Customer Reviews

The Queen's Captive

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Barbara Kyle has written a gripping novel that will hold your attention for all 450 pages. The story follows the lives of two families, the Thornleigh's and the Grenville's. These are the only non-historical figures in the book. All other characters are real people from history. Princess Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Lord St. Loe, etc. What I enjoyed was how well Ms. Kyle weaves the true historical story into the lives of these two families, the Thornleigh's in support of Princess Elizabeth and the Grenville's in support of Queen Mary. She adds a twist in that the two families hate each other because of the death of the Grenville's father at the hands of Richard Thornleigh.

The truth of history is that Queen Mary hated her sister Elizabeth. She tried her best to have her removed from the line of succession to the throne by claiming she was the bastard child of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and thus not truly of royal blood. This was not a valid reason to withhold the throne, but it was the one that Mary held to.

Unfortunately Queen Mary received the title Bloody Mary because she burned at the stake more than 300 people (both men and women) whom she deemed traitors because they refused to acknowledge the Catholic Church as the one true Church. It seems as though Queen Mary wanted to displace the Anglican Church as the Church of England with the Catholic Church. She further strengthen this task by marrying King Philip of Spain. So, religious intolerance became a huge issue in England.

Bloody Mary was not the favorite of the common people of the realm. They instead preferred Princess Elizabeth, whom they rightly knew loved the people and cared more for them than her own life and fortune.

A group of Noblemen attempted to overthrow Queen Mary and make Elizabeth the new Queen. That rebellion was crushed and Mary had Elizabeth imprisoned.

This is where our story begins. Elizabeth locked away under house arrest. Survivors of the rebellion contact Richard and Honor Thornleigh (whom had fled to France) and asked them to return to help nurture Elizabeth and encourage her through this difficult time.

The Thornleigh's and their son Adam return to do all that they can. Barbara Kyle weaves a wonderful novel that takes us through years of struggle and spying as well as much deception and plotting. In the middle of all this Adam Thornleigh falls in love with Princess Elizabeth. She in turn falls in love with him.

The Grenville's are unhappy that the Thornleigh's have returned and John Grenville makes it his duty to see them brought to justice and hanged for the murder of his father. He uses his relationship with Queen Mary to push his own agenda.

Ms. Kyle does a masterful job of weaving intrigue, suspense, loyalty, treachery and betrayal into a novel that you can't put down. You will be drawn in to the lives of the Thornleigh's and Princess Elizabeth and stay up late reading because you want to know how it all ends. There are enough twists and turns to keep anyone guessing.

We do know from History that Elizabeth becomes Queen, but just how that happens is what you will find so fascinating as you real this well done novel.

Enjoy!

The recent Wyatt rebellion was put down harshly by Queen Mary's supporters. However, the monarch believes her younger half-sister Princess Elizabeth was the impetus for the revolt. Angry, Mary imprisons her sibling.

Learning in Antwerp what has happened to Elizabeth, Honor and Richard Thornleigh and their son Adam return to London to aid the beleaguered princess and to keep her from acting rash at a time indiscretion is the only means of surviving her older sister. . Honor takes a position as a laundress in Elizabeth's household to help the young impetuous princess stay in control of herself. At the same time, her husband and her son work serendipitously but diligently to further the Protestant cause while Bloody Mary pushes the country deeper into a religious civil war. While Elizabeth and Adam are attracted to one another, Honor risks her life to save her family, her princess and her nation from disaster.

The thriller Thornleigh historical fiction saga (see The Queen's Lady and The King's Daughter) continues with Bloody Mary's reaction to the failed Wyatt rebellion. In spite of the period having been done a zillion times (see the works of Carolyn Erickson and Alison Weir, for instance), Barbara Kyle keeps her account fresh and manages to throw a few terrific spins including the attraction between the Princess and Adam. Fast-paced yet loaded with descriptors that take the audience to mid sixteenth century England during the internal religious conflict, fans who cannot get enough Elizabethan will appreciate this strong tale of the future queen locked away by her step sister; the irony being she does likewise years later with another Mary.

Harriet Klausner

In the third book of the Thornleigh family saga, Barbara Kyle weaves a truly remarkable story of love, loyalty, sacrifice, and intrigue. Clearly with The Queen's Captive, Kyle has ascended to the pinnacle of historical fiction. She has no peer.

I bought this book in the airport to prepare for a long flight. What a delighful choice I made! I was highly impressed with the historical accuracy (for the most part) and how it was tied in with the Thorneleigh's (spelled wrong I'm sure). It was such a riviting read, I have now bought the other three books! I can't believe I started with the third in the series. Well I'm going to catch up by reading the others! Truly an outstanding book!

I have read straight through all three of Barbara Kyle's books and enjoyed them. However in The Queen's Captive" I felt she sacrificed the enjoyment of a good yarn about Bloody Mary and Elizabeth by indulging too graphically in the horrors of burning at the stake and torturing of prisoners. I found myself just skipping whole paragraphs. A good book but not for the faint of heart.

3.5 stars!

The Queen's Captive is the third book in the Thornleigh series, following The Queen's Lady and The King's Daughter. The main protagonist Honor Thornleigh is living in exile with her husband Richard in Antwerp when Sir William Cecil appears and asks that she assist and advise Elizabeth Tudor, who is imprisoned at Woodstock by her sister, Queen Mary.

Elizabeth is under suspicion of supporting the Wyatt rebellion and Cecil is afraid that the young princess will break under the constant harassment and questioning by her sisters' councilors, which will give Mary the excuse she needs to execute her or that she will be quietly killed by an assassin. Hesitant to be thrust back into the fire, but with their funds almost down to nil and with the promise of receiving a full pardon and the chance at moving back home to England, Honor accepts the mission.

Having not read the previous two books in the series I thought I would be a little lost, but Kyle does a good job at providing just enough background information to get the reader by but without rewriting the last book. Now it's rare that I deviate from just straight historical fiction and have only read one or two historical mysteries, so it took a bit of sitting back and allowing my imagination to run and just let myself be entertained. And entertained I was, with great characters and an interesting plot Kyle is an author I will be reading again!

Once you begin this book you will not be able to put it down. It is that captivating! You will shirk your responsibilities, forego sleep and nourishment, and enter a special world all your own until you finish it. Then, you will wish it was at least four times as long so you could go on reading. This particular book is number three in a series and books one and two are just as great. Thank goodness number four is on the way.

SINCE I ENJOY HISTORICAL FICTION AND DID ENJOY MOST OF THE GREGORY NOVELS OF THE SAME PERIOD,I READ THE FIRST TWO OF THIS TRILOGY AND FELT THE THIRD JUST COULDN'T LIVE UP TO THE FIRST ONE SINCE THE SECOND WAS INTERESTING BUT NOT AS GOOD AS I EXPECTED. WELL, THE QUEEN'S CAPTIVE IS EVERY BIT AS GOOD! I LOVE READING ABOUT THE MORE MATURE RICHARD AND HONOR AND THEIR SACRIFICES TO MAKE ENGLAND A COUNTRY WHERE ALL CHRISTAIN RELIGIONS ARE TOLERATED. THE DETAILS OF THE SCENERY, WARDROBE, DAILY LIFE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE 1500'S ARE WELL EXPLAINED. I WAS CAPTIVATED BY THE WHOLE STORY.