Unicorn's Blood (Paperback)

by Patricia Finney (Author) "At last the bedcurtain was pulled back a little and Blache Parry's face appeared, underlit by a candle, creaking her joints down onto one knee..." (more)
Key Phrases: Father Hart, Queen of Scots, Book of the Unicorn (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Using some of the same real and imagined characters that appeared in Firedrake's Eye (St. Martin's, 1992) but standing totally on its own, Finney's latest work is another superior novel of intrigue during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. This time the plot revolves around a long-lost diary that the queen kept as a young woman, which not only contains her will naming Mary Queen of Scots her heir but also reveals a liaison with Thomas Seymour that ended in an aborted pregnancy. Now Mary is imprisoned and Elizabeth is daily being hounded by her advisors to order her execution. If the diary, embossed with a unicorn on the cover, can be found, these men will have additional ammunition to persuade Elizabeth that Mary must die in order to prevent the succession of a Catholic to the English throne. Finney, who studied history at Oxford, effectively re-creates Elizabethan England, describing its bawdy, colorful, and cruel aspects with a sure hand. Essential for public libraries.?Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Another gutsy, dagger-flashing, chain-rattling, wit-wrestling tale of danger, dark agonies, and royal power-plays, by Finney (The Firedrake's Eye, 1992, etc.), again centered in the 16th-century reign of that complex, brilliant, and terrifying Tudor, Elizabeth I of England. Set four years after the events of Firedrake (in which the queen was saved from assassination), the story here picks up with the search for a book containing Elizabeth's youthful confession, a personal diary that, if found by enemies, could topple her Crown. In 158687, the Thames freezes and Londoners play on the ice, while in the Tower a soldierly man without a memory (thanks to a blow to the head) is being tortured as a ``Papist'' at the direction of spymaster Davison, a religious fanatic among the Queen's advisors. The prisoner, David Becket, turns out to be not what he seems, and he's eventually moved to Fleet Prison, where he finds that his cellmate is Simon Ames, presumed dead, his former friend and partner in saving the Queen. Eventually, David and Simon, with the help of a Catholic priest, manage to escape Fleet. Meanwhile, plotters, spies, and counterspies are hard at work: David and the priest (with different agendas) work in harness to trace the diary; ancient Mary, a drunken ex-nun in rags, hides it, planning a dowry for her grandchild; the ``Queen's Fool,'' Thomasina, a minute person ``a yard high,'' profitably roams London's streets in the guise of a child; and back at the palace, Elizabeth faces blackmail. Many will die, but Elizabeth, once ``bent like a damascene steel blade . . . whips back with devastating effect.'' A hot-blooded, noisy cast, including the great Queen; shudderingly graphic details of torture chambers and executions; and an exhilarating facsimile of the grandeur and grunge of Elizabethan London: in all, a roaring good tale, with a poetic sensibility and judicious sense of humanity at its core. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Picador; Second Edition edition (December 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312200390
• ISBN-13: 978-0312200398
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #781,975 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Politics and danger in Queen Elizabeth I's court!, August 1, 2000

By	Zenbob (Woodstock, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This book is a continuation of the same author's FIREDRAKE'S EYE, but the writing is even better. The premise is fascinating: the Queen of England once wrote down information in a diary that, if found by her enemies, could destroy her and bring down her reign. Many of the characters from FIREDRAKE'S EYE return in this reprise, but the plotting is more intricate, the characters even more sophisticated. And Queen Elizabeth is worth the price of the book herself. Highly recommended. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was that the same narrative style that Finney used in FIREDRAKE'S EYE (which allows characters to view the proceedings as if from heaven) is rather stilted and takes some getting used to. Other than that, it's a great historical novel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great read!, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

I highly recommend this book. This is a literate and intelligent thriller with wonderfully researched and vivid historical details. The characters are interesting and engaging and play their parts in the complicated plot with aplomb. The protrayal of Elizabeth I's character and situation is superb. I found this book very hard to put down and eagerly await another installment from Ms. Finney.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Tudor cloak and dagger narrator!, July 20, 2002

By	"cloudia" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This is the first book by Finney I've read, but she really is an excellent writer. Her prose is just beautiful. Her characters are complicated and intriguing. She may be the John Le Carré of Elizabethan historical novelists, but this daring Tudor spy novel also happens to be narrated by the Virgin Mary herself (that takes guts) and depends on the actions of a former nun who was disenfranchised during the Great Schism and is now an ex-prostitute, old, haggard, drinking her life away and a cleaning woman at the royal um, outhouses, who just wants to aquire a dowry for her great-granddaughter. Between the outhouses and various prisons Unicorn's blood has a bleak feel, but there is much adventure combined with holiness, and Queen Elizabeth's moments are priceless.