Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Gushing Over Nancy Bilyeau's THE TAPESTRY


I've just emerged from a delicious lark through Tudor England -- again.

Nancy Bilyeau has once again woven (get it? tapestry? woven?) a tale that seamlessly unites feisty heroine Joanna with the biggest names in the court of King Henry VIII, including the bulbous, pus-legged monarch himself.  THE TAPESTRY is the third and final installment in this wonderful series, preceded by THE CROWN and THE CHALICE, and it brings a satisfactory close to the court intrigues, attempted murder, and romantic entanglements of Joanna, an ex-novice who wishes only to live a quiet life weaving her tapestries--and gets anything but.

I could FEEL the bigger-than-life presence of Henry VIII as Joanna supped with him.  (I could also SMELL him.)  Nancy's attention to detail and talent for bringing everything to life without an ounce of historical dryness brought my favorite time period to life like nothing else.  The religious tension, the battles for power at court, the horror of the executions (Do you know how many chops it took to remove Cromwell's head?  You will, after you read this!).  You won't want to put this book down until you reach the final page.  And then you still won't want to put it down.

Read the synopsis (and buy the book) HERE.  (Or at the book store of your choice.)

THE TAPESTRY is available March 24 from Touchstone.

And for those of you who may be new around here?  Nancy has participated in not one, but two of our Baker's Dozen Agent Auctions, offering critiques to the adult entries.  She's a long-time supporter of this blog, and I'm a long-time supporter of her books.  I wish her well as her third masterpiece bursts forth into the wild!

(I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher.  My opinions of this work of fiction are my own.)

4 comments:

  1. Hey! I thought I commented on this yesterday. Guess it didn't work. Anyway, this sounds great! I can't believe I missed the first two, but now, I feel like I've got a real treat ahead of me. Thanks for posting!

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  2. I just finished this book the other day and I agree with you. Nancy is one of the best!

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