READ THIS: ALL THE QUEEN’S PLAYERS by Jane Feather

Peachy Deegan has been into Queen Elizabeth since she did a massive term paper on her in the 8th grade, and this is the kind of story we really love.  Set in times way before us, the glamour and mystique of times gone by in itself provides endless entertainment.  In a book that is 400 pages long, so many twists and turns in the court, although they are set in times past, have parallels to society today and it is in that that we find this book the most captivating.  From town to country, and from castle to cottage, it seems the more things change, the more things stay the same.


For Americans, although we are quite glad not to have a royal family, the whole concept of royalty is a foreign concept, and is thus intriguing.  Queen Elizabeth, a feminist before there were feminists, is quite a character in history and as she comes to live interacting with Rosamund, the main character, she becomes more than just a face on a painting-she becomes someone with real personality.  This book explores social stigmas, relationships within families, and above all, the hierarchy of the Queen, and the backstabbing that goes on behind!  We don't want to give away too much, and as this is historical fiction, you have to take our word for it: it's a great story.  Intriguingly horrid, the villains will make you seethe and the protagonists will make you applaud.  


Our favorite quote, page 145.  We don't like this character and her influence, but we like what she says here:


"Independence, my dear, is the secret to happiness," her newfound friend informed her as they walked along a busy avenue of plane trees leading to the river.  "You choose your own friends, your own pursuits, and..."  She paused, casting Rosamund a look of pure devilry.  "And your own lovers."  She laughed again.  "Have I shocked you?"


See, a bit of Sex and the City in Elizabethan times!  If we had a dollar for every time someone asked Peachy if she was like Carrie Bradshaw, we'd be rich, but wouldn't retire!  Whom You Know recommends All the Queens Players!


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At Queen Elizabeth’s palace, intrigue abounds in ALL THE QUEEN’S PLAYERS (Gallery Books; April 2010; $15.00) by New York Times bestselling author Jane Feather.  And when a naïve girl with a gift for keen observation enters the court, she can hardly imagine the role she will play in bringing England—indeed, the whole of Europe—to the brink of war.  Nor can she foresee her own journey to the brink of ecstasy and beyond… 


When she becomes a junior lady of Queen Elizabeth’s bedchamber, Rosamund is instructed by her cousin, the brilliant and devious secretary of state Sir Francis Walsingham, to record everything she observes.  Her promised reward: a chance at a good marriage. But through her brother Thomas, Rosamund finds herself drawn to the forbidden, rough-and-tumble world of theatre, and to Thomas’s friend, the dramatic, impetuous playwright Christopher Marlowe.  And then Rosamund meets Will Creighton—a persuasive courtier, poet, and would-be playwright who is the embodiment of an unsuitable match. 


The unsanctioned relationship between Rosamund and Will draws the wrath of Elizabeth, who prides herself on being the Virgin Queen.  Rosamund is sent in disgrace to a remote castle that holds Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, the imprisoned Queen of Scots.  Here, Walsingham expects Rosamund to uncover proof of a plot against Elizabeth. But surely, nothing good can come of putting an artless girl in such close proximity to so many seductive players and deceptive games.  Unless, of course, Rosamund can discover an affinity for passion and intrigue herself… 


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jane Feather conspires with history to tell this dazzling story about two very real, very wily queens—and one impassioned young woman whose life they change forever. ALL THE QUEEN’S PLAYERS will have readers whirling with anticipation from page to page wanting to know what the future has in store for Rosamund, and simultaneously what Rosamund has in store for the future. 


Jane Feather was born in Cairo, Egypt; grew up in the south of England; and currently lives in Maryland.  She has written more than twenty bestselling novels, including the New York Times bestselling trilogy in the Cavendish Square series—A Wicked Gentleman, To Wed a Wicked Prince and A Husband’s Wicked Ways. 

ALL THE QUEEN’S PLAYERS By Jane Feather

Gallery Books / April 2010 / ISBN: 978-1-4165-2554-7 / Price: $15.00 Trade Paperback 

Gallery Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing a wide variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics.  The imprint was designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction, and across a variety of genres.   Some of Gallery Books’ bestselling titles include Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, sTori Telling by Tori Spelling, and Oh My Dog by Beth Stern.  Upcoming titles include I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee, Gunn’s Golden Rules by Tim Gunn,  I Remember You by Harriet Evans,

and Lisa Genova’s new novel, Left Neglected.

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.  For more information, please visit our website athttp://www.simonandschuster.com.