The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden

About the author 

Jenny Barden is an artist-turned-lawyer-turned-writer who has had a love of history and adventure ever since an encounter in infancy with a suit of armour at Tamworth Castle. A fascination with the Age of Discovery led to travels in South and Central America, and much of the inspiration for her debut came from retracing the footsteps of Francis Drake in Panama. She is currently working on a sequel centred on the first Elizabethan 'lost colony' of early Virginia. 

Jenny has four children and lives in Dorset with her long suffering husband and an assortment of pets and animals. 

The Lost Duchess

Emme Fifield has fallen about as far as a gentlewoman can.

Once a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, her only hope of surviving the scandal that threatens to engulf her is to escape England for a fresh start in the New World, where nobody has ever heard of the Duchess of Somerset.

Emme joins Kit Doonan's rag-tag band of idealists, desperados and misfits bound for Virginia. But such a trip will be far from easy and Emme finds her attraction to the mysterious Doonan inconvenient to say the least...

My Review

I was lucky enough to receive a free copy of this book via Goodreads and am so pleased as this is an author whose work I haven’t come across before. I am a great fan of historical fiction and especially the Tudor period. Set during the Court of Elizabeth 1, this is historical fiction with a difference. Incredibly well researched, the novel embraces Walter Raleigh’s discovery of The New World. The settings are so well portrayed that the reader feels they are embarking on a voyage too. I was particularly drawn in by the detail and historical accuracy and found myself staying up later and later each evening to finish it- always a good sign!

I would personally have enjoyed more about life at the Elizabethan Court  as this was so well evoked both at the beginning and end of the novel but this book takes on a totally new aspect of Elizabethan times as you follow the lives of the settlers in Virginia. It is astounding that a lady-in-waiting to the Queen would have been allowed to undertake such a dangerous journey yet this is based on a true story. This is a first-rate novel and certainly different to any other Tudor history I have read. I will be looking out for more from this talented writer.

Best for…..

Those who like their Tudor history a little different

My rating

4.5/5  A different view of Elizabethan times

Available from Amazon and all good bookstores 
website: http://www.jennybarden.com 
twitter: @jennywilldoit https://twitter.com/jennywilldoit
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennybardenauthor 
goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6438523.Jenny_Barden blog: http://www.jennybarden.co.uk/jenny-bardens-blog/