Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours Book Review: The Captive Queen

Author: Danny Saunders
Title: The Captive Queen
Title: 
Publication Date: April 24, 2014
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction



Book Blurb: Political schemes, religious partisanship and unbridled love shake the Royal Court of Scotland at the end of the Stuart dynasty.

Witness to sordid murders, spy for Her Majesty among the Protestants of the infamous preacher John Knox, forced to give up her one true love, thrown out onto the streets then ruthlessly attacked by a drunkard, Charlotte Gray will do everything in her power to remain the sovereign’s lady-in-waiting.

As for the Queen of Scots, she faces turmoil of a completely different kind: prisoner in a castle under the command of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Mary Stuart learns that she is the victim of a vast conspiracy and that her English counterpart has ordered her imminent execution.

Despite their hardships, Mary and Charlotte will keep their dignity throughout the storm. The two women will finally find serenity, one in the arms of a man and the other in the arms of God.

Interwoven with historical facts of the era, the thrilling The Captive Queen saga is worthy of the greatest royal intrigues that still fascinate us several centuries later.

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Review: I'm on the fence about Danny Saunder's The Captive Queen. It is a very well researched book. I don't want to say novel, because to me, it didn't really read much like a novel, even when you were reading about the fictional Charlotte Gray. It read more like non-fiction.

Saunders tells more than he shows in this book. And there were a few phrases that had to be errors throughout the book. Elizabeth, another lady in waiting to Queen Mary, was often referred to as the red-haired. And Mary was referred to as Mary Stuart all the time, even if something was being told from her point of view. It made the story less personal. I never felt like the story was really coming from her.

This really took away from what could have been a really fantastic novel.

It is obvious that Danny loves this time period, as you can tell by the research that was done to bring this book to your hands.

There was a lot of potential in the way Charlotte's life and Mary's paralleled each other, though in reverse, but  Charlotte was such an unlikable woman that you couldn't feel good for her at the end.

I've read several books about Mary Queen of Scots, and sadly this one didn't measure up to any of them. I did however enjoy a refresher in the history of her time period.

Rating: 3 flowers

About the Author

Danny Saunders is a true European history enthusiast. He has always been keenly interested in royalty. Danny holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and also pursued communication studies at the university level. He has worked as a journalist for various written and electronic media. Of Scottish descent, Danny takes genuine pride in his British roots. The Captive Queen: A Novel of Mary Stuart is his first historical novel.

To find out more about the author Danny Saunders, you can visit his website at www.dannysaunders.com. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.