(Spoiler alert)
I have read only one book written by C.W. Gortner before I read The Tudor Secret. I loved The Confessions of Catherine de Medici since Gortner was very skilled in telling his version of one of the most maligned queens in European history. I have only recently begun reading historical novels but when a child I grew up reading books about Queen Elizabeth I which endeared her to me. This book casts her in a background role but develops some interesting aspects of her character when only a young potential monarch.
The main character is a young orphaned boy who has suffered torment and abuse as a result of the beatings and humiliation dealt out to him by the Dudley family. Sir Robert Dudley is often considered one of Elizabeth's favorites, perhaps her one true love, but in this novel, he is a tormentor of our young hero, a boy known as Brendan Prescott.
I admit I read many reviews of the book that were on Amazon before I ventured into the book. I had an idea as a result what the plot might be. In essence, it is about how the Dudley family is defeated by the might and power of the Tudor family for total control and rule of England. This is a fictitious tale of how a young orphaned boy comes to know his own identity after suffering many years of abuse from the Dudley family for his lack of breeding and thus respectability. But he carries a secret on his body, a birthmark, which has marked him for life. He hides this from everyone not fully understanding its true meaning.
Naturally, he has a few friends who appear to care for him but for the most part, he has been suffering a loneliness that separates him from the others in his surroundings. Gortner dwells on this while introducing another character who soon becomes his companion and friend, a young stable boy by the name of Peregrine. Peregrine asserts his own talents upon Brendan so that Brendan takes him as his sidekick once he himself is chosen to act as a spy by Master Cecil to learn information to defeat the Dudley family.
Brendan has been assigned to be a squire to Robert Dudley, a man whose main interest is in securing the love of Elizabeth I so that he might become King if she were to marry him. However, the Dudley family is not of royal blood so that Elizabeth who might actually love him cannot possibly marry him. Never let it be said that that would ever deter the Dudley family. Brendan meets up with Elizabeth when she has come to London to see her young brother Edward who is seriously ill. If he should die, the throne should go to her sister Mary, a papist, and who most of England do not want to succeed to the throne. Elizabeth would be second in line after Mary but the evil Dudley family has devised a plot for Jane Grey and the youngest Dudley son to wed so that he and Jane Grey can be the rulers. Lord and Lady Dudley will stop at nothing to have their own will imposed upon the kingdom.
In this fictitious tale, everyone perceives that Elizabeth and Mary are both in serious peril, and so the main thrust of the story is the effort to save each one from the goals of the Dudley family. Robert Dudley is a foil who his parents use him to attain their goals, thwarting his own desires in his effort to rule the kingdom.
During the course of his role as a spy, Brendan falls in love with one of Elizabeth's girls, a lovely auburn haired lady named Kate. Kate is a loyal and trusted friend to Elizabeth, and soon enough, Elizabeth learns to trust and believe in Brendan's loyalty to her. While he has managed to prevent most people from seeing his birthmark, his tryst with Kate exposes it to her, and presumably probably to Elizabeth as well. Perhaps, even though the author never states it specifically, these two young women at last know his identity even before he learns it himself.
In this respect, many of the critics of this particular Gortner work appear to be correct to me...the plot is too flimsy, to easy to see through, and too predictable. Someone said it is unbelievable and because that critic hated it so much, told the entire story in his review.
Eventually, Brendan does learn his own identity, learns of his mother's plight, but does not know for certain the truth about his father. He manages to escape many devious traps, some of which are intended to end his life, and with the help of his loyal friend, Peregrine, succeeds in helping both Mary and Elizabeth to defeat the evil Dudley family.
Elizabeth, a princess of the realm, is presented in an interesting fashion so that one realizes that children of royals are truly different from the common man. From birth they are schooled and trained to ascend a height that no ordinary person can realize. Both Mary and Elizabeth possess the Tudor bloodline with an attitude that may be inborn as well as taught since both recognize the lioness within themselves, and protect it and preserve it at all costs. This author describes each woman in a way that is awesome to consider. I wonder if either of them are as lofty as he makes us believe.
Be that what it may, the book is an interesting and entertaining look at the young Elizabeth and her sister Mary, and the Dudley family. Legends are made from the stories told about the royals, and each and every embellishment only adds to the mystery. This particular story is an intriguing puzzle worth reading.
I recommend it.
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