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Secrets of the Tudor Court

At the King's Pleasure
by Kate Emerson
Secrets of the Tudor Court: At the King's Pleasure. Gallery: S. & S. Dec. 2011. c.384p. ISBN 9781439177822. pap. $16. F
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In the fourth installment of her Tudor series (Pleasure Palace; Between Two Queens; By Royal Decree), Emerson focuses on Lady Anne Stafford, notorious for having an affair with both Henry VIII and his best friend, William Compton. Her novel follows Lady Anne as she tastes a bit of freedom as a widow until her independence is quickly squashed by her brother's meddling. Condemned for adultery, Lady Anne is shoved into a convent and all but forgotten by her family and the royal court. Over time, she realizes that, despite the many friends who have sworn to protect her, she is the only one willing to fight for her freedom.
VERDICT Emerson, who also pens a Scottish mystery series as Kaitlyn Dunnett, has written a wonderfully absorbing novel that is full of enough historical detail to satisfy even the most hard-core Tudor fan. Lady Anne is a well-chosen protagonist whose sensitivity, pure caring, and desire to do what she knows is right makes her easy for the reader to love. Emerson beautifully depicts the difficulty of living in a treacherous period in which one had to do what the king's pleasure demanded, in spite of the risk of losing one's head.
Reviewed by Audrey Johnson, Arlington, VA , Oct 15, 2011
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