As you’d expect of a novel by Philippa Gregory, the Queen’s Tale is a historical tale. It follows the fortunes of Hannah Green, a Jewish girl who has fled the Inquisition from Spain to London. However, it appears it’s no safer here, as she is discovered to have the gift of prophecy, forced into becoming a holy fool at court and trapped in the intrigue that takes place.

I wasn’t much enamoured with the book. My biggest problem was with the characters. I felt there was very little depth to them, particularly on an emotional level. They felt rather wooden, simply going through the motions of history. Hannah was shallow, irritating and was conveniently in the right place for the big historical moments. Often she came across as more of a plot device than anything else, and on a few occasions I wondered why she wasn’t cut completely and the story told from the perspective of the actual historical figures.

Queen Mary stood out as being more well rounded, though I still feel that there wasn’t sufficient depth given to her changes of heart in places.

It did get better towards the end, where Hannah’s personal story is given a bit more space. It was also nice to see her grow into a more mature character. In the beginning, in particular, she comes across as being far too outspoken for someone who has lived so many years in fear. Nor do I feel that her “Sight” is sufficient excuse for this plain-spokenness, given how rarely this gift manifests itself.

All in all, it was vaguely interesting to see how the historical characters were portrayed, but it has not won Philippa Gregory another fan.