G340 Book Review of The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden
Author: Jenny Barden
ISBN: 978-0-091949-67-9
Publisher: Ebury Press
Type of book: 1586-1587, lady-in-waiting, Queen Elizabeth I, travels, North America, American Indian tribes, the lost colony, secrets, romance, love
Year it was published: 2013
Summary:
An epic Elizabethan adventure with a thriller pace and a high tension love story that moves from the palaces of England to the savage wilderness of the New World.
Emme Fifield has fallen about as far as a gentlewoman can.
Once a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, her only hope of surviving the scandal that threatens to engulf her is to escape England for a fresh start in the new America where nobody has ever heard of the Duchess of Somerset.
Emme joins Kit Doonan's rag-tag band of idealists, desperados and misfits bound for Virginia. But such a voyage will be far from easy and Emme finds her attraction to the mysterious Doonan inconvenient to say the least.
As for Kit, the handsome mariner has spent years imprisoned by the Spanish, and living as an outlaw with a band of escaped slaves; he has his own inner demons to confront, and his own dark secrets to keep...
Ever since Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement in Virginia was abandoned in 1587 its fate has remained a mystery; 'The Lost Duchess' explores what might have happened to the ill-starred 'Lost Colony' of Roanoke.
Characters:
The main characters include Kit and Emme. Emme feels like a bird in a cage and longs to get away from her duties and stifling life being a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth. She is intelligent and resourceful, although she is haughty and often has trouble adapting to a new role whenever necessary. Kit is an adventurer with a secret of his own, and apparently a family member or so played a role in the author's previous book. He is fearless, devoted and will do whatever he can for Emme. There are secondary characters but I feel that a few of them I had trouble understanding, as well as their motives.
Theme:
Home is where the heart is
Plot:
Its written in third person narrative from Emme's and Kit's points of views. Most of the book is written from Emme's point of view. The story itself begins in England where the reader is introduced to Emme and is a witness to something shameful happening to her. Then afterwards we meet other characters such as Kit Doonan and his page Robert Little, as well as the Queen herself, Manteo and others. At some points I did have trouble understanding the background problems of why all this was happening to the characters.
I’ve had a love of history and adventure ever since an encounter in infancy with a suit of armour at Tamworth Castle. Training as an artist, followed by a career as a city Jenny (Portrait 2)solicitor, did little to help displace my early dream of becoming a knight. A fascination with the Age of Discovery led to travels in South and Central America, and much of the inspiration for my debut came from retracing the footsteps of Francis Drake in Panama. The sequel centres on the first Elizabethan ‘lost colony’ of early Virginia. I am currently working on an epic adventure during the threat of invasion by the Spanish Armada.
My work has appeared in short story collections and anthologies and I’ve written for non-fiction publications including the Historical Novels Review. I am active in many organisations, having run the ‘Get Writing’ conferences for several years, and undertaken the co-ordination of the Historical Novel Society’s London Conference 2012. I am a member of that organisation as well as the Historical Writers’ Association, the Romantic Nevelists’ Association and the Society of Authors. I’ll be co-ordinating the RNA’s annual conference in 2014.
I have four children and now live on a farm in Dorset with my long suffering husband and an ever increasing assortment of animals.
I love travelling, art, reading and scrambling up hills and mountains (though I’m not so keen on coming down!).
Author Links
If I rated books in halves, it would actually be a 3.5 star book. The writing style of the book is similar to a romance novel, except that it takes place in 1500s in England and America. The book is also very richly detailed with events and history about what might have happened, which kind of makes me want to get an American history book and read up about that area as well as the history. I do feel that if the chapters were a bit shorter and if there was a short character list, I would have liked the book a lot more. I had some difficulties in secondary characters, at least recalling some of their functions.
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Monday, May 26
Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books
Book Blast at Reading the Ages
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Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books
Book Blast at Reading the Ages
Book Blast at Literary Chanteuse
Book Blast at Bibliophilia, Please
Tuesday, May 27
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
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Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Book Blast at Flashlight Commentary
Book Blast at To Read or Not to Read
Wednesday, May 28
Review at Carole’s Ramblings and Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Book Blast at The Little Reader Library
Review at Carole’s Ramblings and Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell
Book Blast at The Little Reader Library
Thursday, May 29
Book Blast at The Maiden’s Court
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Book Blast at Book Reviews & More by Kathy
Book Blast at The Maiden’s Court
Book Blast at Cheryl’s Book Nook
Book Blast at Book Reviews & More by Kathy
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Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Book Blast at The Mad Reviewer
Book Blast at Curling Up by the Fire
Review at WTF Are You Reading?
Book Blast at The Mad Reviewer
Book Blast at Curling Up by the Fire
Monday, June 2
Review & Giveaway at The Tudor Enthusiast
Book Blast at The Bookworm
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review & Giveaway at The Tudor Enthusiast
Book Blast at The Bookworm
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews
Tuesday, June 3
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at West Metro Mommy
Book Blast at bookworm2bookworm’s Blog
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at West Metro Mommy
Book Blast at bookworm2bookworm’s Blog
Wednesday, June 4
Review at The Wormhole
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Kelsey’s Book Corner
Review at The Wormhole
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Kelsey’s Book Corner
Friday, June 6
Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog
Book Blast at Kincavel Korner
Book Blast at Caroline Wilson Writes
Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog
Book Blast at Kincavel Korner
Book Blast at Caroline Wilson Writes
Tuesday, June 10
Review at She Reads Novels
Book Blast at Just One More Chapter
Book Blast at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Review at She Reads Novels
Book Blast at Just One More Chapter
Book Blast at History From a Woman’s Perspective
Friday, June 20
Review at Broken Teepee
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Review at Broken Teepee
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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