Matt McAvoy Book Review

Jan’s writing is, as always, exquisite, and her love of history unparalleled among the books I read.  Here she presents another masterclass in British history, though on this occasion has gone back much further, almost five hundred years, to the rule of the Tudors and subsequently the Stuarts.  As usual, she uses her wonderful craft to place you right there among the people and places of the era, choosing this time to go much grander than before, right into the heart of the royal courts.  She has chosen perhaps the lesser-reported life of Lady Arbella Stuart to deliver an almost entirely factual narrative, though told from the point of view of her mother’s friend and her own self-appointed guardian Margaret Brise, whom I believe to be a fictional foil, but don’t quote me on that; I can find no evidence of her existence (though admittedly, I haven put in a sliver of the research Jan has. 

Unlike the brush that history has painted Lady Arbella with, the author chooses to take a more sympathetic and indeed romanticized view of her, with large portions of benefit of the doubt.  Being the expert in history that she is, I will absolutely defer to Jan in this respect; I am sure that if she portrays the Lady as well-intentioned, she is probably right.  I won’t spoil the book for those unfamiliar with the history of this woman by revealing her fate; I will say that again it is a wonderful triumph for Jan, and a highly recommended read on the respective subject.

That said, the book is not without its flaws.  It is very long, and I wonder if it might have more of an effect on the reader if perhaps more concise.  The timeline moves at a rapid pace, through months and years over a matter of paragraphs.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do question how much of it was necessary.  It was nice to follow the life of Margaret and her husband, rather than simply presenting a continuous subjective narrative on Arbel; real or not, they are endearing characters, and in fact with an arguably much more interesting life than the title character – who would certainly have been more so if she were painted as the figure from history has been.  Indeed, we aren’t really introduced to Arbella until quite some way into the book, indulging instead the very enjoyable friendship between Meggie and Lizzie.  As well as a great deal of perhaps unnecessary detail, the sprawling timeline isn’t helped by scene structure and breaks, and it does take a great deal of concentration to ensure you are in alignment with the characters.  Being brutal, I would suggest that much of the presentation could in fact do with polishing up.

All in all, though, another superb slice of literary culture from an author I have a tremendous amount of respect for – and after just one read, you will too.