The Queen’s Lady

Name: The Queen’s Lady
Rating: 4.3 (30 reviews)

by Eve Edwards Book 2 in the The Lacey Chronicles series.

First published 2011

Amazon

3.8(30)

Surrey and London, 1584. The widowed Lady Jane Rievaulx enters Elizabeth I’s Privy Chamber hoping court service will give her greater control over her future. Her father and stepsons instead attempt to seize her wealth and force another profitable marriage. Jane’s feelings are fixed on James Lacey, but he regards her earlier conduct towards his brother as proof that she is calculating and heartless.

James leaves England with Walter Raleigh’s expedition to survey the North American coast and the site that will become associated with Roanoke. While he confronts the hazards of Atlantic exploration, Jane must resist coercion at home with the aid of friends whose own relationships cross barriers of class and race. The novel links the marriage politics of Elizabeth’s court to England’s first colonial ambitions and asks whether Jane can secure legal and personal independence before James returns.