This saga has a lot of characters, some may say too many. It has a lot of different stories and varying angles. Why?
To make it all the more clear that a war, a conflict does not have ‘nice sides’. It does not differentiate between royals and peasants, between men and women. It is all simply ugly and unjust.
The Queen’s Promise starts telling the story of conflict between Charles I and British Parliament. The conflict intensifies and military action is taken on both sides. People fight, people die, families are broken, ruined and destroyed…
Author did a great job by bringing many different stories together. Yes, this book is not a simple story of friendship between Henrietta Maria and Lucy Hay. It is way much more than that.
It is the story of Henrietta Maria as a wife and a queen for better of worse. It is the story of Lucy Hay as a courtier and a survivor for worse and better. It is the story of small knights and their estates, maundering soldiers and free press (yes, even free press by all means).
I enjoyed this story. It made me gasp in places, especially when the story came very close to ‘the land’ and simple people. Somehow, the war through their eyes was the ugliest. All the sufferings of the queen and her quest to support her husband did not feel like much (especially given the hindsight of our times)…
Would I read more of this saga? When I find the time. As this book needs time and attention. This book needs to be lived and felt to understand it fully.
Thank you, Ms Vantrease
Svetlana Tishchenko 