About the Book:
Publication Date: September 7, 2014
Metropolis Ink
Paperback; 338p
ISBN: 098072192XGenre: YA Historical Fiction
A Queen fights for her life.
A King denies his heart and soul.
A girl faces her true identity.
All things must come to an end—all things but love.
The Light in the Labyrinth, a young adult novel, depicts the lives of women in the patriarchal society of the Tudors, a time when aristocratic families commonly traded them for favour and status. Told from the perspective of a teenage Katherine Carey, niece of Anne Boleyn, this is a story of a girl who becomes a woman in the court of Henry VIII, the bloody tyrant remembered so well by history.
Unhappy at home with her mother, who has remarried, Kate receives permission to go to court to attend her royal aunt. In the past, Kate idolized her aunt from a distance; now given a place amongst her aunt’s trusted women, she becomes an eyewitness to the intrigue and heartache of Anne Boleyn’s final months as queen.
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Review:
Katherine Carey, daughter of Mary Boleyn wants nothing more than to leave her impoverished family home in the countryside and join her Aunt Nan at court. When her mother and stepfather finally agree to let Kate go, Aunt Nan, also known as Queen Anne welcomes young Kate with open arms. However, court life is not all fun and games as Kate imagined. Danger, lies and secrets are what Kate finds instead. Queen Anne has already fell out of favor with the King, Kate is unable to walk alone through the castle and everyone but Kate seems to know the secret behind her and her brother Henry's true parentage. After Queen Anne has an unsuccessful pregnancy and fails to give the King a male heir, conditions at court turn worse for the Boleyn family and Kate chooses to stay with her Aunt through her final days.
Written for a young adult audience, The Light in the Labyrinth was also a pleasant read as an adult. From the unique point of view of Mary Boleyn and King Henry's daughter, Kate, a character is created that sees Queen Anne in only a positive light. Kate's character is younger and naive to court life, everything that she discovers is new and different. She handles herself well, but not without some mistakes along the way. What I loved most about her character was that Kate was not afraid to speak up to her father, the King. Kate also discovers love for the first time with an age-appropriate romance with Francis Knollys. Since this is a young adult book there is not as much court intrigue, deception and plotting adult books; however, the main historical events portrayed are accurate. Overall, this is a Tudor book I would have have enjoyed reading when I was a teen.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
About the Author:
Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in theLabyrinth, her first young adult novel.
While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter—named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.
Wendy tutors at Swinburne University in their Master of Arts (Writing) program. She also works as a literature support teacher at a primary school.
For more information please visit Wendy J. Dunn’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in theLabyrinth, her first young adult novel.
While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter—named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.
Wendy tutors at Swinburne University in their Master of Arts (Writing) program. She also works as a literature support teacher at a primary school.
For more information please visit Wendy J. Dunn’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
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