countess only increased in The Queen’s Lady. Their utter disregard for her feelings when it comes to her marriage and the way it would affect the family business blew my mind. I know that in the 1500s women, especially women of rank, had very little say in these decisions, but I still found it impossible to believe when surrounded by wholly supportive figures such as Milly’s dad. And then came the blackmail and I was left speechless, especially with the blaringly obvious connection between James and Jane that would always have prevented her from loving anyone else.

But I think that my favourite scenes in the novel were the ones that involved the brilliant Diego. I hated the way he was persecuted for the colour of his skin. It worried me that the views of the 1500s are not all that different to the views that some people still hold now, over 500 years later. His utter bemusement at some of the things that the English did was hilarious and his reaction to their cavalier attitude toward the Native Americans was probably the most human of them all. And then you have the camaraderie between him and James that soon turned into an unbreakable friendship. I love the way that both men broke the formality of their ranks when they were together.

As you can probably tell, I loved The Queen’s Lady and from the glimpses of Kit we got, I’m going to love The Rogue’s Princess too.

For my British Books Challenge 2011, YA Historical Fiction Challenge

A huge thank you to Puffin for sending me a copy to review.

Sophie