Customer Reviews

The Doublet Affair

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I quickly bought this second book of Fiona Buckley's after reading the first book, "To Shield the Queen". Although I didn't find this one quite as intriguing as the first, it was a quick-moving, fun, interesting story. Although it helps if you have read the first novel before reading this one so that you will understand who all the characters and their relationships are, it is not required. This was one that definitely kept me guessing until the end. And again, Ms. Buckley's fictional account of historical events is creative and fun to read.

This is a good book, not great, but good. The main character, Ursula, is a sprited young woman who is a lady in waiting at court, a spy for the queen, a mother of a six year old girl, a widow due to a smallpox outbreak, and wife of a catholic traitor living in exile in France. All of these elments would seem to make her either far-fetched or highly entertaining. Yet, you'd be amazed at how quickly you will tire of her adventures. Her relationship with the queen is an odd mix of distant and inproper intimacy. Her initial assigment in spying is utterly vague to the point of confusion. So often we are wondering just what is she trying to ascertain. So much of the book is Ursula following hunches that the reader is left ignorant of. Subtle witty exchanges lose there fizzle because you don't know the underlying meaning. And regretfully you never will. Many of the characters in the novel are quite charming, though undeveloped, and enter and exit in the strangest and at times grusome ways. Others such as the daughter are never heard from at all ,yet there mere mention is supposed to pull at our heartstrings.

The author would have been better served by writing in 3rd person. Then leaving the reader in the dark in so many ways would have so much more excusable. Do not read this book if you are particular about the history in your historical fiction, at times Ursula is very 21st century. Her "atenna is alerted" at one point and a young boys face is described as being "marred by acne".

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that likes a good mystery. From what I know of English history, it is not only historically accurate but also plausible.

It is a story about Ursula Blanchard, a Lady in Waiting to the young Elizabeth I of England. The story is set during the beginning of Elizabeth's reign. Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's cousin and a Catholic, wants to return to England from France, take over the English throne and return England to the "true religion." There are plots afoot to discredit Elizabeth and set the stage for Mary's return. Ursula Blanchard is requested to spy on the Leonard family, who are Catholics that she happens to be friends with, resulting in all sorts of unexpected twists and turns in the plot. The man that had been spying on the family previously has been found dead under suspicious circumstances. The thinking is that because she is a woman no one will suspect Ursula of being a spy. However, there are those that apparently know what she is and they are loyal to Mary. Her intense loyalty to the Protestant Queen Elizabeth is also tested by the fact that her husband, a French Catholic that she loves dearly, demands that she join him in France or the marriage is over. The Queen will not let her go until the plot against her is found out and routed. This is court intrigue at it's best, and a pretty good read. I think I'll have to read some other works by this author.

In 1561, Lady Ursula Blanchard is elated that her beloved spouse Matthew is willing to take her back after she left him to perform a duty for Queen Elizabeth I (see TO SHIELD THE QUEEN). Ursula quickly makes up her mind to retire from spying and quietly live with her husband and daughter. However, to leave England for France where her husband resides requires Elizabeth's blessing and her majesty knows that Matthew wants to put Mary on the throne. Instead the Queen rejects Ursula's request and tasks her with an assignment.

Ursula accepts a job as companion to the children of Ann and Leonard Mason. The Queen and her advisor Sir William Cecil believe the couple is planning treason against her highness. Elizabeth wants the details and Ursula is her dupe to obtain them even if it places her life in jeopardy.

The second novel in the Ursula Blanchard historical mysteries is a great amateur sleuth tale that takes readers inside the political treacheries that swirl throughout the higher echelon of sixteenth century England. The authentic story line is a winner that will please fans of the sub-genre. However, it is the characters and their interplay that turns Fiona Buckley's THE DOUBLET AFFAIR into a delectable novel is must reading.

Harriet Klausner

Fiona Buckley always comes up with intersting plots and story lines. The first 200 pages are a little bit slow but once you hit page 200 you can't put the book down. I can't wait until the next book is out.

I am new to Fiona Buckley's books (the nom de plume of UK author Valerie Anand). I stumbled upon the audio version of the third book in the Ursula Blanchard series which is Queen's Ransom. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I started at the beginning with To Shield A Queen (or A Robsart Mystery). It was exciting & intriguing on many levels. I love the Elizabethan era & am a dyed-in-the-wool Anglophile, so I was in my element reading these novels. I love Buckley's descriptions of the clothes, sights, smells, villages, horses, public houses, &, most of all, life as a lady of the presence chamber of Queen Elizabeth I's court. The Doublet Affair was a great read & a true escape from everyday humdrum suburban existence. I looked forward to returning to it when my family was tucked in for the night. I particularly enjoy the fact that Ursula is a widow with a young daughter who has remarried a man she passionately loves, although it is decidedly not a marriage of convenience. She adores her daughter, but must do her duty to herself, her child & her queen by leaving her daughter in foster care so that Ursula can make a good living as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen AND as a spy for Elizabeth, who is dogged by enemies near & far. I find Buckley's writing to be illustrative of the period but at the same time exceedingly accessible. I love Dorothy Dunnett but find her books to be almost projects for me (requiring a companion book so I can attempt to understand her vocabulary & arcane references). Fiona Buckley's books are fun & enthralling, & it's refreshing to read about a feminist protagonist in the mid-16th century. As a postscript, the audiobook reader, Nadia May, is one of my favorites (check out Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher on audio). She makes the Ursula Blanchard series a real treat that will envelop you & maybe even become an addiction.

I really tried to love this novel. I enjoy historical murder mysteries, stories with a female sleuth, and the Elizabethan period. So I gave it many, many chances. And I just couldn't bring myself to like it. The heroine's marriage doesn't seem believable, her attitude towards life and the world rings wrong not only for the period but for a woman of any era, and her relationship with Queen Elizabeth I is contrived at best. The secondary characters seem stiff and uni-dimensional and the story felt like a modern tale with a few anachronistic phrases thrown in and the technology taken out.

What I did enjoy, however, were the descriptions of places. In this the author excelled and that is what earned this book that second star from me.

As much as I enjoyed the first book I was a little disappointed with this one. It ran a little slow and I found myself at times skimming for some pages. When the book finally did heat up though I was on the edge of my seat and it was hard to put the book down. I definitely want to continue the series. I can definitely overcome the slow spots to continue with a good story.

THE DOUBLET AFFAIRS is a book about Lady Ursula Blanchard, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1561. The novel is an intruging mystery, and one that ought to appeal to those fond of realistic fiction and the Elizabethan period. I don't enjoy summarizing plots (it takes part of the pleasure of reading away) but this is certainly not a book to be missed if you enjoy settling down with a big story full of suspense.

I picked up this book because I had read the author's first book, To Shield the Queen. Although I found the heroine far too contemporary in thoughts and actions for the Elizabethan time period, I decided to give this second installment a try because I really like both mysteries and historical fiction. To Shield the Queen did a passable job at combining them both. The Doublet Affair did not.

First, although I can understand religious differences, especially during this particular era in English history, the author's obvious bias toward the Protestant faith becomes glaringly obvious. The "good guys" are all Protestant and the "bad guys" are all Catholic. It seemed improbable to me that all Catholic men and women of the sixteenth century were evil, bumbling idiots, or religious fanatics, while all Protestants were loyal, clever and far more reasonable in their approach to life and religion. Most people are a mixture of many qualities, both good and bad, and I'm sure this held true in the sixteenth century, as well.

Secondly, the pace of the plot was excrutiatingly slow. Despite the fact that Ursula was running here, there and everywhere, the plot didn't seem to mature at all as the book went on. I found my mind wandering again and again to the next book on my "yet to read" pile. Finally, I just skimmed toward the end.

Thirdly, Ursula is woefully inadequate at her job. She not only gets caught and outmanuevered for much of the book, she manages to get her servants shot at and captured through her naive and self-centered assumption that only she is a target for retribution.

Fourthly, CHOOSE ALREADY! Do you want to be married to the man or not? Her inability to commit to her second marriage is seriously annoying and seems obviously contrived to keep the way open for the next installment in this series.

All in all, this is NOT a series I would continue, nor would I recommend it to anyone else.