While visiting the fallen queen Margaret Of Anjou as a child, Joan Vaux discovers the legend behind the ravens of The Tower Of London. Should they ever leave the building, the kingdom will fall. Not much later, Joan enters the household of Margaret Beaufort. When Margaret’s son Henry Tudor wins the throne at the battle of Bosworth, Joan becomes a companion to his future bride Elizabeth Of York. The early years of the Tudor dynasty are turbulent with different pretenders claiming to be Edward Warwick or Richard, duke of York. In the meantime, Joan marries Richard Guildford and while living at The Tower of London she starts caring for the ravens that are housed there.
I enjoy reading Joanna Hickson her books greatly and when I heard she was writing a book set in the heart of The Tower Of London, I was very excited. We are introduced to Joan Vaux, a ‘commoner’ , but because Margaret Beaufort is her guardian, she finds herself in royal company quite often.
That company is Elizabeth Of York, and while I find Henry VII’s reign quite fascinating, Elizabeth is anything but my favourite historical character. It’s suggested that she and Joan have a very intense friendship bond, but I don’t think that comes out in this book. I don’t know what it is about Elizabeth, but I just don’t get her, in any of the books I’ve read about her. In this book, her reaction on Edward of Warwick’s execution is skipped, which is very strange because there was finally an opportunity to show Elizabeth’s emotions. She is rather dull and lacks personality.
The other drawback to Joan’s perspective is that she’s at times very distant from the action. One rebellion after another breaks out while Joan lives in the countryside with her family. I did enjoy following Joan’s life though, but some people or events are introduced to never really get a proper ending. Her fascination with the ravens is cute, but I did find it perhaps dominating the story a little too harshly.
I believe that’s why I think this is the least Hickson I’ve read so far. The book has all the necessary elements that I like and Hickson’s writing is really enjoyable too. But the story didn’t get under my skin like it did in The Agincourt Bride or First of The Tudors. I did love that we ran into Jane Howell again, even if it was only for two sentences :D. It makes me want to reread her story.
In the next book about Joan Vaux (The queen’s lady) we will continue to follow her story as well as that of Katherine Of Aragon and Henry VIII. And I’m looking forward to that! So although this is not my favourite Joanna Hickson, it’s still very good if you’re looking for Tudor fiction.
What do you think about Elizabeth Of York?
In Another Era 