The Queen's Dwarf

October 14, 2013
Entertaining but flawed, Chase’s latest (after 2011’s Three Maids for a Crown) follows Jeffrey Hudson, a dwarf from a poor family who finds himself spying on the French-born queen of England after his father sells him to the scheming Duke of Buckingham. For much of the story, Jeffrey is torn between the need to protect his younger brother, Samuel, and his feelings of loyalty and affection for the queen, Henrietta Maria, a kind woman who wants to do right by everyone, but whose Catholic faith, barren womb, and foreign birth have aroused suspicion among her subjects. The handsome, commanding Buckingham—who has had the king, Charles Stuart, under his spell since Charles was a sickly boy—has Jeffrey relay potentially damaging information on the queen to the king in order to maintain his influence on Charles. Much of England begins to hate Buckingham, as his hubris leads to many deaths, but Charles continually forgives him. The story, while engrossing, has a glaring plot flaw midway through that creates an impossible quandary for Jeffrey, and undermines the idea that the dwarf is smarter than most people think. That aside, the novel is a fascinating glimpse into 17th-century court life, rife with ladies in waiting who could be confidants or backstabbers; lush, wasteful banquets; and people like Jeffrey who are treated kindly but were essentially pets for royalty.

December 15, 2013
Once, Jeffrey played the Fairy King in the marketplace, playacting to earn money for his starving family. But now, his father has sold him to the Duke of Buckingham, and Jeffrey will soon find that the 17th-century Stuart Court is much trickier. Chase's (Three Maids for a Crown, 2011, etc.) latest historical novel follows the fate of Jeffrey Hudson, a dwarf manipulated by Buckingham into spying on Queen Henrietta Maria. A French Catholic, the queen poses a threat to Buckingham's influence over Protestant King Charles I. Of course, the court is percolating with secret motives and barely concealed ambitions. Buckingham's own political machinations include an affair with the beautiful Countess of Carlisle. Before Jeffrey can begin his forced career in espionage, however, he must be trained, and Buckingham hands him off to Uriel Ware, a man with an intense hatred of Catholics, for lessons on etiquette, dancing, popular French phrases, horseback riding and the proper protocol for exiting a room. One wrong step--even a broken goblet--could spell Jeffrey's death. Placed among the queen's menagerie of freaks, which seethes with as much intrigue as does the noble court, Jeffrey finds both friends and enemies, including Will Evans, the friendly giant; Archie Armstrong, the king's sly fool; and Dulcinea, the rope dancer whose astonishing beauty sets her apart in the menagerie and dooms her to a life of unrequited love. Jeffrey witnesses a pageantry of splendor and excess, majesty and corruption, love and betrayal. Yet his own affairs remain restricted to the bonds of family and friends. As tensions rise between Protestants and Catholics, Buckingham and Henrietta Maria vie for Charles' allegiance, and Jeffrey soon finds his own loyalty challenged. Rich in detail and brimming with intriguing characters, Chase's novel will please fans of historical fiction, although the lack of romance may disappoint some.

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