Customer Reviews

The Queen's Secret: A Novel (A Queens of England Novel)

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This is the seventh book in the Queens of England series by the author, a masterful storyteller, who is also known as Victoria Holt to her fans. It is a well written novel of historical fiction that tells the little known story of Katherine of Valois.

She was a French Princess, daughter of King Charles VI, the gentle, but mad, King of France, and Queen Isabeau, an evil, self-absorbed libertine, who cared little for her children. After the famous battle of Agincourt in which King Henry V of England vanquished France, Katherine found herself married to this warrior king and living in England. She was to become the mother of King Henry VI of England.

Shortly after their son's birth, King Henry V died a premature death. Young Queen Katherine saw their son Henry taken from her to be raised by others. Retiring to the countryside, she fell in love with a Welsh squire, Owen Tudor, who had faithfully served King Henry V, and now served Katherine as part of her household. Theirs was to be an illicit love, carried out in secret, as the alternative was to be the recipient of charges of treason.

Try as they might, no amount of secrecy could prevent the vicissitudes of life from raining down upon their happiness. Political intrigue would serve to bring their illicit love to light. It would act as the catalyst for a turning point in history. What happened to Katherine and Owen would give rise in the future to the house of Tudor, one of the greatest dynasties ever to rule England.

The book grounds their love story in the context of the period, which saw England as the conqueror of France. It covers that turbulent time in history that saw Joan of Arc rise from the remote French countryside to ensure the crowning of the Dauphin of France as its rightful King. It is a spellbinding account of the struggles between England and France and those who would rule these two countries. It is a book that will be enjoyed by all those with a fondness for well written, historical fiction.

There are many great love stories in the history of English royalty, but this is by far the most touching. From a wretched childhood, she is forced by her scheming mother Queen Isabeau to marry the conquerer of France. However, she grows to love her adopted country of England. When King Henry V dies, her son, Henry VI, is taken from her. But she finds true happiness with Owen Tudor, her Welsh servant, and they marry and raise a family in secret. They live in fear of discovery by those who think her children by Tudor might seek the throne. She died not knowing that her enemies' fears were justified, for she gave rise to the glorious House of Tudor, which produced Henry VIII, "Bloody" Mary, Mary Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I.

The Queen's Secret is about Katherine of Valois, queen to Henry V and secret wife of Owen Tudor.

Katherine tells her story in the first person, beginning with her miserable, insecure childhood in France with her mentally ill father and her corrupt mother and ending with her forcible separation from the love of her life, Owen Tudor.

Plaidy's depiction of Katherine's childhood and its effects on her as a woman gives her a certain psychological depth, and though Katherine is ultimately helpless to prevent her fate, she preserves a certain dignity and strength about her that keeps her in the reader's sympathies. Plaidy also is good at conveying the mixed feelings that Katherine has as a French princess married to an English king, a situation that makes her position in both countries difficult.

I did find the structure here--it's one of those novels where the narrator looks back upon her life as she prepares for death--a bit limiting. Although we know from history what was to become of Owen Tudor and Katherine's children after her death, the novel leaves their stories unresolved, so there's still a sense of being left hanging when the novel ends.

From what I've read after reading this novel, little is known about how the relationship of Owen Tudor and Katherine came about. I thought that Plaidy's version of it was plausible and that Katherine's willingness to risk all for love showed an appealing, and believable, reckless streak in her character.

All in all, a worthy addition to your Plaidy shelf, either in this spanking new version or in one of the older ones.

Jean Plaidy is well known for her lengthy and ambitious histfic series about the queens of England, by dynasty. The Queen's Secret depicts the life of Katherine of Valois, daughter to the mentally unstable Charles VI of France, and queen of both England and France after her marriage to British King Henry V. Katherine has had a sheltered, somewhat impoverished upbringing, as a younger child receiving little attention from her scheming, powerful, and dissolute mother. Love of any sort has been notably absent from her young life. She thinks she has found it in Henry, and is sorely grieved when he dies a short time after the death of their first child. She is also subject to the whims and directives of her brothers-in-law, particularly those of the jealous Gloucester.

Katherine, now Queen Mother, experiences a wondrous, joyful surprise when she and Welsh soldier Owen Tudor fall in love - the real thing this time. And that is the Queen's secret, for Gloucester has pushed a bill through parliament forbidding the remarriage of the queen.

Within this plot, Jean Plaidy follows Katherine, from the queen's own perspective, from childhood to almost middle age. This is a relatively quiet novel, with momentous events, such as the mission and death of Joan of Arc, described from afar. Katherine directly participates in few of the whirlwind of changes that swirl around her and determine the course of her life, so it is also a "talky" book, sometimes too repetitive as Katherine mulls over her situation. But along the way, Plaidy makes some pertinent observations about the nature of power and its influence on those who do and do not wield it, most tellingly in her portrayal of Henry's brothers and Katherine's mother. She also clarifies the numerous personal and political complications that ultimately prepare the ground for the rise of the Tudor dynasty. What The Queen's Secret lacks in excitement it makes up for in its well researched detail.

This book has touched me the most out of all the Jean Plaidy books I have ever read and the end made me cry. The way that the romance is tied in with true history is what makes this book so great. It is about how a queen dared to love someone far below her rank and how they loved and lived in secret until one heartbreaking day when the guards arrived to break up Katherine's family; imrison her husband (who's only crime was in marrying the Dowager Queen of England) and take Katherine to a convent where she will die of grief. I highly recommend this book to all that have not read it and enjoy reading books in this genre.

I had read many of Jean Plaidy's books years ago and had really enjoyed them since they fed my love of Medieval Romance Novels. But with Ms. Plaidy's books you actual get a History lesson that is very enjoyable and she brings Historical characters to life. I had lost all of my Jean Plaidy books in a house fire 6 years ago and had never gotten around to replacing them and I had all but forgotten them. Then I found out through our Family Genealogist that we were decendents of Owen Tudor. I decided to do a "Google Book Search" and this particular book popped up in the Search Results. Sure enough the book chronicals Katherines marriage to both Henry V and Owen Tudor. To be honest I was really excited after pouring over all the clinical reseach about them and was looking forward to reading something with a bit more romance in it. I had completely forgotten about this Plaidy book so it has been like reading it fresh for the first time (again) but this time reading it with a new understanding. A sincere Thanks to Ms. Plaidy for bringing Katherine & Owen's love story to print and making Katherine & Owen's life & romance come alive.

The second in a series of books about the Queens of England, this tells the story of Katherine of Valois, the wife of Henry V. The story, told from Katherine's perspective, starts with her dreary existence in a remote house with her brothers, sisters and her father, the insane King of France. It follows her through her marriage to Henry V, the birth of Henry VI, the death of the King and her secret marriage to Owen Tudor, which becomes the foundation of the future Tudor dynasty. Jean Plaidy writes wonderful stories, with great detail. Her research is impeccable, and she depicts the lives of these historical figures in a way that makes them accessible to modern audiences. This story, in particular, shows the lives these nobles had to leave- children raised away from mothers, marriage without love and constant warfare.

Katherine is the daughter of the king of France known as "Charles the Mad." In his lucid moments the royal children are well cared for, but during his long bouts of madness the often live in hunger, darkness, and uncertainty. At nineteen, however, Katherine leaves this life to become the wife of the king of England. For a while she has found happiness, however just after the birth of her first child her husband dies, leaving England in a period of turmoil, part way through the Hundred Years' War. To keep her from becoming too powerful as the mother of a child king, it is determined that Katherine will have to live alone, far from the seat of power. She is even forbidden from marrying again. Katherine, however, falls in love with one of her guardians, Owen Tudor. Their relationship will be the foundation of the Tudor dynasty two generations later.

Quote: "Then he turned to us and said, 'I, Henry, born at Monmouth, shall small time reign and much get; but Henry of Windsor shall long reign and lose all.' It was strange, my lady, and as though someone spoke through him."

Katherine is lucky enough to be in two happy marriages - unfortunately, one is very brief and the other necessarily secret and dangerous. This is particularly sad because Katherine has no great ambition beyond being allowed to live in peace with a husband and children. It is very interesting work about a queen of England I previously did not know much about. Her marriage is the foundation for conflict and problems in England in later years, and the reader is invested in the characters enough to want to do some research after the novel ends to find out what becomes of the principal players. That's always a good sign in a work of historical fiction.

This book tells of the story of Catherine of Valois, daughter of King Charles VI of France, a gentle man, though one who suffered from periodic bouts of insanity, and Isabella of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, an evil, scheming, selfish and self-indulgent women, who placed her children in the grim conditions of the Hotel De St Paul where Catherine describes her bleak childhood, together with her siblings.

She later describes the improvement in the life of the children after having been moved to the Abbey at Poissey where she met her older sister Isabelle who was the widow of England's King Richard II.

After her two older brothers die mysteriously (poisoned on the orders of their mother?) and her third brother Charles is made crown prince and after France is conquered by English King Henry V, Catherine become Henry's bride in a politically advantageous marriage.

She bears him the son who is to be Henry VI,but Henry is removed from her.

She finds love again and secretly marries Welsh soldier Owen Tudor, who was one of Henry V's generals.

After the death of the young king Henry's uncle Duke of Bedford the scheming and ruthless Earl of Gloucester takes control over Henry VI.

Owen Tudor is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London, and Catherine's children by Owen are removed from her. She is incarcerated in Bermondsy Abbey where she dies of a broken heart.

But her son Edmund will marry Margaret of Beaufort out of which will be born the founder of the Tudor dynasty, and King Henry VII of England.

This is finely written, engaging and with romantic interest and a strong incentive to discover more about the historical figure written about.

Jean Plaidy was a master of historical fiction.

Ms.Plaidy is truly a master story teller. She uses the combination of factual and fictional history to weave a fascinating story that I have a hard time putting down.