The Tudor Secret by C. W. Gortner

The Tudor Secret by C. W. Gortner

Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: #1 in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 327
Source: Copy provided by publisher through Bookbrowse


The Short Version:
Tudor England and the scheming for the throne near the end of King Edward VI’s short reign is the background to this story of a servant of the powerful Dudley family who becomes a spy for the then Princess Elizabeth.

Why I Read It:
I loved Gortner’s The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and when I had the opportunity to read this first in a proposed historical spy series I jumped at it.

The Book:
Brendan Prescott, a servant to the powerful Dudley family arrives at court as a squire to Lord Robert Dudley and is soon wrapped up in a web of deceit, lies and secrets. Henry VIII’s son and successor Edward VI is rumored to be ill and dying. The powerful families of the time are maneuvering for power and control. The Dudley family is in the best position plotting their next moves. One of those is get Lady Jane Grey married to one of their sons and declared Edward’s successor.

Another of their sons, Robert Dudley may or may not be making plans at odds with those of his father. He sends his squire, Brendan Prescott with a message and a token for King Edward’s sister Princess Elizabeth. Brendan manages to end up working as a spy for Elizabeth’s protector William Cecil. Brendan’s loyalty to Elizabeth and his desire to learn the truths about his own history drive him. In an intricate web of plots and schemes his well placed mistrust of nearly everyone and his desire to see that the Princess is protected from those who want to prevent either her or her half-sister Mary from becoming Queen puts Brendan in a series of dangerous situations.

My Thoughts:
It’s been a while since I immersed myself in some Tudor Historical Fiction and I knew from his previous book about Catherine de Medici that I enjoyed C.W. Gortner’s writing, but this one fell a bit flat for me. It started out promising with an apparently naïve young man being sent to court at a time when scheming and plotting was at its dirtiest and nastiest. Within a few short pages he’s gone from his first exposure to life at court to being sharp enough to be conscripted as a spy for a member of Elizabeth’s inner circle. I know it’s historical fiction but some of the quick turnarounds and emotional attachments in this one just seemed too quick.

Despite that, I liked Brendan Prescott as a character. He seemed to have a strong inner place from which he made his decisions and alliances. The secondary characters that he joined up with along the way were interesting and for a planned series might make a good core of recurring characters.

Although the facts of history made some of the plot predictable, there were secrets and more secrets and that’s what kept me reading. I didn’t really feel a strong attachment for the characters and never really felt engaged in the story. I know it’s planned as a series, but I’m just not sure it’s a series I’ll bother to continue reading.


Rating 2.5/5