The Queen's Gambit: A Novel by Elizabeth Fremantle

With the recent rise in Tudor fiction filling our bookshelves, it is easy for excellent reads to get lost in the confusing mixture of novels already available. However I would hate for this book to be one of those that was missed as it is an enjoyable and thrilling addition to the collection.

Focussing on the later years of Kind Henry VIII’s reign, The Queen’s Gambit looks at the life of his last wife, forever immortalised in history as the one who “Survived”. Katherine Parr is a strong lady, who marries a notoriously temperamental king and manages to keep her head in more than one way.

The novel starts with the death of Katherine’s second husband and her return to court. The novel captures the twists and turns of court life, and all the concerns within in. At the time of the book, the court is in turmoil and has been for years. With the rise and fall of each of Henry’s previous wives and his sudden changes in religious beliefs, many of the people who are part of the court are hanging on tenuously, scared to think too much in case it becomes the wrong thing to do. Katherine tries to rise above this and wants to be more involved in the decisions that Henry makes about his country and their religious beliefs.

The beauty of this book is that it brings to life the later period of Henry’s reign and the key players who later rise to power and try and benefit from the chaos after his death. Many of the Tudor themed novels I have read previously have tended to focus on the early years, with Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn so it was a breath of fresh air to see a different point of view and a different time period.

Henry VIII’s reign will also remain a source of fascination for us and there are countless stories of him and his wives, of the court scandals that followed them around and the queens (Mary and Elizabeth) who played such important roles later on. The Queen’s Gambit is a worthy piece of this fascination and is well worth a read.

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

1812 and a battlefield in Spain. Lord Nicholas Falcott, Marquess of Blackdown is fighting for his life, literally. A Frenchman bears down on him, sword in hand and Nicholas knows that this is the end. Only… seconds later Nicholas has jumped forward into the future, by 200 years and has been picked up by a mysterious organisation called the Guild. Nicholas has to learn how to live in the 21st century and accept he has left his family and friends behind in the past. The Guild supports Nicholas in his new life and by 2013 Nicholas is now living in America and has created a new life for himself. That is until the Guild summons him and asks him to do what he had previously been told was impossible – go back to the past.



The River of No Return is a thoroughly absorbing and fascinating time travel story. Without going into too many confusing stories, it casually and carefully weaves a tale between two centuries and allows the reader to become fully involved in the story. All the characters are well written and believable. The story runs along smoothly and doesn’t become too bogged down in historical details. Alongside the time travel, political intrigue and general sense of adventure, the author has managed to fit in a love story as well, one which fits gently into the rest of the story.

Overall it was a fascinating novel, with a real sense of enjoyment. The pace of the novel is strong and the action moves along at a steady pace, without a sense of dragging it out. Nor is there the sense of everything happening too quickly, even towards the end of the novel when some books seem to rush to get everything sorted in the final chapter. I also liked the fact that there is a conclusion to the story, and some loose ends have been tied, meaning it works well as a stand alone story. However, should the author wish… there could be scope of a second novel without it taking away from this one.