Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Unicorn's Blood by Patricia Finney
Unicorn's Blood is a political thriller set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The politics is thoroughly tied up in religion and the social mores of the time. Rumour has it that there exists a private diary from Queen Elizabeth's youth which has a secret so terrible that anyone who holds the book may command the Queen or bring her down from power. Who is trying to find the book? The Queen, Roman Catholic supporters of Mary Queen of Scots, several highly placed British politicians, and several men whose instructions are clear even if their loyalties are not.
Patricia Finney shows us many details of life at court from dueling to courting to the Queen's fits of rage. Clothing and buildings are described in colour and smell and the characters (many based on real people) are thoughtfully fleshed with reasonable reactions and motivations.
I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't tear through it; it took me almost a week to read with a few pages here and there. A good book but not one that kept me up all night finishing it.
There are a few people I will recommend this book to including a lawyer in her 40's who likes British mysteries and period romances; I think this is an interesting mix but departure for her.
Patricia Finney shows us many details of life at court from dueling to courting to the Queen's fits of rage. Clothing and buildings are described in colour and smell and the characters (many based on real people) are thoughtfully fleshed with reasonable reactions and motivations.
I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't tear through it; it took me almost a week to read with a few pages here and there. A good book but not one that kept me up all night finishing it.
There are a few people I will recommend this book to including a lawyer in her 40's who likes British mysteries and period romances; I think this is an interesting mix but departure for her.
# posted by JJ @ 4:44 PM 
