Songbird by Karen Heenan | book review

Songbird is a stand-alone historical fiction novel set in the court of King Henry VIII. The story revolves around a young girl, Bess, as she comes of age in a notoriously fickle royal court. As readers of my blog may already know, I’m a huge fan of Tudor-era historical fiction so I was excited to dive into a new story by an author I had never read before.

Songbird by Karen Heenan

Title: Songbird
Author: Karen Heenan
First Published: November 3, 2019
Publisher: Authors 4 Authors Publishing
Categories: Historical Fiction
Acquired: Rachel’s Random Resources book tours

*** Thank you to book tour organiser, Rachel’s Random Resources, and the author, Karen Heenan, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

Bess has the voice of an angel, or so Henry VIII declares when he buys her from her father. Bess becomes a member of the King’s Music, the royal company of minstrels. Growing up within the decadent Tudor court, Bess must navigate the ever-changing tide of royals and courtiers.

Friends come and go as cracked voices, politics, heartbreak, and death loom over even the lowliest of musicians. Tom, her first and dearest friend, is her only constant. But as Bess becomes too comfortable at court, she may find that constancy has its limits.

A fictional look into the inner workings of the Tudor Court

Songbird by Karen Heenan

Elizabeth “Bethan” or “Bess” Davydd is 10 years old when her father takes her to the royal court in London and “sells” her to King Henry VIII. The King has bought Bess as a new member of the King’s Music – a group of performers kept around for courtly entertainments. Because of Bess’ lovely singing voice, the King nicknames her his “Songbird”.

Bess has no idea of what to expect at court. Her family isn’t well off and everything she sees seems strange, wonderful and scary. Her first friend is Thomas “Tom” Minstrel – a young boy who shows her around the castle and teachers her court etiquette.

As Bess grows up within the court, she learns how to survive. Her talent makes her special, but she knows that she has to “play the game” as well as any other courtier in order to thrive. Bess goes through everything you would expect of a beautiful, talented young woman at the court of Henry VIII. She makes friends (and enemies), falls in love, has her heart broken, suffers loss and learns some harsh lessons.

I have read quite a lot of historical fiction set in the Tudor court and while I love reading about the main characters (Henry VIII, Mary, Elizabeth, etc), it’s the stories about every day person that really grab me. Their adventures, which take place amongst the castle and its more famous personalities, can be incredibly interesting and I think Heenan has done a wonderful job in Songbird.

Life in the court wasn’t always easy, especially not for the ‘servants’ and Heenan illustrates the harsh realities of being born into the serving class in this era. Bess doesn’t have an easy life, and while sometimes she frustrated the heck out of me, most of the time I found myself happy for Bess and hoping for the best for her.

I believe this is the first book by Heenan and I hope she continues to write more – I’m looking forward to visiting this era again with her!

Meet the author of Songbird, Karen Heenan

Karen Heenan was born and raised in Philadelphia. She fell in love with books and stories before she learned to read, and has wanted to write for nearly as long. After far too many years in a cubicle, she set herself free to follow her dreams – which include gardening, sewing, traveling and, of course, lots of writing.