The Phantom Tree

I have a great affection for a well-done time travel book. I have an even greater affection for a good re-imagining. Take these two things and blend characters from the Tudor Era?

The biggest win-win EVER.

Katherine Parr and Thomas Seymour had a child, named Mary. There is no mention of Mary in history past her second birthday, so she is presumed to have died young. The fact remains, however, that we just don't know what her fate was; whether she died young, or lived into old age. The what-if's are endless and are impossibly fascinating to mull over. Nicola Cornick took the what-if's of Mary Seymour, and turned them into a breathtaking novel.

Alison (a fictional character) and Mary meet at Wolf Hall; both are orphans, and both have a tense relationship with the other. Alison becomes pregnant, is sent away and has her son taken from her. Which leads to her discovering a way into the future, where she can start a new life with her son. However, after finding herself stuck in our present, a discovery of a painting could change everything for Alison...and for Mary, back in the past.

I couldn't put this book down. I literally could not put it down. And when I had no choice but to stop reading for a bit, I couldn't get the story out of my mind. Excellent writing, beautiful settings and raw characters has turned this reader in a Nicola Cornick fan for life.

You often read time travel books where you travel to the past. Is it possible to travel to the future from the distant past?

Alison Banestre is an orphan from the 1500's and belongs to a noble family. She is brought to Wolf Hall where she meets one of her relatives, Mary Seymour, also an orphan of royal blood. Although not the best of friends, they agree to help each other in a way that no one else can. Two alternating storylines formed the basis for this novel, first by Alison and then by Mary.

I love to read about time travel and The Phantom Tree fulfilled all my expectations. I was curious to see how the author would explain how someone from 1500's could successfully live in future and bit by bit Alison's story is fleshed out as we continue reading. The author keeps you hanging without revealing everything at the beginning and that is where you are hooked. There is plenty of intrigue, romance and history in this book. I literally could not put it down.

While passing an antiques shop, Alison spots a painting in the window that immediately grabs her attention. The painting is thought to be of Anne Boleyn, but Alison knows that the painting is of Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was the sixth and final wife of the infamous King Henry VIII. Mary was sent to Wolf Hall in 1557, an unwanted orphan. Many presume that she died as Mary seemed to drop off the map and there’s no official historical record of her after the age of two, only hearsay and circumstantial information. Alison, however, knows for a fact that Mart was at Wolf Hall in 1557...because she was there too. To Alison, the painting of Mary is the key to her past and how she can find her way back to her own time, and finally get the answers to questions that have haunted her for centuries.

I finished reading The Phantom Tree earlier this evening and my first impression was just “WOW!” It’s so incredibly well written and drew my attention from the first paragraph and never let go until the very end. It switches back and forth between both Alison’s and Mary’s points of view, as well as between the Tudor period and present day seamlessly. While this is obviously an “alternative history”, and creative license was definitely utilized, it’s also quite obvious that Nicola Cornick spent a lot of time researching the era and people of the day. I truly enjoyed stepping into the past, especially since this is a period that I’ve always been particularly fascinated with. I really felt that all of the characters were dynamic and interesting, even the ones I didn’t particularly like, because they were truly horrid, as far as personalities. It made me sad the way that both Alison and Mary were just shuffled off to be forgotten and treated as though they were merely burdens to be tolerated until they could inherit and be married off but I loved watching both of them “come into their own”, so to speak. It was amazing watching Alison transform from a somewhat surly and rebellious young girl into a confident lady who knows she can handle what life throws her way. Mary, also, has an inspirational transformation as she progresses from the shy, naive child into a young lady who’s willing to stand up for herself and seek her own happiness. Honestly, I find myself hoping that Cornick writes more in this vein, about some of the other characters like Thomas Fenner and Reginald De Morven because I honestly cannot wait to read more of her work.

Life in the time of Alison and Mary was not good. With the death of their parents each has become an orphan living with unwelcoming and terrorizing relatives who would just as soon see them dead.

This was a time when women were owned by their fathers, husbands, guardians. Double standards abound. While the men bed anything they want, the women are then left damaged and in desperate straits. 

When Alison runs away and ends up in modern-day London, she plans to go back and find her infant son, taken from her. Mary is to try her hardest to find the child and leave her clues.  However Alison ends up stuck in modern times, trying to find any clues to where Mary might be as well as the baby. 

By chance she walks by a gallery and immediately recognizes a small portrait of Mary Seymour. Although it is labeled as Anne Boleyn,  Alison knows that the A.B. on the box in the portrait belongs to her and that Mary has left her clues in the painting.

But how can she get back? Maybe with the help of the gallery owner and his godson. 

We read this book from alternating points of view, Mary and Alison, past and present.

This was one of the best slip time historical books I've read. Nicola has such a readable style to her writing, it was easy to keep up with who was who and where everyone was. It is one of those books for us history lovers that you fall in and cry with the characters because you know what is going to happen to at least one of them.

A must read this year! Well Done!

NetGalley/ September 1st 2018 by Graydon House

Behind a great fan of the time slip genre this book made promises of which it did not disappoint.
Set in the present day and Elizabethan England it tells the story of Alison Bannister who has by a fluke found a way to travel through the two era's.
It is a well researched book making the characters truly believable on the historical side and also a great love story.
A book that once you have started you will not want to put down.

I am a big fan of historical fiction, especially set in Britain, and this book was just a really satisfying read. The story involves a time travel element, which can easily backfire, but it is done so well here and really adds an interesting element to the story. Recommended!

Thank you Nicola Cornick and Netgalley for a copy of this book.
I love a good historical fiction and was excited to read my second book from Nicola. What a great story being told. I loved every word of it.