THE VIRGIN QUEEN'S DAUGHTER

Author: Ella March Chase ISBN: 9780307394804 1/2009 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: CROWN
Time Period: 1554 - 1603 with flashbacks throughout Elizabeth I's life

Tucked away in the country estate of her beloved father, Lord Calverley, young Nell de Lacey feeds her hungry mind with philosophy, language, and studies of science. Her mother, once a devoted lady-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr, would rather her daughter stop dabbling in the grand affairs of men and instead prepare for her eventual duties as a wife. She knows all too well what menace lurks in royal courts. But Nell’s heart yearns for something more, and a chance meeting with Princess Elizabeth, then a prisoner of the Tower of London, pushes her closer toward finding it. Now, years later, Nell’s chance arrives when she is summoned to serve as a lady-in-waiting to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth. Nell is entranced by the splendor and pageantry of royal life, unaware of the danger and deception that swirls around the monarch and her courtiers. But a lingering rumor about nine unaccounted for months in the Virgin Queen’s past reignites when the flame-haired Nell—a mirror image of Her Majesty both physically and intellectually—arrives at court. Quickly she catches the eye not only of the cunning Elizabeth, but of those who would see the queen fail. With strong evidence to connect Elizabeth to her newest maid of honor and the politics of England in turmoil, the truth could send Nell and those she loves to the Tower to join in the wretched fates of those who’ve gone before her.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Ella March Chase bases her debut book, THE VIRGIN QUEEN'S DAUGHTER, on the persistent myth that Queen Elizabeth I delivered a daughter as a young teenager, perhaps the product of an elicit affair between herself and Thomas Seymour, the husband to Henry VIII's widow, Catherine Parr, who Elizabeth resided with after the death of her father. Although no evidence has ever been produced to prove the existence of any illegitimate offspring of Elizabeth, Ms. Chase takes the "what if" scenario and runs headlong with it, penning an intriguing tale replete with well known historical figures of the time and richly steeped in the medieval atmosphere of 16th century Tudor England.

This is a very well written period tale, which Chase leaves rather open-ended in its conclusion, although an inference is subtly made—was she or wasn't she Queen Elizabeth's daughter, and if Nell was, who was her biological father? Nell's realization as a young woman that she is not the natural daughter of whom she believes to be her beloved, bookish father and distant, sometimes argumentative mother, doesn't come as easy acceptance for her. The scheming, backstabbing, and constant dangers that confront Nell after she's called to court and accepts the possibility that her illegitimacy and royal lineage may be real (she's an absolute ringer for the queen), places her in a very precarious position; as one of the queen's maids-of-honor, it's not long before Nell's having to walk a very fine line while balanced on the edge of a double-edged sword. Her relationship with Gabriel, the handsome, swaggering, man-about-court who woos and then convinces Nell to marry him, adds a bit of uncertain romance to the story. Did he marry Nell for love or for money, or perhaps because of her possible kinship to the queen? And what will happen when Gabriel's loyalty to Nell is put to the test (and torture)—will he protect her or betray her, proving himself to be a wolf in sheep's clothing?

I really enjoyed this book and how the storyline unfolded. Ms. Chase's writing style and her ability to convey such a realistic sense of time, place, and true-to-life characterizations of the people who lived during this period, made it one of those can't-put-it-down enjoyable reads for me. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Chase, and heartily recommend THE VIRGIN QUEEN'S DAUGHTER to lovers of historical fiction as well as those who enjoy reading anything related to those fascinating—and always entertaining—Tudor royals.

Nancy Davis