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First, I should point out that I know Nancy Bilyeau, author of THE CROWN. We’ve taken some writing classes together under Max Adams and we move around the same circle of online writing friends. When you support your friends, you want them to succeed, especially when they’re trying to achieve the same goals as you.
But there’s always that dreaded question…What if I hate my friend’s book? I could recommend an okay book, especially if I liked many aspects of it. But what if their book is awful? If they asked for my opinion, should I lie? Will they notice that I haven’t put up a review after my Goodreads account marks it as read?
After reading THE CROWN, I can honesty say that I LOVED it. The book has all kinds of awesome things going for it. But first, let me give you an overview. (Don’t worry I won’t give out spoilers)
From the author’s website:
Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.
The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.
But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands.
With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.
Here are my thoughts about THE CROWN…
First off, I loved the strong heroine Sister Joanna. She drives the story forward while struggling between her vows and doing whatever she has to in order to save her father’s life. How such a devoted nun deals with this internal struggle adds a deeper layer that slips the reader into Joanne’s point-of-view and thus re-enforces the empathy we feel for her.
THE CROWN moves at a fast pace like a good thriller should. I would almost compare it to the concise pace of young adult novel. (Which is meant as a compliment.) The pace keeps you turning pages and never lags.
The historical setting of Tudor England feels so authentic on the pages and helps to ground the reader into the time period. Ms. Bilyeau does a nice job of sprinkling details here and there, using it to spice up the chapters rather than making them bland under a mountain of endless historical detail that would slow a novel down to a crawl.
The characters are strong and diverse. Not one is wasted or overlooked. Each character has a specific purpose in the story and are used to great effect, thus making THE CROWN a very well-balanced book. Setting. Pace. Character. Plot. Story. It’s all here. In fact, I think this book will turn some non-history readers into Tudor-England fanatics. Or at least curious enough to google some English history websites.
I look forward to reading more of Ms. Bilyeau’s work.
