Sunday, March 12, 2017 – Book Review of Maid of the King’s Court by Lucy Worsley 

I am a sucker for historical fiction, so when I saw that Maid of the King’s Court focused on the Tudor period of British history I was instantly reading to read it. There are some great things going on here, but unfortunately, this one fell a little bit flat for me. 

First, the good. 

I love that Lucy Worsley actually works in London as Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, and that she got the idea for this book from rumors that Katherine Howard still haunts the Hampton Court palace, racing to find her husband, King Henry VIII to plead for her life. It’s such a rich and interesting premise to base a fictional story on, and I really wish this novel had focused more on Katherine and less on the fictional character of Eliza. Telling the story from the point of view of made-up character might have its advantages, but it also has major drawbacks. For one thing, this story didn’t feel like the story of Henry VIII or any of his wives. It felt like Eliza’s story (because, obviously, she’s the one telling the story – she’s the main protagonist). Sure, Katherine Howard is a key player in many ways, but she never felt like the protagonist, and we never get her POV. I really really think this book would have been ten times more interesting if we had. 

Now, that’s not to say that this didn’t have interesting moments – I was totally engrossed in learning more about Henry VIII and his wives because this book peaked my interest on that topic several times. Because they aren’t really the focal point of the book, we just get little teasers about Henry and his insane string of marriages. Those little historical nuggets left me wanting more, and I ended up spending a very long time on google reading up on these intriguing historical figures. 

All in all, this book might be better suited to a Middle Grade audience, as most Middle Grade readers probably won’t mind a thinner historical setting. I think most older readers will come away wishing there was a stronger historical foundation here. 

Rating: 3/5 stars

Let's journey back in time to the reign of King Henry the VIII and his notorious line of wives. Generously provided by Candlewick Press and Netgalley for honest review. 
This Historical YA Fiction novel surrounds the main character Elizabeth Camperdowne. This is a coming of age story revolving around young Eliza learning the in's and out's of being a proper Nobel daughter and lady at court.  All while discovering court and the company of the King can be at times periless. 
When I first opened this book it didn't draw me in. I thought young Eliza was bratty and thought much to highly of herself, all while not truly knowing what it takes to be it in the real world.  I can honestly say I almost DNF it because of how Eliza's personally grated against mine. Yet because of my love and interest of Tudor era England and Henry's wives I pressed on. Once I discovered the character was in fact the cousin of Katherine Howard Henry's fifth wife, my attention was truly drawn. Combined with the main character's growth and personality switch. 
I truly can say I enjoyed reading about Eliza's life through childhood to adulthood, traversing school and court, and her job as maid of honor to two of henry's wives. The ending was immaculate and the intrigue, romance and character growth in the story made it a very quick and enjoyable read. I give high praise to Author Lucy Worsley for her detail and knowledge of Tudor England, and her portrayal of everyone in the court. I will gladly re-read this again in the future, I gave this novel 4 out of 5 stars. 4 because it took me awhile to get immersed within the story.

First Line: I'd always known that my adult life would begin once I was twelve.

Summary: Eliza is the only daughter of a poor noble family. She has been raised to marry well and be a dutiful daughter. When her betrothal falls thru she is sent to live with relatives at Trumpton Hall where she is to learn how to be a lady. She meets young Katherine Howard and they both are sent to the court of Henry VIII to be maids of honor to the new queen, Anne of Cleves. When Anne is set aside Katherine catches the kings eye but as Eliza's jealousy grows she learns that being the center of attention isn't always a good thing.

Highlights: I liked the writing style. It was easy to read and flowed well. I've enjoyed Lucy Worsley's show on PBS and was looking forward to reading her new novel. 

Lowlights: For an author that is the curator of the royal palaces I expected a more historically accurate story. Names were different. People were left out. I liked it til I got to the part when Katherine becomes queen and the history changed.

FYI: Not very accurate but but still fun!

and the whole time I was waiting for it to end. The story has so much telling that it’s impossible to truly get to know the characters. They therefore all come across as rather one-dimensional.

In the epilogue, the author says she sought to paint Katherine Howard in a different light, to say that maybe history has harshly and unfairly judged her. However, the Katherine Howard she presents in the book is cruel, judgemental, demanding. We only truly see a different glimpse of her once she’s arrested when she says she caught Henry because her family expected her to. Where was that information during the rest of the book? Because we barely get to know Katherine. The author claims the book is about Katherine, but I disagree. And if it is, I fail to see how it accomplished its goal.

There’s also a romance for Eliza, and that didn’t really develop. Sure, we see Eliza and Ned becoming friends and perhaps the hint of flirtation. But then they don’t see each other for months, and suddenly there’s a proposal and she runs away with him. I applaud her for running away from the King before he could use her and possibly kill her. But how can I believe in a romance that isn’t given the page time to really seem believable?

I wish I could say I enjoyed Maid of the King’s Court, but I didn’t. I think the book has an interesting premise, but for me it fell flat.

An excellent middle grade about the Tudors, though the romance could have used some work.

Novels set in Henry VIII's court are like catnip to me. So as soon as I saw Maid of the King's Court took place during the rise and fall of Catherine Howard, I knew I had to read it.

Did it live up to my expectations? Well, yes and no. It's a very readable book (I basically devoured it in one go) but it lacked the depth I would have hoped for.

Lucy Worsley is a curator at Hampton Court Palace, so she knows this historical setting inside out. But while her details are spot on, Worsley takes a lot of creative license with the history itself. As an example, two men who are key to Catherine Howard's downfall, Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper, are combined into one character. This is practical from a storytelling point of view, but it also meant the story felt like it lacked some historical weight. Other key figures, like Jane Boleyn, are missing entirely.

And these choices feel particularly strange when you get to the author's note at the end, which explains that the novel was an attempt to show Catherine Howard in a more positive light. I love this in theory, because historians are always so keen to villainize her, as though a 16 year old married to an old despotic king is 100% to blame when she gets beheaded a year later. But I'm not sure that the novel <i>does</i> subvert this usual narrative. This Catherine is as vain, ambitious and cruel as any other portrayal of her, and as we see her through the eyes of an invented character, Eliza, these traits aren't really shown in a sympathetic light. She does have one moment, near the end, where she explains her actions to Eliza, but that isn't enough to shift the tone of the book. In fact, I read this book thinking bitterly how authors always malign Catherine Howard, before getting to the end and finding out this was supposed to be a defense of her.

The big problem is that all the significant events happen off-screen. Eliza isn't really there for anything important. Big things are happening in the court, but we're just told about them, because Eliza doesn't have any role in them. This distance also means that the book is lacking any real sense of terror that you'd expect the court of Henry VIII to inspire during this period. We don't get the sense that Anne of Cleves is in danger, and even Catherine's imprisonment lacks the grim terror that you might expect. It's a very light book for such a dangerous time period, especially as Eliza is theoretically in the thick of it all.

That said, Eliza is a fun protagonist with a lot of spirit, and it isn't hard to get invested in her and her struggle to save her disgraced family as their only child. Her ending is a bit abrupt and unrealistic, and I almost feel like the book would have been stronger if it was more detached from real historical events, with the rise and fall of queens truly happening in the background to Eliza's own story. As it is, I'm not sure a reader will get much out of that element unless they already know about Catherine Howard, and if they do know about her, then the creative license that Worsley takes may just be distracting.

So, overall, it's a fun historical novel, and a quick, enjoyable read, but not really a story of Henry VIII's court during the time of Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. Read it for the historical flavour, not for the events themselves.

Believable historical fiction during set during the reign of King Henry IIIV.  Eliza Camperdowne, the dutiful daughter of the impoverished Baron of Stone, navigates the treacherous life of the courtier in Henry's time.  With no sons to take over the care Stoneton House, it is Eliza's duty to marry adventitiously and assure the future of her noble family.  Eliza grows from impulsive and unmannerly to possessing all the graces of a maid of honor in the care of her relation, the Duchess of Northumberland.  She and her cousin, Katherine Howard, navigate a tempestuous relationship from their training at Trumpton Hall to the Tudor Court during the time of Anne of Cleves and finally to the Tower of London as they vie for the eye of the king.

DNF 40% - This book was taking much too long to get going. From the summary, I thought that Elizabeth would be at the court right away, but 40% of the way through it she's finally JUST making it to the King's court. Elizabeth herself isn't very likable. I know she's young, but she comes across as seriously immature and I'm having a hard time finding any sympathy for her. I appreciate the historical look at the time period, but it's honestly just kind of boring.

I love how knowledgeable the author was about this time period you can tell that real time and effort was put into making the story seem as true to actual events as possible! I fell in love with the main character she was spunky and fun to read about. I could not get connected to the romance so the end kind of threw me off a tad and there were moments that had me snoring but overall a decent book!

I've had an interest in the Tudors since I was in middle school, and I would have been riveted by this as a young reader.  Eliza is plucky and smart and her narrative voice can speak to the modern girl without feeling out of place in her own time. Many of her struggles are universal to women of all eras, so she is easy to connect with.  The details about everything from marriage contracts to cosmetics are well blended into the storyline and add the historical aspects without miring readers down.  It is hard to write about this time in history without addressing infidelity and the rather icky bargains courtiers were willing to make for wealth or power.  Nevertheless, it is handled fairly delicately.  Themes of loyalty, friendship and looking to your own conscience add weight to the story line.  All of this means that an older middle school student interested in the topic will probably enjoy the book.  As an adult reader with some other books on the topic under my belt, I found this one a little dull.  The ending was also hard for me to embrace, though it was the ending I wanted, because it seemed a little bit of the stretch for the character I'd come to know in the course of the story.   In short, language, situations, and interest level are appropriate for the mature 7th grade and up set.

I enjoy history, so enjoyed this look at a girl in a time where we don't know much about women's lives. The court of Henry XII had to be almost terrifying for someone connected with one of his wives and this comes across very well.

Maid of the King's Court is a very well written book.

It is the story of Elizabeth Rose Camperdowne (fictional character) during the time of King Henry the VIII. While this is a fictional story, many of the events happened in real life and the author, who is a historian, did an amazing job mixing fantasy with history.

As a child who grew up in Europe, I've heard stories about the mad king who could not bear children and beheaded his wives (don't ask me why they tell children this story). What I didn't know, was the story of the wives that he had.

We live in such an empowering world right now for women, it is easy to forget that before women were treated like little dolls, that were only worth something if they were nice to look at. What the author did in this book was show us the intelligent and cunning side to King Henry the VIII's fifth wife Catherine (Katherine in the book) Howard. Katherine found out that the King is incapable of having any more children, and uses a man with the same genetic background as the King in order to fool him into believing the child is his. Unfortunately Katherine is caught before a chid could be born. I really loved that while playing dumb and slutty, Katherine had an intelligent side to her that she would hide, if she was born during a different time period, she could have been very brilliant.

While this book had an amazing plot and lots of historical details that made the story interesting, I found the beginning of the book to be quite boring. It doesn't pick up until about 40% into the book, which is when Eliza finally reaches the castle of King Henry the VIII, but after she arrives the book is absolutely fantastic, and I could not put it down.

Overall, if you love history and aren't afraid of a slow beginning, definitely give this book a try. It is an informational and fast read, I'm sure you will love it.

Elizabeth Camperdowne couldn’t wait to leave her bland, old home and become a grand lady with an equally grand husband. But as far as hopes and dreams are concerned, Elizabeth finds that the matters of the heart and the whims of royalty aren’t what she wanted or expected it to be. She witnesses the rise and fall of not one but two queens, one considerable lucky and the other executed before her very eyes. Duty is a troublesome weight.

I love anything related the Tudors and the Tudor court. There’s so much drama and heartbreak that it makes for an interesting tale no matter how it’s told or from what perspective. I actually have not read too many books about Katherine Howard or at least books which have a bigger focus on her, so that also caught my attention. I’m torn about how I feel about Katherine, but I loved Elizabeth and admired most of her choices. The ending was not quite what I was expecting, however, I liked it because often times Tudor books don’t have a happy ending. I feel like Elizabeth deserved an ending like that (though I’d imagine there would be some consequences). Overall, Maid at the King’s Court is a fun and fast paced book.