Secret treaties with opponents against war allies?
Spies, and plots, and elegant dances...
Modern-day soap operas have nothing on Charles' court, as he fathered many illegitimate children before marrying his Queen, Catherine of Braganza. If the Protestant king has no royal son, then his Catholic brother will succeed him on England's throne.
Following the days of our Ladies in Waiting came a vicious run of the Plague and the Great Fire of London - Restoration England was no place for the timid!
Disguises and secrets and romantic notions amid royal protocols and power plays - pick up this intriguing book today at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: Ladies in Waiting / Laura L. Sullivan. Harcourt, 2012. [author's website] [publisher site]
My Recommendation: Three young ladies-in-waiting christened Elizabeth come to assist
the new Queen as she arrives in the 1662 court of King Charles II. Gossip,
treachery, and court intrigue swirl around them as Zabby, Beth, and Eliza become
friends, protecting the Queen.
Sweet little Beth has a most frightening mother determined
marry her off to the most influential nobleman possible – and will truly
horsewhip anyone who tries to lay one finger on this delicate maiden. Never
mind that Beth wants to marry her childhood sweetheart, who has lately
vanished, trying to recapture the fortune that his father squandered.
Arriving from her learned father’s Barbados plantation to
study with her grandmother, Zabby is wise in things scientific, but a veritable
babe in elegant manners and dress. Luckily for His Majesty, she is well-versed
in medicine as he falls ill with the plague in a Dover inn and she nurses him
back to health without the court being aware of the danger.
Elisa’s father frets that being at court will sully her
pious upbringing, but the fifteen-year-old knows only that being in London will
bring her that much closer to her goal of becoming a playwright. Perhaps the
right costuming will even allow her to attend plays without an escort…
Queen Catherine herself has a most formidable rival in the
King’s mistress, the Countess of Castlemaine, who has already borne him two
illegitimate sons. How can the petite Portuguese fight against that voluptuous
beauty? Her ladies-in-waiting are determined to help the Queen turn this
political marriage into one of love and affection.
At first glance, this doesn't seem like my sort of book, but then again, I've been wrong before.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, perhaps I was wrong to allow my wife to add on to your original suggestion. But either way, now you can find out what happens when a penguin and William Shakespeare walk into a bar...