Title: The Catherine Howard Conspiracy
Genre: Historical fiction
Summary:
Dr. Perdita Rivers is an archaeologist, specializing in jewelry and its significance in the medieval period. She and her twin sister, Piper, lost their mum at a very young age.
When Perdita learns her grandmother died, she feels a lot of things but it’s mostly anger and sadness that surrounds her at that moment.
Her grandmother cut them off after their mother’s death and never once called or asked for their well-being. Perdita gets a call from the estate asking them to meet at the estate for urgent matters, leaving her perplexed.
What can be so important? Why is she needed now after so many years? With the questions, she arrives at her grandmother estate only to delve into a deeper mystery that might be 500 years old.
My take on the book:
History, we know, is someone’s perspective. What if there’s more to the story than meets the eye? We cannot change history but we can imagine an alternative ending.
A lot of us know Henry VIII. He was a ruler of England, sometime around 1500 AD. He had six wives, of which Catherine Howard was one. Many of us know that they executed her for treason in 1542.
But what if there’s more to it?….
This book is a classic, dual-timeline conspiracy thriller, with a storyline that seamlessly merges fact with fiction. The author expertly shuttles between historical fact and the fictional present. And it is this that keeps up the pace and suspense of the book, making it an absolute page-turner. This shows the author has put commendable efforts to research the facts on Catherine Howard.
The author paints a vivid word-picture of the emotions experienced by Perdita, Catherine or any of the contemporaries. The alternate aspect of Catherine was quite a different take. The pain, the sadness was also evident in the storyline.
Sometimes the story slumped in between the chapters, but the writing and the suspense brought the reader back from the slump in no time.
I loved the way the book moved towards the ending. It didn’t drag it, rather it had the thrilling race to what happens next! This paved its way for the next book (which I am waiting to read).
I would definitely recommend this book to any historical fiction fans.
Thank you so much, NetGalley and Sapere Books for sending this e- ARC of this book. I really enjoyed the book.
My rating for the book: 4 stars
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