Wow ! Brilliant book ! Captivating from start to finish. I haven’t read the previous three novels in this series and it did not stop the Heretic’s Mark being an excellent stand alone novel.
The story starts in London, with the Queen’s physician falsely being tried and convicted for trying to poison the Queen. The description of his execution is a bit graphic but once through those couple of pages it’s fine.
S.W. Perry is so good at setting a seen and describing the images and emotions of the characters that you feel lost in the 1600s with Nicholas, his wife Bianca, and to a lesser degree Rose and Ned.
Nicholas and Bianca have to flee London as Nicholas is falsely being accused of conspiring with Lopez to poison the Queen. Nicholas, a physician and wife, Bianca, an apothecary of natural drugs and medicines, begin walking to Padua Italy, where Bianca is from. They travel through France and meet Hella Maas, a young unusual maiden who becomes very entangled in their lives, both on the journey and upon arriving in Padua. Hella is trouble right from the start.
Bianca’s friend Rose and husband Ned remain in London to oversee the rebuilding of the Jackdaw, a tavern which Bianca owns that was burnt to the ground.(I believe the story was in a previous book.) It’s not smooth sailing for this lovable pair in Bianca’s absence, as one of them ends up in prison and their storyline is engrossing also.
I don’t want to give away spoilers, but really, it’s a great book !
The story starts in London, with the Queen’s physician falsely being tried and convicted for trying to poison the Queen. The description of his execution is a bit graphic but once through those couple of pages it’s fine.
S.W. Perry is so good at setting a seen and describing the images and emotions of the characters that you feel lost in the 1600s with Nicholas, his wife Bianca, and to a lesser degree Rose and Ned.
Nicholas and Bianca have to flee London as Nicholas is falsely being accused of conspiring with Lopez to poison the Queen. Nicholas, a physician and wife, Bianca, an apothecary of natural drugs and medicines, begin walking to Padua Italy, where Bianca is from. They travel through France and meet Hella Maas, a young unusual maiden who becomes very entangled in their lives, both on the journey and upon arriving in Padua. Hella is trouble right from the start.
Bianca’s friend Rose and husband Ned remain in London to oversee the rebuilding of the Jackdaw, a tavern which Bianca owns that was burnt to the ground.(I believe the story was in a previous book.) It’s not smooth sailing for this lovable pair in Bianca’s absence, as one of them ends up in prison and their storyline is engrossing also.
I don’t want to give away spoilers, but really, it’s a great book !