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kathydavie's review
3.0
The first in the historical fiction series, Secrets of the Tudor Court, Pleasure Palace takes place through the eyes of Jeanne/Jane Popyncourt from age 8 through 26 in the last 11 years of Henry VII and the first 7 years of Henry VIII.
Jane has a particularly up close and personal view of the court as she immediately is assigned to the Royal Nursery to speak French with the young Tudors, primarily the Princesses Margaret and Mary forming a part of Mary's court when Margaret marries James IV of Scotland.
I very much enjoyed reading this story as Emerson does a very nice job of incorporating English history and conveying the lifestyle of the Tudors and their court. I don't really see the point of the story except to show off Emerson's historical knowledge. Yes, there's a mystery as to why Jane and her mother were treated as they were but it's more of a mention than any real concern.
Emerson also writes of the tension of living at the whim of princes and the machinations of greedy courtiers but fails to make the reader feel any danger to anyone let alone Jane. The story itself is a flat line from day to day. The only reaction one has when Jane decides to take the duc de Longueville as a lover is "what, is she stupid?"
Jane has a particularly up close and personal view of the court as she immediately is assigned to the Royal Nursery to speak French with the young Tudors, primarily the Princesses Margaret and Mary forming a part of Mary's court when Margaret marries James IV of Scotland.
I very much enjoyed reading this story as Emerson does a very nice job of incorporating English history and conveying the lifestyle of the Tudors and their court. I don't really see the point of the story except to show off Emerson's historical knowledge. Yes, there's a mystery as to why Jane and her mother were treated as they were but it's more of a mention than any real concern.
Emerson also writes of the tension of living at the whim of princes and the machinations of greedy courtiers but fails to make the reader feel any danger to anyone let alone Jane. The story itself is a flat line from day to day. The only reaction one has when Jane decides to take the duc de Longueville as a lover is "what, is she stupid?"
mbenzz's review
4.0
I was really looking forward to this book, it had great reviews and told the Tudor story from a completely different point of view (and no Anne Boleyn in sight!). The beginning was great...after the sudden death of France's King Charles VIII, 8-year-old Jane Popyncourt and her mother leave hastily in the middle of the night headed for England. Once there, Jane is sent to Eltham to be raised with the royal Tudor children while her mother enters the English court, only to die mysteriously less than a year after arriving.
Wonderful! I was completely enthralled, and couldn't wait to find out what the story was! It would take a while to get there though as the whole middle of the novel was very sluggish. Jane's growing up in court, her affair with the Duc de Longueville, trying to get to France only to be denied, and sloooowwwwly finding out little pieces here and there of why her and her mother had to flee France. Very slow-going...this is not a very long book, one I had expected to finish in a couple days, but it ended up taking almost a week because I just couldn't get into it.
Finally though, near the end of the novel (about 78% on the Kindle) things started to pick up. Jane was getting answers to her questions much more rapidly, and the story was falling into place. I was very pleased with the ending and where it all lead to. Overall, a decent book. I liked that it wasn't the same-'ol tired Tudor tale. We're introduced to new players and a new story, Henry and family are more in the background, not the center of everything, which was kinda nice. I just wish it held my attention a little more throughout the middle.
Wonderful! I was completely enthralled, and couldn't wait to find out what the story was! It would take a while to get there though as the whole middle of the novel was very sluggish. Jane's growing up in court, her affair with the Duc de Longueville, trying to get to France only to be denied, and sloooowwwwly finding out little pieces here and there of why her and her mother had to flee France. Very slow-going...this is not a very long book, one I had expected to finish in a couple days, but it ended up taking almost a week because I just couldn't get into it.
Finally though, near the end of the novel (about 78% on the Kindle) things started to pick up. Jane was getting answers to her questions much more rapidly, and the story was falling into place. I was very pleased with the ending and where it all lead to. Overall, a decent book. I liked that it wasn't the same-'ol tired Tudor tale. We're introduced to new players and a new story, Henry and family are more in the background, not the center of everything, which was kinda nice. I just wish it held my attention a little more throughout the middle.
vikingwolf's review
3.0
On the death of King Charles VIII of France, Jeanne's world is turned upside down when her mother, a lady at the Court, suddenly flees with her to relatives in England, changing her daughter's name to Jane and hers to Joan. Joan takes up a position as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, wife to King Henry VII, while Jane joins Princess Mary and Margaret to teach them better French. Jane becomes friends with the princesses and the sons of several well known courtiers being educated with them. She finds she has to rely on their support after the sudden death of Joan, leaving her at Court purely on the kindness of the King.
Jane was a real person at the English Court and the author has decided to use her as the main character in this Tudor drama, creating a whole colourful backstory for her that is probably mostly fiction. She serves Princess Mary until Mary is sent to France to marry the French King, and Jane has to remain in England. Her romances begin with a flirtation with the handsome Charles Brandon, closest friend of young Prince Henry but he soon loses interest in Jane in favour of wealthier prospects, something she fears will constantly be a problem in her future. Things seem to improve when a prisoner of war is brought to be housed in London and Jane develops an instant attraction to him, and him to her. Their affair begins secretly with Jane seduced by the hope that this wealthy man will take her back to France with him when he is finally ransomed. As far as I'm aware the affair with the Duke was real and Jane was notorious because of it.
Jane, at least in this story, has another reason for wanting to go to France. She is bothered by the details coming out about her mother's death which is starting to sound like a deliberate poisoning rather than a fever sickness but trying to track down everyone who knew her mother at that time is difficult and she is soon warned about sticking her nose into things that don't concern her. She starts to wonder if Joan's possible murder is connected to the unknown reasons that made Joan flee the French Court for the assumed safety of England. The arrival of her childhood friend Guy who serves her new Duke lover, tells her she and her mother were assumed dead and that there was a big search for Joan in the days after she went missing.
I admit that this is not my favourite Tudor book. I did like the early pages with Jane's journey to England and settling in at the Palace where she makes friends with the children of well known courtiers, growing up with the likes of Will Compton. It was as the book goes on that things started to get a bit tedious for me. I was fine with the Charles Brandon plot which was interesting and I wish it had been more developed, whether it was based on fact or fiction not bothering me one way on the other. His character has always interested me. I didn't find the Duke anywhere near as interesting though I guess it was ok to read about their secret affair and the problems it caused Jane when people found out. I would rather have seen her relationship with Henry VIII as the main focus for the story as there have been rumours that she really was the mistress of Henry. Instead the author went for focus on just the Duke and a historical side story which was a little disappointing.
I really didn't care much for the historical side story. This paragraph does contain spoilers for the main twist in the book so read ahead with caution, though it wasn't difficult to guess from the start of the book that this was where the plot would eventually lead. Joan was actually the bastard daughter of Henry VII when he was in exile, and he took in her and earlier her brother in positions at his Court, keeping it as the family secret. The hints are that Henry's mother Margaret murdered Joan because of this. I'm really not sure why she's murdering Joan one minute and is happy to let her brother live? A bastard son is more dangerous than a bastard daughter! Why kill Joan but not Jane? What is the purpose to it? It didn't really make sense to me. I found it a pretty weak and uninteresting plot. The search for answers was just dull and dragged on for most of the book and it never became interesting.
Jane herself was a pretty weak character. A lot was made of how pretty she was but she was also an airhead. She was constantly warned about sullying her reputation by hanging around the likes of Charles Brandon and her affair with the Duke but seemed to be motivated by lust, and then she wondered why she was unfairly seen as the Court slut. She was far from subtle about her digging for information so she is a ridiculous figure for Henry VIII to use as his spy. I really feel that I ploughed through this book more than read it. It felt so slow and dull in places and I wasn't really enjoying the plot or the way it was delivered. I kept going because there were interesting bits in it but the rest of it was padding that I wasn't liking. I really wish the focus had been more toward Henry and less of the Duke and his aide.
I have the other books in this series to read but there needs to be a massive improvement in style and content for me to finish the next offering.
2.5 stars.
Jane was a real person at the English Court and the author has decided to use her as the main character in this Tudor drama, creating a whole colourful backstory for her that is probably mostly fiction. She serves Princess Mary until Mary is sent to France to marry the French King, and Jane has to remain in England. Her romances begin with a flirtation with the handsome Charles Brandon, closest friend of young Prince Henry but he soon loses interest in Jane in favour of wealthier prospects, something she fears will constantly be a problem in her future. Things seem to improve when a prisoner of war is brought to be housed in London and Jane develops an instant attraction to him, and him to her. Their affair begins secretly with Jane seduced by the hope that this wealthy man will take her back to France with him when he is finally ransomed. As far as I'm aware the affair with the Duke was real and Jane was notorious because of it.
Jane, at least in this story, has another reason for wanting to go to France. She is bothered by the details coming out about her mother's death which is starting to sound like a deliberate poisoning rather than a fever sickness but trying to track down everyone who knew her mother at that time is difficult and she is soon warned about sticking her nose into things that don't concern her. She starts to wonder if Joan's possible murder is connected to the unknown reasons that made Joan flee the French Court for the assumed safety of England. The arrival of her childhood friend Guy who serves her new Duke lover, tells her she and her mother were assumed dead and that there was a big search for Joan in the days after she went missing.
I admit that this is not my favourite Tudor book. I did like the early pages with Jane's journey to England and settling in at the Palace where she makes friends with the children of well known courtiers, growing up with the likes of Will Compton. It was as the book goes on that things started to get a bit tedious for me. I was fine with the Charles Brandon plot which was interesting and I wish it had been more developed, whether it was based on fact or fiction not bothering me one way on the other. His character has always interested me. I didn't find the Duke anywhere near as interesting though I guess it was ok to read about their secret affair and the problems it caused Jane when people found out. I would rather have seen her relationship with Henry VIII as the main focus for the story as there have been rumours that she really was the mistress of Henry. Instead the author went for focus on just the Duke and a historical side story which was a little disappointing.
I really didn't care much for the historical side story. This paragraph does contain spoilers for the main twist in the book so read ahead with caution, though it wasn't difficult to guess from the start of the book that this was where the plot would eventually lead. Joan was actually the bastard daughter of Henry VII when he was in exile, and he took in her and earlier her brother in positions at his Court, keeping it as the family secret. The hints are that Henry's mother Margaret murdered Joan because of this. I'm really not sure why she's murdering Joan one minute and is happy to let her brother live? A bastard son is more dangerous than a bastard daughter! Why kill Joan but not Jane? What is the purpose to it? It didn't really make sense to me. I found it a pretty weak and uninteresting plot. The search for answers was just dull and dragged on for most of the book and it never became interesting.
Jane herself was a pretty weak character. A lot was made of how pretty she was but she was also an airhead. She was constantly warned about sullying her reputation by hanging around the likes of Charles Brandon and her affair with the Duke but seemed to be motivated by lust, and then she wondered why she was unfairly seen as the Court slut. She was far from subtle about her digging for information so she is a ridiculous figure for Henry VIII to use as his spy. I really feel that I ploughed through this book more than read it. It felt so slow and dull in places and I wasn't really enjoying the plot or the way it was delivered. I kept going because there were interesting bits in it but the rest of it was padding that I wasn't liking. I really wish the focus had been more toward Henry and less of the Duke and his aide.
I have the other books in this series to read but there needs to be a massive improvement in style and content for me to finish the next offering.
2.5 stars.
sabregirl's review
4.0
This book was pretty interesting, I had never heard of Jean Popyncourt before this book so it was nice to see a bit of history that I didn't know. Granted her life is really mysterious so take this book with a grain of salt. It was interesting to see King Henry VII & VIII at such a close range normally they are often from a distance even if they are 'intimate' with him. While her life's history to Jean was a bit of a surprise I pretty much saw it coming, granted I couldn't figure out all of the story but I figured out the possible reason for Henry 7th 'attachment' to her. The writing style was interesting considering one more than one occasion months and even years would jump in a few short paragraphs so it was hard to keep track of the time line of this piece until around the time of Princess Mary's birth. Other than that the book was a nice quick read and focused more on Jean's family history and her search for the truth than anything else, which is hard to do when the story takes place in the middle of a Tudor court.
mercipourleslivres's review
3.0
Kate Emerson excels at bringing minor players in Court Politics to light in her intriguing series set in Tudor England.
eerupps's review
4.0
I love all things Tudor, so of course I loved this. It was very entertaining and easy to read. I had never heard of Jane Popyncourt previously and I found her to be very interesting.
peeyarlmarie's review
5.0
This novel, [b:The Pleasure Palace|5508080|The Pleasure Palace (Secrets of the Tudor Court, #1)|Kate Emerson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347910274s/5508080.jpg|5610107] ,has a classical theme, the very reason I was enamored with it during the first glance. And, fortunately, I do not regret of having read it.
First of all, the language used is most suitable for all readers for it offers Modern English, not the English spoken during the said era. Hence, making it easier to read. The excessive descriptions helped me envisioning the court, the clothing and the places mentioned. The flow of the story is quite smooth indeed, making me crave for more words to read, chapter after chapter.
The recreation of a historical figure, Jane Popyncourt, into one of the most important persons in the 16th century is rather appealing. She was a mere gentlewoman & mistress during her time but in this novel, she is given palpable importance, making some of the characters revolve around her. I admire, [a:Kate Emerson|2396206|Kate Emerson|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1269957788p2/2396206.jpg], for the creativity and uniqueness of the plot. It tainted me with a gigantic blot of curiosity inside.
Lastly, I'd like to read more of Emerson's works.
Enticing novel. Great! :)
First of all, the language used is most suitable for all readers for it offers Modern English, not the English spoken during the said era. Hence, making it easier to read. The excessive descriptions helped me envisioning the court, the clothing and the places mentioned. The flow of the story is quite smooth indeed, making me crave for more words to read, chapter after chapter.
The recreation of a historical figure, Jane Popyncourt, into one of the most important persons in the 16th century is rather appealing. She was a mere gentlewoman & mistress during her time but in this novel, she is given palpable importance, making some of the characters revolve around her. I admire, [a:Kate Emerson|2396206|Kate Emerson|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1269957788p2/2396206.jpg], for the creativity and uniqueness of the plot. It tainted me with a gigantic blot of curiosity inside.
Lastly, I'd like to read more of Emerson's works.
Enticing novel. Great! :)
bookshy's review
3.0
I appreciated reading about this time period from a relatively unknown character's point of view. But, I didn't really like the main character at all. I thought she was very one dimensional, and the book was more like reading a screen play than a book. The only thing that saved this one for me is the particular time period it was placed in.
emmarj's review
2.0
I'm on a roll of unpleasant reads, it seems. I normally love historical fiction but when this didn't catch my attention within the first 60 pages, I decided to put it away.
Jane's background is boring and her personality seems willfully naive to the point of annoyance. No, thank you.
Jane's background is boring and her personality seems willfully naive to the point of annoyance. No, thank you.
girlinacardigan's review
2.0
http://jennsbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-pleasure-palace-by-kate-emerson.html