What do you think?
Rate this book
Heart of a rose
205 pages, Hardcover
First published July 10, 1978
About the author
Hilda Lewis
50 books40 followersHilda Winifred Lewis (née Maizels, 1896-1974) was a British writer.
She wrote a noted children's book, The Ship that Flew (1939) which concerns Norse mythology and time travel. It was republished in the Oxford Children's Modern Classics series in 1998. Her three YA books, including the well-received The Gentle Falcon, are available for Kindle and iBooks.
Several of her historical novels, e.g. I am Mary Tudor (1972), received attention. Most of her work is now out of print. Wife to Charles II and I, Jacqueline are available in The Book People's historical fiction paperback collection. The Witch and the Priest (1956) about the seventeenth century Lincolnshire witch trials is well worth reading, even second hand in the freely available but lurid Dennis Wheatley paperback Library of the Occult format.
She wrote a noted children's book, The Ship that Flew (1939) which concerns Norse mythology and time travel. It was republished in the Oxford Children's Modern Classics series in 1998. Her three YA books, including the well-received The Gentle Falcon, are available for Kindle and iBooks.
Several of her historical novels, e.g. I am Mary Tudor (1972), received attention. Most of her work is now out of print. Wife to Charles II and I, Jacqueline are available in The Book People's historical fiction paperback collection. The Witch and the Priest (1956) about the seventeenth century Lincolnshire witch trials is well worth reading, even second hand in the freely available but lurid Dennis Wheatley paperback Library of the Occult format.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 29, 2011
This is a novel about Mary Tudor, Henry VIII's sister, who married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk after her brief marriage to the king of France. The sequel to Rose of England, this book covers Mary's life from her marriage to Brandon until her death.
This isn't a novel for those who like a lot of action; the book centers around Mary's relationships with her husband, her brother, her children, and her stepdaughters. Though Mary never ceases to love her husband, she soon realizes that he first and foremost is the king's man, and their marriage is sorely tested when Henry falls in love with Anne Boleyn (who, seen through Mary's eyes, is a very unsympathetic character). Matters are made even worse when Charles conceives the notion that the crown could someday pass to his own children by Mary.
There are a few historical inaccuracies--for instance, Mary's son Henry, Earl of Lincoln, is portrayed as dying before Mary herself does, though the real Henry outlived Mary by a few months. On the whole, though, I enjoyed this novel, although the last third has a very melancholy air about it. The dust jacket notes that Hilda Lewis died soon after the book's completion, so perhaps that accounts for some of this atmosphere.
This isn't a novel for those who like a lot of action; the book centers around Mary's relationships with her husband, her brother, her children, and her stepdaughters. Though Mary never ceases to love her husband, she soon realizes that he first and foremost is the king's man, and their marriage is sorely tested when Henry falls in love with Anne Boleyn (who, seen through Mary's eyes, is a very unsympathetic character). Matters are made even worse when Charles conceives the notion that the crown could someday pass to his own children by Mary.
There are a few historical inaccuracies--for instance, Mary's son Henry, Earl of Lincoln, is portrayed as dying before Mary herself does, though the real Henry outlived Mary by a few months. On the whole, though, I enjoyed this novel, although the last third has a very melancholy air about it. The dust jacket notes that Hilda Lewis died soon after the book's completion, so perhaps that accounts for some of this atmosphere.
Displaying 1 of 1 review