The Crown (Joanna Stafford) [Hardcover]

Nancy Bilyeau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2012 | Series: Joanna Stafford

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . .

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bilyeau deftly weaves extensive historical detail throughout, but the real draw of this suspenseful novel is its juicy blend of lust, murder, conspiracy, and betrayal."--O, The Oprah Magazine

"A must read...Part The Da Vinci Code, part The Other Boleyn Girl, it will keep you guessing until the very end!"--Woman's Day, Book Pick of the Month

“Bilyeau weaves her breathtaking story through a string of events to a pleasing conclusion while giving the reader a more thorough understanding of a complicated bit of history. Historical fiction as it should be.”—The Times-Union

"An engrossing thriller...her extensive historical research shines."--Entertainment Weekly

“[An] inventive thriller…A captivating heroine, Stafford will have you eagerly following every step of her quest.”--Parade

“Captivating thriller…”--All You magazine

"...will appeal to fans of Dan Brown and Philippa Gregory."--Library Journal

“Strong character development, realistic historical detail, and an atmosphere of pervasive tension coupled to a fast-paced plot make it compulsively readable.”—Booklist

"This fast-paced debut delivers Tudor intrigue and mystical thrills in one satisfying package—and leaves room for a sequel."--Kirkus

“All the ingredients for a thriller: murder, violence, intrigue, sex, and religious fanatics.”--examiner.com

About the Author

Nancy Bilyeau is a writer and magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping.  She lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Visit her website www.nancybilyeau.com, friend her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (January 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451626851
• ISBN-13: 978-1451626858
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Historical

More About the Author

Nancy Bilyeau is a writer and magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. She was born in Chicago and grew up in Michigan. Now she lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, The Crown, is set in 1537-1538 England. The heroine of this extensively researched thriller is a young novice at a Dominican Priory in Kent who must find a mysterious relic to save her loved ones and her way of life from Cromwell's advancing army of destruction. Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches, says The Crown "has all the ingredients of the best historical fiction: a broad cast of characters, well-imagined settings, and vivid story-telling." Nancy has finished writing a sequel to "The Crown," which is called "The Chalice."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart historical fiction with plenty of suspense, January 10, 2012

By 

E - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crown (Joanna Stafford) (Hardcover)

The Crown
Nancy Bilyeau
Touchstone, January 2012
416 pages
(thanks to Touchstone for sending me a review copy!)

The Crown is excellent historical fiction, and a satisfyingly suspenseful mystery, set during the reign of Henry VIII. Joanna Stafford, a young nun, learns that her favorite cousin is about to be burned at the stake. Disobeying the Dominican sisters' vow of enclosure away from the world, she leaves Dartford Priory to support her cousin.

Joanna and her father are captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London, charged with obstructing the King's justice. That is where Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, finds her and makes his proposition. In exchange for her freedom and her father's life, Joanna is to return to Dartford Priory. There, she must search for Athelstan's crown, a relic so powerful it might grant eternal life, or brutal, cursed death. If found, it could end the Reformation.

The Crown is just about everything I could want from well-written and well-researched historical fiction.Sister Joanna's perspective gives an excellent sense of time and place. Sister Joanna is devout and certain in her faith, and finds purpose in the rituals of the Dominican order. Supporting characters are equally well-drawn. Their ideas and beliefs feel properly anchored in their time period, rather than 21st century imitations mouthing lines and wearing costumes.

As Joanna begins to search the priory in secret, the level of detailed description means I can almost see what she is seeing: the shadowed passages of the priory, half-finished tapestries, leeches in the infirmary. Once things get more suspenseful, there is a distinct whiff of supernatural chill, to go along with the increasingly complex turns of history and conspiracy. Forced to leave her priory more than once as she searches for the missing relic, Sister Joanna has to make choices about her faith and her allegiances, as the conspiracy leaves her questioning who she can trust.

I've already seen a few reviews comparing The Crown to The DaVinci Code. Maybe it's an inevitable comparison, given elements of Church lore, a gory murder tinged with the supernatural, and a main character trying to untangle conspiracy. I hope the comparison boosts Bilyeau's sales of her debut novel. I also think it's a lazy comparison that shortchanges The Crown. If Dan Brown's fans are led to this novel, they'll read Bilyeau's nuanced characters, and well crafted descriptions, and see what they've been missing.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A more realistic take on the Tudors, and very well-written, January 10, 2012

By 

Jenny Q @ Let Them Read Books (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Crown (Joanna Stafford) (Hardcover)

When I picked up this book to start reading I was thinking, OK, how exciting can a book about a nun really be? Well the answer is: VERY! I was pleasantly surprised to discover this book was nothing like I was expecting and Joanna Stafford made for a great protagonist. I think that's mainly because she's really not cut out to be a nun, despite her fervent faith, but she hasn't quite figured that out yet. She's educated and she was raised to be a lady of the court, so she's wise in many ways that her fellow sisters are not. She's opinionated, has a take charge attitude, stands up for what she believes in, and has a hard time keeping her mouth shut. Those qualities don't make for a very good nun, but they do make for an excellent heroine!

This is a mystery and the back cover copy does a good job of setting up the story, so I won't risk divulging any spoilers by describing the plot. But I will say that Nancy Bilyeau is an excellent writer. She really gets into some of the political intricacies of Henry VIII and his advisors, and seamlessly weaves them into a tale of blackmail and the search for a holy relic set amidst the lives of some of the people who have the most to lose from Thomas Cromwell's war against the Catholic Church. The narrative is perfect, the period details are just right, the characters are intriguing, and it really is a well-crafted novel.

But, there are two things that keep me from rating this higher. The story is exciting and takes some good twists and turns, but it also suffers from some very slow periods and I found myself skimming to get back to the action. And, as a hopeless romantic, I was disappointed in some choices Joanna made at the end of the story and I was left feeling a little dissatisfied. So I had to find out if Nancy is writing another Joanna Stafford book, and she is! After the way things played out in The Crown, Joanna should be in for some adventurous times in a dangerous environment and I'm looking forward to the continuation of her story.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unique Tudor thriller that falls short in some areas, January 16, 2012

By 

dianaers (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crown (Joanna Stafford) (Hardcover)

The Crown is Nancy Bilyeau's debut novel about a Dominican nun set during the Tudor era right before the death of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. Sister Joanna, of the disgraced Stafford family, is cloistered at Dartford Priory when she hears the news of the execution of her most beloved cousin, Margaret. She breaks the rules of the priory and sneaks out to be with Margaret in her time of need. She, along with her father, are arrested and sent to the Tower of London.

There, she meets the Bishop of Winchester, who blackmails Joanna; she is forced to seek out an ancient relic of the Saxon king Athelstan, the first king of a unified England since 927 CE. The relic that she seeks is his crown, which, upon wearing it, King Athelstan was able to win an insurmountable battle to unite England.

The Crown has been described as a cross between a Dan Brown and Philippa Gregory novel, which is definitely apparent. I love the idea of a historical fiction thriller, especially set during the Tudor time period. There are a lot of twists and turns, and while predictable at times, a lot of it kept me guessing. It definitely wasn't a flashy thriller. Not very difficult to read at all. I also found The Crown to be well researched.

The first fifty pages captured me, but upon Joanna's release from the Tower of London, it seemed to me that the story kind of stagnated. I felt that the flow was a bit stunted and never really picked up for me. I also found it to be anti-climactic in the end. It seems like this book is setting itself up for a sequel.

I loved Joanna's character, though. It was really interesting to read about the political intrigue of the time through the eyes of someone that wasn't a courtier. Despite being a nun, she struggles with her human nature.

I had really high hopes for this story, but in the end, it just really fell short for me. If there is sequel for The Crown, though, I think that I would pick it up.