I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found this book incredibly interesting the author really kept me hooked until the end. very well written I highly recommend.

loved the use of tudor era and this was a fantastic use of the time for the romance. I enjoyed getting to read this and getting to know the characters

I read any novel set around this period but was hesitant about this storyline in case it was too predictable. However it was rather different and I like the way the main character draws a picture of what brought him to the tower and how you realise he is not merely recounting the tale of his life but has an end in sight. I ended up liking him more than I expected and the author brings to life the era.

After giving a resounding five stars for Songbird by Karen Heenan, her first book in The Tudor Court Series, I’ve had to take a step back from the next book, A Wider World. While the story continues with one of the characters introduced in Songbird, a young minstrel called Robin, who comes into contact with Bess and Tom through his own servitude to Cardinal Wolsey, I must say that I had a hard time connecting with his character. I was completely lost within the first few chapters as each chapter flip-flopped back and forth in time, from his beginnings back and forth to his current situation. I think it might be a good idea for a person to read Songbird first, and then A Wider World, to get some kind of bearing, which perhaps is what Ms Heenan wants in the first place. After pushing though the story, I came to the conclusion that I just particularly did not like Robin’s character and I think that is the reason that I did not enjoy his story. The opening quote at chapter one is “He that is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another,” and I think this Ms Heenan portrays this quite well in his story. I want to like the character and enjoy his journey when I read a book, and I did not connect with him at all.
That all being said, Ms Heenan is a gifted writer and does well in her descriptives and immersion in history and revealing to us as readers another world... and in Robin’s case, several worlds as he travels the continent and becomes acquainted with the ‘wider world’. For Ms Heenan’s skill alone in offering a well-told story, another view of Tudor life, I give this book four stars. I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fiction that’s New and Old at the same time; just right.

This book reads so much like Biographical Fiction that I couldn’t wait for the author’s note to see what sources she drew upon. Well imagined and increasingly fraught, it explores an England I’ve loved for a long time, and with such great characters.

I wondered, at first, if I wanted to read another book about a man which read as if ibiographical fiction during the Tudor years. After all, being a huge Hilary Mantel fan, I read the final Cromwell installment last year. Would we be covering the same territory?

Thankfully, the answer was no!. This book covered fresh ground. Though a Cromwell makes some appearances, this is absolutely Rob’s story. I think of it as some of the “new” historical fiction which explores more thoughts and actions than in past times. Explores them in a credible, plausible way, while relatable to our modern mindsets and curiosities. I’d encourage you, if you are interested but aren’t absolutely hooked at the beginning, read on. For me there was a moment when, boom!, I sat up and took great notice. I won’t say more, for a discovery of Rob’s evolution is so much fun.

So the book will appeal to the contemporary crowd, but with an evocative Tudor setting. The author does
such a good job with this era, I feel I’m breathing in that space. And, the book gains speed as it goes, so I found myself needing to hurry to the end.

There is a little fun with some returning characters, though they don’t dominate. Instead, the book is peopled with new and interesting, complex characters. It left me wanting to return to the world again! You definitely don’t have to read the first book in order to enjoy this one.

In the end, A Wider Word was a great read, while solidifying my Karen Heenan fandom. Recommend!