The Flower Reader by Elizabeth Loupas
Challenges read for: Ebook, Historical Fiction, Witches Reading, Women Authors
Book cover: Pretty, more evocative of a Romance read.
I've become quite weary of novels about the Tudors and Mary Queen of Scots, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Mary, QOS is a minor player in this novel, but still has an important presence in the telling of the story. Rinette Leslie of Granmuir is our heroine--and a memorable one at that. Rinette is present during the final hours of Mary of Guise's life and is entrusted with the delivery of a sealed casket to the newly crowned Mary, Queen of Scots.
However, just as she and her new husband deliver the casket to it's secret hiding place, her husband is brutally murdered--and so it begins. We follow Rinette through her trials and tribulations of life at court--both in and out of the Queen's favor. You are quick to realize that Rinette will do anything for her family and her beloved Granmuir--the place that keeps calling her back. I loved the inclusion of floromancy--divining by reading flowers. It gave this read a bit of occult which is why I am including it in my Witches Reading Challenge. :)
Nontheless, Rinette proves a force to be reckoned with. Kidnapped, tortured, spied upon, threatened--she survives it all and in doing so finds a love constant and true that enables her to reunite with her family and her beloved home. I am looking forward to Elizabeth Loupas' latest--The Red Lily Crown--I'm sure it will be just as wonderful as The Flower Reader.
All the best!
Diane