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The King's Diamond

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A vivid, evocative, page-turning read that leaps off the page, with a dazzling recreation of the Renaissance diamond and gem trade. As the chaos of war spreads out across Europe, Charles V extends his empire in a series of ruthless and aggressive moves. The Medici Pope has formed an alliance to drive Charles out of Italy for good. Only England holds aloof from the great struggle that is to come. The 36-year-old Henry VIII presides over an opulent and glamorous court, thinking only of the woman with whom he has fallen in love. In the midst of this politically sensitive and dangerous world, steps Richard Dansey, a young and ambitious jewel merchant, determined to break his mother's stranglehold on the family firm after his father's early death. Richard's reckless pursuit of jewels worthy of Henry's wooing of Anne Boleyn, lead him across Europe to Venice and Rome. Obsessed with one diamond, but dangerously distracted by love, Richard finds himself thrust into the heart of the murderous politics of the Tudor court. 'The King's Diamond' is a story of obsession and love, in a world of political conniving and treachery, that grips from the first page.

349 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

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About the author

Will Whitaker

4 books3 followers
Will Whitaker has published 3 YA novels with OUP. This is his first historical novel. He lives with his wife, Katie Whitaker (author of ‘Mad Madge’, winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize, and ‘A Royal Passion’) in Ripon, North Yorkshire, and their two children.

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5 stars
14 (8%)
4 stars
46 (28%)
3 stars
56 (34%)
2 stars
35 (21%)
1 star
13 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Linda Lipko.
1,904 reviews53 followers
July 7, 2020
Set in England and then to the further reaches by ship of Rome and across Europe, at first this book intrigued me. The writing is very good, and the descriptions of the class and political system were expressed in depth.

This is a story of gems, of which I knew so little about. And, the author opened the door to describe the qualities of the gems that young Richard Densay, a merchant who traveled far and wide in search of the lure of the perfect stone, led me to want to know more. When young Richard believes the Henry VIII has found a new love with whom he is obsessed, not knowing the name of Anne Boleyn, he vows to come to glory by finding a perfect stone for Henry to give to his new lady love.

Traveling in difficult circumstances, the reader is taken to back streets of Venice when the trade is wide and in depth. Learning as he travels, he finds a gem that will not let him go. Obsessed with owning this, he risks life and limb.

The political world is filled with danger, travel among various merchants and jewelers leads to much danger.

Finding a love of his own, he too becomes obsessed, like Henry, in obtaining what appears to be elusively out of touch.

Then, 3/4 of the way, the book spun out of control. Much like a diamond, that shatters if the facets are not cut properly, young Richard attempts to risk all to obtain love and an elusive diamond originally produced from the deep bowels of India mines.

In the end, as Europe is pulled out of control by Henry's obsession, and the Catholic church is dismantled, Richard finds himself in the bowels of Rome where danger abounds and sides are chosen with hope, then regret.

There were far too many pages of swashbuckling and fights and flights of escape. Enough, I said as I countined on, feeling betrayed at what started as interestingly fact filled, to page after page of warring, killing and danger. Thus so much of this book could have been chopped off..just like Anne Boleyn's eventual demise and the loss of her pretty little head.
Profile Image for Helene Harrison.
Author 3 books79 followers
August 24, 2019
Review - I was expecting so much more from this book. I was disappointed. I gave it two stars rather than one because I think there was potential, but the beginning just failed to draw me in and so if it got better I wouldn't know because I didn't get past chapter three. I managed to get to the third chapter of this book and there still weren't really any solid characters introduced. There were several names mentioned but none who were particularly gripping.

Genre? - Historical / Drama

Characters? - Richard Dansey / Henry VIII / Anne Boleyn / Charles V

Setting? - London (England) & Italy

Series? - N/A

Recommended? - No

Rating - 9/20
Profile Image for Hannah.
225 reviews14 followers
August 9, 2011
Possibble minor spoliers. The words used to describe the jewels and gemstones were fabulous. I don't really care for gems but the author brought them to life superbly. The war which was mentioned throughout the book dragged on quite a lot at the end and I didn't like the open ending either. It was a very different story to what I usually read and an enjoyable book.
Profile Image for Stephanie Kline.
Author 5 books41 followers
December 4, 2012
I only read a little bit of this because I couldn't get into it. There's not nearly enough action or excitement - and virtually no King Henry or Anne Boleyn... I was excited for a little more romance and court drama, but there wasn't anything there and I lost interest.
Profile Image for Robert Hepple.
2,288 reviews8 followers
February 15, 2020
Published in 2011, 'The King's Diamond' is a historical adventure set mainly in 16th century Rome. The main character is Richard Dansey, a young English merchant and part of a merchant family. The story revolves around Dansey branching out from the family's core business in order to indulge in his passion for trading in valuable gems, complicated by a hotting up in the wars of continental Europe. The yarn was great fun, even if a little improbable in more than a number of places - for example Dansey receives invaluable help from some 'friendly' prostitutes, whereas I thought it more likely that he would lose the shirt off of his back in that situation. In other words, he is often way too lucky, but I guess you can pin that on many other adventure novels besides.
Profile Image for Nancy Smith.
189 reviews1 follower
October 16, 2019
Fascinating historical fiction set in the Europe of King Henry VIII 's Europe. While travelling Europe seeking the finest gems Richard Dansey finds himself immersed in court intrigue and violence as he tries to make his mark by finding the ultimate in luxury to present to his king. Very well researched and written. This is Whitaker's first attempt at historical fiction and I really hope there is a sequel!
95 reviews
March 13, 2025
Creo que lo que tiene peor del libro es el título, ya que te imaginas (también con la contraportada) que es una historia en la que los Tudor están muy involucrados, pero no es así, lo que fácilmente desilusiona al lector.

Una historia más de aventura que de cualquier otra cosa, con un protagonista que es capas de dejarse la vida con tal de hacer una fortuna.


El final me pareció algo abrupto e inconcluso.
Un libro muy sencillo de leer, excelente para nuevos lectores.
Profile Image for Lulu Valencia.
322 reviews4 followers
June 17, 2021
El libro se me hizo muy interesante e incluso una lectura agradable. Sin embargo, el final me quedó a deber ya que el objetivo de su viaje tenía un propósito y al termino del libro, los lectores no sabrán que paso con su meta y su amor platónico. Me pregunto si hay una secuela del libro?
Profile Image for Natalie.
23 reviews6 followers
February 22, 2013
To start with an admission of my biases: I read this for a book club and would never have picked it up of my own accord - neither Tudors nor diamonds are really my thing. Perhaps you would enjoy the novel more if you were a Tudor aficionado (or Elizabeth Taylor), but I still think there are a number of flaws.

The King’s Diamond is the story of Richard Dansey’s search for jewels in Renaissance Italy, against the backdrop of Emperor Charles V’s invasion. Richard hopes to make his fortune by finding gems with which Henry VIII can woo his new mistress, who the reader knows is Anne Boleyn (Richard himself remains ignorant of her identity for most of the story). On a parallel trajectory to the King, Richard pursues the unobtainable court lady, Hannah Cage.

The early part of the novel is seriously lacking in suspense or any sort of narrative tension. Richard goes to Italy to find jewels, and they seem to drop into his lap. Sure, he doesn’t get his hands on the magnificent Golconda diamond at first sight, but we know from the prologue that he will eventually acquire it. Only once he meets the coquettish Hannah again in Italy is some will-they-won’t-they drama introduced, but I don’t think it’s enough to sustain the whole novel. For someone who is racing against time to get the jewels to the King before his new mistress ‘surrenders’, he does seem to dawdle about in Italy for a very long time.

Richard comes from a merchant family whose business has been prospering under his mother’s control since his father’s death. However, he is not content with this life and hopes that his trade in gems will raise him to greater contact with the King’s court. This makes him seem unattractively spoilt: he is much better off than the majority of people of his time, but continually rages against his station in life.

Anger seems to be his dominant characteristic – whenever he leaves a room we are given an update on the state of his temper – and this is often somewhat alarmingly directed towards women. He is hostile towards and distant from his mother, referring to her coldly as ‘The Widow of Thames Street’ or even ‘Miriam Dansey.’ Her main crime seems to be running her business in a sensible way, and not being as entranced by Richard’s risky venture in gemstones as he is. His attraction towards Hannah appears largely to be based on her unobtainability, which again often infuriates him – to the extent that at one point, in response to her teasing, he says that if they had been alone, he would have hit her. This is not a man I would like to spend any amount of time with in real life.

I got the impression that if he ever did ‘conquer’ Hannah and become certain of her affection, he would quickly loose interest – much as Henry did with Anne Boleyn. Hannah enjoys a degree of freedom to spend time with Richard in the novel which seemed unlikely for a well-born girl of this period.

The writing style is prosaic, and descriptive passages are numerous but not evocative. All too often, the author gives a list of things that can be found in a place, rather than a small illustrative detail that would bring it to life. The jewels Richard keeps in the casket round his neck are listed over and over again, to the extent that you find yourself skimming over these passages. Any damage to his cervical vertebrae caused by this unlikely means of storage is not mentioned.
Profile Image for Richard Abbott.
Author 10 books56 followers
February 28, 2013
This book describes, more or less in direct chronological order, the first major expedition of Richard Dansey, a young merchant wanting to move up from trading regular commodities into gemstones and jewellery. He lives in the time of Henry VIII, and that king's political and marital ambitions form a constant backdrop to Richard's plans.

The first part is set in London, north of the Thames near London Bridge, and is striking for its attention to detail. The rest is in Italy, at that time a patchwork of separate political units constantly shifting in alliance and rivalry. I do not have the background knowledge to comment on these settings.

The King's Diamond vividly portrays the seductive glamour of precious stones, in both their uncut and fashioned forms. Richard is very far from being a Gollum, but there are echoes here of the desire that consumed him. Although there is human romantic interest for Richard, his real love affair is with the stones.

The book is evidently well researched - almost ostentatiously so in places. So we suddenly find a catalogue of weapon moves, for no apparent purpose in the plot line, or a quick digression into the etymology of the greeting "ciao". I had a sense that these were presented as a kind of proof that Will Whitaker had done his homework, and to be honest found some of them intrusive.

The book was easy to read, for the most part, although a few episodes were slightly perplexing. It certainly kept me wanting to finish it, especially the latter stages when the future of his enterprise was most in doubt.

However, I do not feel able to give this 5 stars. I hovered between 3 and 4 for a while, settling on 4 because a lot of care had been taken on the book, and the story line certainly did hold me. My main reservations are to do with the central characters, and whether they came across as representative of their time. Both Richard Dansey and Hannah Cage, his main female target of interest, are presented as young people, but they conduct themselves and organise events with a poise and confidence which seems much older.

Richard is too successful all the time, and other than a few minor setbacks (easily resolved within a few pages) he suffers no real loss or failure. He gets the jewels, he gets wealth, he gets social advancement, he gets to prove his abilities to his family and colleagues - he even gets the girl in the end. I found myself getting weary of his seeming endless catalogue of success, and even hoping that some real calamity was going to come upon him! But no - even in the most difficult circumstances he comes out on top.

I was also not convinced by the casual enjoyment of sex without consequences. I'm sure that men and women enjoyed sex just as much then as now, both inside and outside marriage. However, in a culture without reliable birth control I strongly suspect that pregnancy, or the constant high risk of it, would have been far more of a reality to the couple involved. But again Will breezes over this, and Richard gets to enjoy the women he wants without either he or they ever expressing anxiety about possible outcomes.

In short, many aspects of this book are gripping, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical drama from this era. But there are, to my mind, numerous difficulties of characterisation - not unlike the flaws in gemstones which the book takes such careful pains to describe.
Profile Image for Gemma.
34 reviews26 followers
May 1, 2012
It takes a while to get into this book, the way it starts off meant I wasn't particularly dragged into the story. However, it does become much better and I started to really enjoy reading it.

The book follows Richard Dansey, who has dreams of living amongst the rich at court in Tudor England. He aspires to become a merchant in fabulous jewels for King Henry VIII. He suspects the King of having a secret lover, and goes off to Italy to find amazing gems and diamonds the King would love to woo his lady.

The descriptions of the gems were amazing. The author really brings to life how beautiful the gems and jewels are, though by the end of the book I was beginning to tire of the overly long descriptions and found myself skipping through them to get back to the action. The author does a great job of setting the scene in Italy and I surprised myself as I really enjoyed reading about Venice and Rome, as I normally prefer the old England setting.

Unfortunately for me the ending of the book was a disappointment, which let the book down for me. The author focuses on Richard Dansey's end goals and dreams so much that I did expect to see it through, and it's a big shame that we did not. I will hope for a second book to continue Dansey's journey!
Profile Image for Sarah Hearn.
771 reviews6 followers
February 10, 2017
This turned out to be much better than I expected. It was heavy on technical details about gems (the main character is a gem merchant) and on the history of Italy in the early 16th century, which suited me well.
Profile Image for Daniela.
Author 1 book1 follower
August 6, 2020
I really love historical fiction, so when I saw this book it really caught my eye. It's called the King's Diamond, by Will Whitaker. I found it by mistake in a department store while I was looking for something unrelated.

The title can be a little misleading, since the king doesn't make much of an appearance, and most of it takes place in Italy (not England). When I bought it I expected to see a lot of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, but in the end I really got caught by the plot, and didn't mind that much, (The title in Spanish reads: "El Diamante de los Tudor", which translates into: "The Tudor's Diamond"... see, misleading).

Chapters 2 and 3 are kind of dull, but as soon as you get past them the book picks up it's pace.

The journey of Richard Dansey in his search for jewels is amazing, getting a simple merchant into a whirlwind of political intrigues and dangerous love affairs, which will help him climb the social ladder, but having to pay a big price to do so.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jaffareadstoo.
2,944 reviews
April 26, 2013
Richard Dansey is a young diamond merchant who is determined to make his own way in the family business. When his incompetent father dies, Richard seeks to make his fortune in the pursuit of the most beautiful gemstones, which he hopes will gain him access to the most glittering court in Europe, that of 36 year old Henry VIII. As Richard finds himself at the heart of European politics, he becomes obsessed with seeking the ultimate diamond, but becomes distracted by love.

Initially, the book gets off to a slow start, the characters take a while to develop, and for a while nothing much seems to happen until Richard gets to Europe, when the book becomes more descriptive and rather more interesting. However, I did find myself skipping parts of the narrative, which was a bit of a disappointment, as I wanted to like the book more than I did.





Just for fun April Read
669 reviews14 followers
October 22, 2013
I borrowed this book from the library just by chance and was well rewarded. The descriptions of the precious stones are terrific and as I love jewellery I could relate to the main character Richard Dansey and his love of gems entirely. His obession with gem stones and how to make himself known in the court of Henry VIII by presenting the king with a jewel beyond equal is itself an unusual story. The many interruptions of his plans by the political and religious machinations across Europe at that time, particularly the seige of Rome by the Spanish, is fascinating and carries the last few chapters along rapidly. The descriptions of the fighting and looting that took place is very graphic and realistic and in strong contrast to the descriptions of the beautiful jewellery. An easy and interesting read.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
551 reviews14 followers
February 18, 2015
Really enjoyed this one. I've read lots of royal historical fiction from that time period but it's not often you find a good one about life adjacent to the court. I also enjoyed how this one had such a specific focus on the gem trade and really made the stones characters in this story. You'd be a little lost without background knowledge of the time period especially with how the book ends (you sort of need to know what comes next).
5 reviews
January 13, 2017
La verdad no es un muy buen libro, la historia es fácil de leer aunq un poco de más descriptiva en cuanto a las piedras y su brillo. Se nota que al autor le gustan las gemas también. Siempre estas leyendo a la espera de algo emocionante y cuando por fin llega lo bueno y emocionante , el libro se acaba. Creo que el final debería de ser la mitad del libro. Le falta una muy buena parte de la historia de modo que deje al lector satisfecho al haber seguido todas las peripecias del protagonista.
Profile Image for Caitlin.
10 reviews1 follower
January 6, 2014
Uhg..I seriously can not think of a word to describe how terrible this book is. I have never been so bored or disappointed in all my life! The first 50 pages was all about describing some stone that everyone was obsessed with. The characters are boring, poorly written, and are so 2 dimensional its unbelievable. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU VALUE ANYTHING IN LIFE...
Profile Image for WeritaLectora.
89 reviews18 followers
August 20, 2022
Yo quería leer de los Tudor, de Ana Bolena, de Enrique VIII, bueno hasta de los Medici pero no, no hay nada o muy poco sobre ellos, la historia se centra en la ambición de Richard Dansey por obtener piedras preciosas y tener acceso algún día al Rey para vendérselas y sean utilizadas por su gran amor.
Lo que si es que aprendí de piedras preciosas, de la manera de tallarlas y hacer joyería.
Profile Image for Amalia.
9 reviews
July 26, 2012
La narracion de la historia fue interesante, aunque el final para mi gusto muy apresurado, se enfrasca demasiado en las piedras preciosas y al lado queda la historia de los personajes.
Profile Image for Sarah.
31 reviews3 followers
August 21, 2012
Excellent historical fiction that will keep you reading to the end!
6 reviews
February 15, 2013
Quite poorly written with no likeable characters and the only time something exciting happens is toward the end. Boring and a tiresome read.
Profile Image for V.E. Lynne.
Author 4 books38 followers
January 1, 2014
Well written book, with beautifully detailed descriptions of gemstones as well as of London, Venice and other cities in the 1520s, but not quite enough action to keep the story going.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews

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