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A review by bleadenreads
The King's Witch by Tracy Borman
4.0
Plot: Elizabeth the 1st has just died and the royal court quickly scrambles to make ready for their new king, James Stuart who brings hypocrisy and superstition to the royal court. Frances, a talented young healer is dragged unwillingly back to court as part of her uncle's ambitions and quickly finds herself under scrutiny...
Review: I've been wanting to read this book for ages due to @thelibrarybat high praise! This was a wonderfully engaging work of historical fiction that ended my reading slump.
I love historical fiction set in the 17th C, but I've never read anything set during the reign of James the 1st. I thought Borman's depiction of the king to be v historically accurate and brilliantly brutal. His fickle nature and obsession with witches lent itself really nicely to the plotting and ambitions of the royal court, as it created an overall tension to the novel as no one felt safe. People are driven to extreme action in desperation for power and the characters can trust no one, but Frances is still drawn to Tom Wintour (what a charming man, well done Borman).
This is book one of a trilogy that I will definitely be reading more of, as I love the time period and any depictions of medical history/natural remedies. Frances was fierce, intelligent but also dangerously naive at times. I look forward to see how she learns from her experiences in the next two novels.
SPOILER
I thought it was really clever how Borman slowly drew you into a plot without you realising that it was *the plot*. When the pieces all came together I couldn't tear myself away from this book even though I knew how the plot ended, the main characters were fictional so their fate was unclear.
Review: I've been wanting to read this book for ages due to @thelibrarybat high praise! This was a wonderfully engaging work of historical fiction that ended my reading slump.
I love historical fiction set in the 17th C, but I've never read anything set during the reign of James the 1st. I thought Borman's depiction of the king to be v historically accurate and brilliantly brutal. His fickle nature and obsession with witches lent itself really nicely to the plotting and ambitions of the royal court, as it created an overall tension to the novel as no one felt safe. People are driven to extreme action in desperation for power and the characters can trust no one, but Frances is still drawn to Tom Wintour (what a charming man, well done Borman).
This is book one of a trilogy that I will definitely be reading more of, as I love the time period and any depictions of medical history/natural remedies. Frances was fierce, intelligent but also dangerously naive at times. I look forward to see how she learns from her experiences in the next two novels.
SPOILER
I thought it was really clever how Borman slowly drew you into a plot without you realising that it was *the plot*. When the pieces all came together I couldn't tear myself away from this book even though I knew how the plot ended, the main characters were fictional so their fate was unclear.