Friday 17 April 2015

The Queen's Sorrow - Susannah Dunn


I really hate to slate a book but what was Susannah Dunn thinking?  The Queen would be sorrowful indeed to have such a small part in the book!  I feel duped - this wasn’t a story about Mary Tudor as seen through the eyes of a Spanish sundial maker, it was the story of a Spanish sundial maker with a bit part for Mary Tudor.  This really should have been called The Stupid Spanish Sundial Maker (who couldn’t keep his pants on).  Oh, and there were no chapters – just one long monotonous book about the life and conquests of Rafael Prado.

Rafael is brought to England as part of Philip of Spain’s court in order to design a sundial for Mary Tudor.  Rafael is placed in a household and spots a friendly face in Cecily.  Despite the language barrier the two quickly become friends.  During the long winter nights, Rafael dreams of home and we learn about his dalliance with a servant girl, his affair with his sister-in-law, his coveting his best friend’s wife and eventually marrying her and believing his wife had a 12 month pregnancy!  I was shocked, indeed shocked to the core, when he began an affair with Cecily!

I really wouldn’t recommend this book.  It did very little to hold my interest and the emphasis was placed too much on the Spaniard rather than Bloody Mary.  The lack of chapters really did test my patience.

Buy it here from The Book Depository

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