THE INNOCENT by POSIE GRAEME-EVANS

THE INNOCENT

BY POSIE GRAEME-EVANS

THE BLURB:-

London 1465: an alien, foreboding place for fifteen-year-old peasant girl Anne, arriving to work as a servant in the household of a wealthy merchant. Danger and menace lurk around every corner, for Anne's rare beauty provokes jealousy, lust and intrigue.

As England awakes from the nightmare of the War of the Roses, a charismatic new king is on the throne. Yet peace is fragile- there are those close to the Crown with traitorous minds and murderous intentions.

Possessing an extraordinary knowledge of herbs and healing, Anne soon finds herself at the dangerous heart of Court affairs. However, one man at the Palace has less honourable plans for her. As forces stronger than any healing powers take hold, Anne is left trapped in an impossible position- to serve her Queen or fulfil her King's desires?

THE REALITY:-

Wow, wow and wow again, I loved loved LOVED this novel! One reviewer (mentioned inside the cover) said she was surprised to find herself burning the midnight oil as she couldn't wait to turn the page and get to the next chapter and it was exactly the same for me!

The War of the Roses is not a period of history that I know a lot about and I always find it great when you can learn something from a novel (although I am aware I'm reading fiction and that artistic licence always plays a major part). I did do some cross referencing with my Kings And Queens Of England factual book and it made the story make more sense and come to life better

I found this in a charity shop in Margate, started reading it but then put it down in favour of What The Nanny Saw, my previous read. Why, I do not know. That book was nothing special and this was magnificent. With drama, tension, love, lust, a plot that kept moving along and interesting, real, believable characters (including the downright unsavoury- urgh, Piers- you were a vile, hateful, wicked man and Corpus, you were simply gross) I simply adored this work. I love my historical royals and enjoyed reading about court life in fifteenth century England- truth seemed to meet fiction seamlessly. I believe it's the first in a trilogy and I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for the follow-ups and might even acquire them from Amazon.

As a self-published author, I have to do my own proof reading and, despite having read my copy MANY times, always seem to find a new (although small) error in my work the next time I take a look at it.  So it was pleasing to see spelling mistakes and words running together in a properly published novel (wicked, I know!!!!) 

The tale developed easily, with lots of intriguing sub plots and an interesting ending, and although I kind of second guessed what note the final chapter would end on, it won't stop me wanting to find out more about Anne and her ventures. This was my first introduction to Posie Graeme-Evans and I don't think it will be my last!