Quest for a Queen: The Jackdaw

Quest for a Queen #3

by Frances Mary Hendry

Book by Hendry, Frances Mary

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Frances Mary Hendry is a British writer of children's historical fiction. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland she now resides in Nairn, where many of her books are set.

Reviews

[Evan Þ. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hendry finishes her series surrounding Mary Queen of Scots with a protagonist working for Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster trying to manufacture proof to get Mary executed for treason. We also work with London guttersnipe thieves, and supporting characters from the previous two books who return with greater maturity.

Or, maturity Hendry calls it. To my discomfiture, she ends up dismissing Walsingham and the whole opposition to Queen Mary as religious bigotry. I can see where this comes from, but I think this too broad a brush, which leaves the novel suffering. Plus, the London slums world wasn't as attractive a setting as Hendry used in her previous novels.

So, this's a sadly disappointing end to the trilogy.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the last book in the Quest for A Queen trilogy, I was disappointed in this one. The story did bring a couple characters back from the other two books, but over all Mary Queen of Scots was in the story less than ever. None of the main characters were very charismatic, and the writing style was confusing. Ms. Hendry often switched points of view between paragraphs, with little indication on who we were reading.
Overall the weakest of the three. I'm glad I completed the series, but sorry the story wasn't the best one. Also, knowing the story of Mary, it's hard to have a "happy" ending to the historical fiction.