The Irish Princess was an easy read however it was not a book I enjoyed for a few specific reasons. The main character Gera harbors a deep seated hate for Henry 8th (for good reason). Her talk and feelings aside she is a very passive character even for the time period until the end of the novel. When the character starts to be more active in the plot it was to me through unbelievable circumstances. Also the personalities of certain characters like Mary Tudor changed seemingly at random with no transition or explanation. I do think the end of the book sealed my opinion and while I can related to a wanting all the plot threads to be tied up neatly in this case that made it worse. ( )

A fun read about Gera Fitzgerald, the daughter of a powerful 16th-century Irish clan which falls afoul of Henry VIII. Gera spends much of her life in exile in England, struggling to restore her family's rights and to enact her revenge on those who destroyed her loved ones. In the process, she also encounters the dashing sea captain Edward Clinton, who helps her make her peace with the Tudor dynasty. I found this novel a fascinating introduction to a very interesting Tudor figure I had not encountered previously, although I sometimes found the plot slightly unbelievable. Nevertheless, I am certainly interested in learning more about this fascinating woman and I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in historical fiction about the Tudors. ( )

http://bookwormchronicles14.blogspot.com/2011/08/irish-princess-karen-harper.htm... ( )

Gera is one of those heroines who has a one track mind. Desperate to regain her family’s throne, Gera desires to return to Ireland come hell or high water. Usually this type of single mindedness annoys me. Somehow, in Gera, I found it exciting.

The Irish Princess also adds the added romance factor that has been getting me through a lot of books lately. Although I would never label this book as a romance read, in The Irish Princess Gera learns to couple her passion for her love of country and her man into one. These passions, however, take Gera to some pretty famous places. Some of these places I did find a tad troubling.

A la Forrest Gump Gera “happens” to be everywhere important in King Henry VIII’s court. She overhears things. She witnesses things. She just seemed to be placed everywhere at once. It speaks well of the book that these plot holes did not ruin the novel for me, but I do wish that at times Harper would have focused more on Gera’s path rather than the famous Tudors. ( )

I was actually disappointed in this one. After reading Karen Harper's The Queen's Governess, I found myself a fan of her approach to history and how she brought the past to life. Though I wouldn't say Harper is my favorite historical author out there, I enjoyed reading here and wanted to read more. So, of course, I put The Irish Princess on hold as soon as it popped up at the library. But when I got it, however, I soon found that it just wasn't that good. Perhaps I had over hyped it in my mind or I was expecting something different, but I could just never get fully engaged in this book.

The Irish Princess tells the story of Elizabeth Fitzgerald (aka Gera), the daughter of a high-ranking Irish Earl who is king of Ireland in all but name. Gera and her people have long been oppressed by Henry Tudor and the British. When Gera's father dies, she and her family are captured and she is sent to live with the Grey family -sort of distant cousins. Gera finds herself thrown into the political webs of the Tudor court, complete with drive to kill Henry Tudor himself.

The Irish Princess felt like a run-of-the-mill Tudor novel. Though it seemed like Harper's goal was to give a different view of Henry VIII's reign through the eyes of an unknown historical figure and tell here story. Instead, I felt like I was reading a brief history of Henry VIII's reign from the vantage point of a very minimal side character and, even though some interesting things do happen to her, mostly in the romance department, I never felt like the story was fully about her. Perhaps I'm just Tudor-mania-ed out, but I really didn't care about re-counting all of Henry's wives, yet again, and hearing about the family Tudor drama.

Sadly, I felt like Gera's story just wasn't compelling enough to keep me going. While she had some interesting motivations and a unique past, she didn't really seem like she was moving toward much of a future. I'm not sure if it was Gera or Harper, but I felt like there was little direction for much of the novel. Plus, I feel as though Harper's writing quality had dropped here.

Not great, but not horrid. I'd give Irish Princess a pass. ( )