historical fiction, magical realism
Andrew is The King’s Messenger. He goes wherever King James tells
him to go to complete the King’s bidding. This time, Andrew is instructed to pick
up Sir David Moray who is accused of being involved in Prince Henry’s death and
bring him to the King to stand trial. Joining Andrew on this journey will be a
scrivener instructed to write down everything Sir David says as well as the
scrivener’s daughter, Phoebe, to help care for her ailing father. Phoebe and
her father are actually neighbors of Andrew’s and the ongoing general ill will
between Phoebe and Andrew is sure the add discomfort to the days ahead. The
trip is filled with adventure and the traveling members get to know each other
better, often changing opinions of each other, during their long journey.
I’ve read and enjoyed ten novels written by Susanna Kearsley
so I was thrilled to receive a galley of this novel! This is the first new
novel I’ve read by her in six years. As with her other novels, the characters
are wonderful and the historic settings are very clearly imagined. The romance
was satisfying as the relationship altered and grew between Phoebe and Andrew. (And
had no detailed sexual descriptions, as usual, for those who don’t like that.) The
rest of the people in their traveling band were particularly loveable and I
enjoyed journeying with them through their adventure. Historically, this book
wasn’t as rich as Kearsley’s other novels in terms of history I learned. But
the real people were imagined by Kearsley in a way that felt true to their
roles and time, and I was satisfied just learning about the people. Sadly, while
I know some of these characters appeared in previous Kearsley novels, I read
them so long ago that I can’t remember them. The aspect of fantasy in this one
was fun and peppered into the novel just enough. <chef’s kiss>
If you like Kearsley’s novels, you’ll like this one! Although,
this one doesn’t follow her typical formula of dual storylines which I’ve
described in reviews of her other books. But the structure of this book was
perfect for this story. I’m so glad she has published a new novel!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read this before it’s publication date of 3/4/2025!
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