Karen K. (kkowert) - , reviewed on 7/2/2011 + 44 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Jayne Popyncourt flees the French Court as a young girl with her mother and is taken in by the court of King Henry VII of England. She is given the job of teaching French to the two young princesses, Lady Mary and Lady Margaret. Jaynes mother dies soon after their move to England and she is left alone with no money and only an uninterested uncle as her surviving family. Fortunately for Jayne, she is kept in the court of King Henry VII and Henry the VIII and befriends Princess Mary. Jaynes life revolves around the intrigue, politics and scandal of the Tudor courts.

With no money of her own, she cannot expect a marriage or a life of her own apart from the royal court. Not even her charges, princess Mary and Margaret in charge of their own destiny.

A princess was a matrimonial prize and little more. I suppose all women were. Someones daughter. Someones wife. Someones mistress. Our connection to men defined all of us.

When the handsome young French duke comes to the Tower of London as a prisoner of war, Jayne loses her heart and head to the young man who has a wife and family back in France. Can Jayne find happiness and her own way in a life that is lived at the whims of the King? How will she navigate the politics and temptations of the extravagant and decadent life at court?

This was an enjoyable, easy read with great details of the English and French courts and how the royals dressed, traveled and entertained themselves.

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