First thing's first, I realise that this is week 2 and I'm a day late in posting. The funny thing about spending weeks in quarantine/lockdown/whatever you want to call it, is that the days suddenly mould together. I had to actually check what day it was today. However, I'm well prepared having nearly finished my third book for this blog already. So fortunately for me this pre prepared blog post has come well in handy! 🤣🤣
Now I’ll be quick to admit that I’m quite a Tudor history fan.
Not the font of all knowledge by any stretch, but I definitely enjoy hearing
tales about a corpulent king and his six spouses. I have a great sympathy for
those English Queens who lost their heads and for those foreign ones who lost
their dignity along with their title. I’ll shamefully confess that I love the
story of Anne Boleyn so much that I have a replica of the legendary B necklace
seen on the painting of her by an unknown artist.
That this story practically fell in my lap was a wonderful
treat.
It was donated to my
school a couple of months ago, it’s cover looking slightly less ‘children’s’
and more ‘young adults’ . Since it featured the Tower of London, the
quote recommending it came from non other than Hilary Mantel (author of the
epic Wolf Hall – which I will get through one day!) and the fact that the quote
clearly said it was a Tudor tale, I thought I’d give it a read.
It tells the story of Kit Wagstaffe, orphan who is taken on
as son by the Ravenmaster of the Tower of London. Kit himself becomes
apprentice Ravenmaster, his principal job being to care for the ravens who live
within the Tower grounds.
But Kit has a special
ability that no one is aware of; he can speak to them and they can communicate
back. This all seems harmless enough, until the day when Anne Boleyn (my
favourite of Henry VIII’s wives) is imprisoned in the Tower after suspicion
grows that she has been unfaithful and that Henry is in pursuit of a new wife.
Kit and the ravens uncover a plot to assassinate the
princess Elizabeth, Henry and Anne’s only daughter and it becomes his mission
to stop this at all costs, even in the knowledge that his involvement could
cost him his head.
It is elegantly, if a little simply written. The writing
style is very straightforward, you won’t find any lengthy explanations or throw
away paragraphs. There are a couple of historical liberties taken that the
author is quick to mention and apologise for at the end of the book.
The plot is is linear and doesn’t deviate from the central
character at all, we see the whole thing from Kit’s perspective, even though
it’s in the third person.
At 223 pages it isn’t too intimidating and pace is even, so
you’re not getting big jumps followed by plateaus.
Overall I found this book extremely enjoyable and
mercifully, despite it’s cover, it’s easily suitable for children from around 8
or over.
Now, when it comes to book covers, I shall judge them (like the raven in the famous poem says) nevermore.
Book 2 of 52 and my book by an author that I haven’t read
before.
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