The Queen's Governess [Paperback]

The Queen's Governess is the story of Kat Ashley (nee Champernowne), governess to Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I. Kat, like the Tudors and Boleyns (and Thomas Cromwell, for that matter), literally came from nowhere, plucked from obscurity by Thomas Cromwell and placed in the household of Anne Boleyn. The Tudor court was full of self-made men and women, and Kat became one of those who fought for her reputation in a place when one's position there was uncertain. Kat Ashley became the Princess's governess in 1537, eventually becoming one of Elizabeth's closest confidants and First Lady of the Bedchamber. The novel opens when Kat is a young girl and meets Thomas Cromwell by fortuitous chance, and closes when Elizabeth becomes Queen.

I wanted to like this novel better than I did. Karen Harper certainly knows her period--the 16th century--and her dialogue and characters seem mostly authentic (the exception being Thomas Seymour, who comes across as a lot worse than I think he really was, and Kat herelf, which I'll explain in a bit). Unfortunately, this didn't really translate into a really good story for me. It's sort of hard for me to see what the focus of the novel is--is it Kat, whose life wasn't really all that interesting (even her romance with John Ashley is underplayed), or is it the story of Elizabeth, who doesn't get all that much on-screen time?

Sometimes I felt as though this novel read like a recitation of facts, not fiction based upon facts; and I felt that the novel jumped around a lot in time. Maybe, if the novel had been a bit longer, it might have allowed the author to go more in depth with the plot. Also, I didn't really buy the idea that Thomas Cromwell used Kat Ashley as one of his spies--though, of course, knowing what Cromwell was like, it could very likely have happened as not. The novel portray Kat Ashley as a bit of an innocent, but I believe that she must not have been entirely scrupulous, as it took a certain amount of wiliness to survive in the Tudor court. In comparison with some of Harper's other books, I would rate this slightly below Mistress Shakespeare. It's not Karen Harper's best novel, but as usual, she's definitely done her research.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be among the court of the English King Henry VIII? He was the only King to ever have absolute power during his reign. He had the power to build you up and also the power to destroy you. We often hear the tales of those who reign, their stories told from their perspectives. Now emerges the story of Katherine Ashley, the only woman to have been in the midst of it all. This is Kat's story which begins during the end of Queen Katherine's reign and ends during the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Katherine's story begins with an unforeseen accident that land's Kat as Thomas Cromwell's nurse. Proving herself to be trustworthy, and highly educated for a girl of her means Cromwell decides to send Kat to be further educated so he could use her as a spy to help elevated his status at court. Placing Kat as the go between for himself and the Lady Anne, Cromwell soon discovers many secrets that can be used to his advantage. Quickly gaining the trust and friendship of the new crowned Queen Anne, Kat is now privy to more knowledge than she could have ever imagined. With the Queen's failed attempts to produce an heir for the throne, Henry's favor soon turns to young Jane Seymour. Wanting to please the King as well as increase his own coffers Cromwell is quick to draw up a list of treasonous charges regarding Anne to place before an eager King. With Anne's fate sealed, she placed her one true friend Kat in charge of her small daughter. Caring for Elizabeth as she would care for her own child Kat forms the beginning of the Princess who will later become one of the greatest Queen England has ever seen. Together they survived through claims of illegitimacy, scathing scandals, and imprisonments in the Tower of London. They also survived the turbulent reigns of 3 monarchs.

The poet Thomas Wyatt once wrote
"These bloody days have broke my heart,
My lust, my youth did them depart,
And blind desire of estate.
Who hastes to climb to seek revert.
Of truth, circa Regna tonat.
Circa Regna tonat, meaning around the throne thunder rolls. What better way to sum up the era in which Kat Ashley was living. Knowing at any minute her world and that of Elizabeth's could come crashing down around them at any minute. It was a world in which you kept your enemies close and trusted few. I think Karen Harper went to great lengths to research and accurately portray in The Queen's Governess. She chose to shed a new light on the perspective in which we as readers view the Tudor reign by having Kat Ashley a woman who was privy to an enormous amount of court secrets and as well as scandals during a 4 reign, to narrate this story. I believe that fans of the Tudor and Elizabethan era will find a The Queen's Governess to be one of their favorite books of 2010.

As a fan of all things Tudor fiction, I'm always happy to devour more. Though I admit the period has started to get a little stale, especially surrounding the infamous Anne Bolyen scandal, there are still a few gems out there. I would consider Karen Harper's first Tudor novel, The Queen's Governess, to be one of those gems. Though there is plenty of discussion around Henry VIII's second queen, the focus is on the intelligent, well-schooled commoner Katherine Ashley, who practically raised the young Elizabeth I and helped her become one of the most important monarchs in British history.

The Queen's Governess tells the story of Katherine Ashley, a young woman born into a common family. After a by-chance meeting with the notorious "climber" Thomas Cromwell, Katherine (usually known as "Kat"), becomes a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne Bolyen -and spy for Cromwell. After Anne's demise, she becomes the tutor and eventually governess to the forgotten Princess Elizabeth. Under Kat's guidance, Elizabeth into an intelligent, clever woman more capable than any of her kin. While developing a strong attachment to Elizabeth, Kat observes Henry VIII's many queens, the short reigns of Edward Tudor, Lady Jane Grey and Mary Tudor and Elizabeth's dangerous journey to the throne.

The story, unlike many historical fiction novels out there, is fast-paced, thrilling and manages to keep readers hooked on nearly every page. Harper also has a powerful and fluid writing style that is comfortable and enjoyable. Most importantly, she has the ability to create compelling female characters. Though other characters are neglected in favor of Kat and Elizabeth, it's not so flat that it destroys the book overall.

As much as I enjoyed this book, there were a few flaws (and that's being really picky). The main problem I had was that everything just seemed to happen so fast. Perhaps that's just a result of being so quickly-paced, but at times I found myself stopping to take a deep breath and remind myself of where exactly we were in the Tudor period (basically, what wife are we on now?). Also, the ending was a little off. It seemed to just drift off into nothing, without a full resolution.

A must-read for any Tudor fiction fan, The Queen's Governess is a great book that shouldn't be missed.

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