Wheel of Fortune: New 5* Review!

It’s a happy author who wakes up to a new 5* review.

‘I'll be honest. I know very little about the Wars of the Roses. If pushed, I could mention Warwick the Kingmaker, Cecily Neville, Henry VI and the Woodville family, but that's about it. Take me to the eighteenth century and I'm fine, but the fifteenth is all a bit hazy. So I began this book not quite sure what to expect and most grateful for the lists of characters and the family trees of the Houses of York and Lancaster at the front. The author pulled me in at once, as I met the young female protagonist Isobel Fenton. Within the first chapter, we had fighting, violence, betrayal and a beheading. As I carried on reading, I thought to myself, "aha, I can see where this is going. Beautiful, intelligent, modest girl with honey coloured hair and a love of gardening. Marriage and children should be along at any moment." How wrong I was. The author took me on a journey of so many twists and turns that by the time I finished reading (and by the way, what a last page! What a cliff hanger!) I was as breathless as young Isobel herself fleeing from the chainmail-clad men who wish her harm. Great reading, a vast breadth and depth of historical knowledge worn lightly and a cracking story. I can't wait for the next one in the series! Highly recommended.’

Review by author Ruth Leigh (A Great Deal of Ingenuity)

Image by Jason C Smith of Social Shapes