The Catherine Howard Conspiracy has been one of my favourite discoveries of 2019 so far. I enjoy reading historical fiction, but I LOVE reading historical fiction based on the Tudors. So when a book involves the Tudors AND has a mystery in it, I’m twice as intrigued. When I saw this book available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. (This was my first NetGalley request so I was really excited when it was approved!)
Title: The Catherine Howard Conspiracy
Author: Alexandra Walsh
Series: The Marquess House Trilogy #1
First Published: March 28, 2019
Publisher: Sapere Books
Categories: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley
*** Thank you to the publisher, Sapere Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
This ‘timeshift thriller’ takes place in two locations and times, with chunks of the books alternating between the two. This is usually not my favourite kind of book but this time, it completely worked for me.
WHITEHALL PALACE, ENGLAND, 1539
Half of the book takes place during the short queenship of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s fifth wife. We meet Catherine as she is joining the household of Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII and the new Queen of England. After Catherine catches Henry’s eye, the king sets aside Queen Anne and marries Catherine. Young and beautiful, Catherine begins the fragile dance of keeping her violent and unstable husband happy and keeping herself, her family and her close friends safe from the king’s wrath.
Walsh has a very interesting and unique take on both Henry, Catherine and other familiar names from this particular time in history. It’s a theory that I haven’t seen in any other book before and it was a refreshing ‘What if?” scenario that was fun to consider.
PEMBROKESHIRE, WALES, 2018
The other half of the book introduces us to Dr. Perdita Rivers. Perdita and her twin sister, Piper. The twins receive news that their estranged grandmother, famed Tudor historian Mary Fitzroy has passed away. To Perdita and Piper’s surprise, Mary has left them most of her possessions, including the sprawling Marquess House, her large estate in Pembrokeshire. As Perdita explores the estate, which includes her grandmother’s vast library and archives, she starts trying to piece together a puzzle her grandmother has left them.
Mary had written a book about Catherine Howard, but abandoned it because of a controversial secret that is rooted in the history of Marquess House itself. Mary left clues for her granddaughters to follow and Perdita attempts to unravel the mystery. As she settles into her new life at Marquess house, Perdita starts getting the feeling that something is amiss. She notices the people around her use the word ‘safe’ a lot when referring to her or Piper – as in “Let’s get you safely inside” and “There you are, safe and sound.” It turns out, there’s a lot more to Marquess House than meets the eye.
A TIMESHIFT NOVEL THAT WORKS
As I stated at the beginning of this review, I’m not a fan of timeshift stories. I prefer settling into one time period and sticking too it. However, the author does a superb job with the pacing of the book. I felt like I was reading several short stories one after another. I think it helped that each time period lasted several chapters at a time, allowing enough time for me to adjust, settle in and enjoy the plot before moving on. Instead of feeling like I was being torn from the past to the future and back, I was eager to return to a familiar set of characters and see what they were up to.
SPEAKING OF THOSE CHARACTERS
I’ve read A LOT of historical fiction based on the Tudors, and Catherine Howard has almost always come across as a young, flighty girl. This book turns a lot of those Tudor characters into something completely opposite to what I’m used to and it was really, REALLY interesting. I can’t say more without giving the mystery away, but let’s just say, this new version of Catherine Howard and her supporting characters was a lot of fun.
As for the ‘present-day’ characters – I just want to be friends with ALL of them. Perdita is exactly the type of person I would get along with – an introvert who loves reading, research and history. We only get to know her twin, Piper, as a secondary character, but I’m hoping that changes in the next book. We briefly meet most of the Marquess House staff but get enough to sense that they are very tight knit and loyal, a feeling that they extend to the twins almost immediately.
I’m also halfway in love with Kit Mackensie. Kit and his siblings, Stuart and Megan, grew up in Marquess House, since their father was Mary’s confidant and solicitor. In fact, the entire Mackensie family are incredibly warm and friendly. They welcome Perdita and Piper into their midst and Kit and Perdita work together to try and solve the Marquess House mystery.
JUST THE BEGINNING
I requested this book on NetGalley based on the title and description (like I said, I’ll read almost anything that has to do with the Tudors!) and I am so happy that I did. This book was outstanding.
Although the answer to part of the mystery is revealed by the end of The Catherine Howard Mystery, the story very deftly sets up the sequel and I can’t wait for it to come out. I have some theories on where the entire storyline is headed, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see if I’m correct!
READ IT FOR YOURSELF
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