A Historical Fiction Soap Opera

All the Queen's Players by Jane Feather

Summary: Feather steps beyond the bounds of the romance genre with a mainstream historical novel that brings Elizabethan England vividly to life.

Review: A rather dull historical fiction novel with a loose connection to the Tudors. 

I felt like I was reading a soap opera when I was reading this book. It was all so terribly melodramatic. The plot itself is a little far fetched, but it did set up the premise of the novel. Although this book features characters from the Tudor time period (Mary Stuart and Elizabeth), they were not integral to the story. The same story could have been told with another king or queen with a pretender or two to the throne, which was disappointing since I read this book thinking that Mary and Elizabeth would be more important to the story. 

Marlowe's sexuality added nothing to the story and I felt like it was there just to be titillating. Rosamund was an alright character. I did want her to have a happy ending, but I honestly didn't feel much for her. And then there are the two love/lust interests. I liked Will. He was sweet. I hated the other man (forgot his name). And jealously and backbiting. The ending was very unexpected and a cop out. It was a neat way to tie up all the loose ends. 

Rating:

Recommendation: I would recommend this to those that enjoy historical fiction set in the 16th century or with a liberal dash of theatre.