3.5 Stars
This historical fiction/suspense novel has a dual timeline.
One timeline is the mid-16th century. Elizabeth Barton is executed after issuing warnings, based on prophetic visions, that King Henry VIII would die if he had his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled and he married Anne Boleyn. The focus of her story is how men used Elizabeth, an illiterate servant, for their purposes; she was influenced to fabricate prophecies to save England from the rise of Lutheran reformers.
The other timeline is 2023. Alison Sage, an American medieval literature scholar, has uncovered a Barton manuscript; that discovery earns her an invitation to an exclusive academic retreat in England near the priory where Elizabeth once lived. Slowly it becomes clear that some of the attendees are less interested in academic discussion than in pursuing a secret agenda.
Elizabeth Barton was a historical figure. She became known as the Holy Maid of Kent after, beginning in 1525, she claimed to have vivid visions and to have received divine revelations that predicted events. Her reputation spread and she even met Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More, and Henry VIII. The novel suggests that she was manipulated by powerful men who saw her as a new weapon in their war against the Protestants. When her prophecies were less in keeping with the king’s interests, she was arrested and forced, by Thomas Cromwell, to confess that she had fabricated her revelations.
In the present, Alison is also manipulated by others. There are people at the conference who have a hidden agenda, which I find is spotlighted early on. These conference members want to use Alison’s knowledge of Elizabeth Barton to fulfill their goal.
I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the novel. Then there’s a murder which changes the focus of the book. It’s at this point that I started to lose interest. Certainly there are hints early on that all is not as it seems: people have furtive conversations or speak overly loudly, exchange surreptitious glances or stare too closely at Alison, and behave suspiciously. Some of these clues are rather too obvious, I think. At the end, I wondered whether the murder is necessary when a search based on the uncovered clues would provide sufficient suspense.
I had problems with the characterization of Alison. She is well-educated and so intelligent, but she is so slow to put together the pieces of the puzzle. A possible hiding place is so obvious about two-thirds through the novel when it is made obvious how a prioress would be addressed. She is also naive; from someone who would be expected to be capable of critical analysis, she seems too credulous. Things happen that clearly suggest ulterior intentions, yet she hesitates to question people’s motives. The entire Calista incident should certainly have raised more concerns for Alison. Given her age, she is not some starry-eyed young ingénue, so surely she should be questioning a man’s desire to rekindle their relationship.
Some of Elizabeth’s story is given in too much detail. It’s obvious from the beginning that everyone is using her, but the author feels it necessary to keep showing this manipulation. The prologue indicates what happens to her. It also hints at a predicament Alison will face, though suspense is lessened because the use of her as a first-person narrator means she will overcome.
This novel is entertaining though uneven in quality. Personally, it inspired me to do some more research into Elizabeth Barton.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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