Elizabeth Fremantle, who (in my opinion) is writing some of the best Tudor-era historical fiction today, tackles two lesser known figures in this novel - Arabella Stuart (savvy readers of Tudor history could likely guess that from the title) and Aemelia Lanyer. While there is no historical evidence that these two women ever met, in this novel their lives intertwine in significant ways. Set in the last days of Queen Elizabeth's reign and the early years of King James I's rule, this book explores how life would be lived in both a royal court and in an impoverished London home. Sometimes the book is a little frustrating to read, but I liked the story overall and I look forward to the author's next book. ( )

This was well written but had a few anachronisms , e.g. scenario, which marred the read for me. ( )

Arbella Stuart is of the royal blood and potentially an heir to Elizabeth I. In order to keep her safe, Arbella is in the care of her grandmother Bess of Hardwick and kept far away from court and any Catholic sympathisers who may wish to influence her. Whilst young Arbella tries to rebel, her older self becomes resigned to her fate. Upon the death of Elizabeth Arbella is summoned to court as a cousin of the new king, however falling in love with a distant relative is seen as defiance. Arbella's tale is told by Amaelia Lanyer, a disgraced female poet who lived at court but now must make her way in the world as best she can.

Having read the terrific biography of Arbella Stuart by Sarah Gristwood, I was aware of the character, her connections to the throne and the miserable life she seems to have led. Whilst this book is a completely fictionalised account, it does show evidence of excellent research. I particularly liked the idea that Arbella identified with Katherine Grey and this is an explanation of how Arbells seemed to slip into madness and starve herself to death. The interesting character is Bess of Hardwick, a woman who married well and ended up as one of the richest people in England, she was powerful and complex before her time. Amaelia Lanyer is a character about whom little is known but she was a successful poet and some think she is the 'dark-eyed beauty' of Shakespearean fame. Steeped in knowledge of everyday life at court, in the houses of rich and poor alike, this is excellent historical fiction. ( )

Having read about this novel just before Christmas, I've seen it mentioned in several other places since, always with the greatest admiration. I was attracted by the idea of a book set at the turn of the 17th century which focused in on more unusual characters and also promised to teach me more about the history of the period. Both Aemilia and Arbella were real women, although neither was familiar to me. I'm always keen to learn more about women who transcended or challenged the expectations of their time, and both of our protagonists fit that definition. Written with care and sensitivity, Fremantle's book brings them both back to vivid life.

The years have not been kind to Aemilia Lanyer. Back in the fading days of Elizabeth I's reign, she and her poetry were celebrated at Court; but when James I came to the throne, with his dislike of educated women, Aemilia was dispatched to a meaner existence. Now, weighed down with the debts of her dead husband, she ekes out her days in Clerkenwell with her teenage son Hal. It is Hal who offers Aemilia some unexpected distraction from her financial woes. As a young musician at Court, he happens to see the rooms of the late Arbella Stuart being cleared. Remembering that his mother once knew this unfortunate princess, he brings home a bundle of old papers destined for the fire, little realising what a treasure he has found. For this is Arbella's account of her own life: the tale of a woman who dared to dream beyond the confines in which circumstances kept her. Faced with the words of this almost-friend, a woman she never truly understood, and one whom she inadvertently betrayed, Aemilia longs to finally learn the truth about Arbella Stuart...

The full review will be published on Wednesday 1 March at the link below:
https://theidlewoman.net/2017/03/01/the-girl-in-the-glass-tower-elizabeth-freman... ( )

Elizabeth Freemantle's novel focuses on two fascinating women who lived in Jacobean England: Lady Arbella Stuart, in line for the throne, and the poet Aemilia Lanyer. The only historical links between the two are that Lanyer dedicated a poem to Arbella, and the two women were at one time both at court and in Queen Anne's coterie. Here, Freemantle has tied their stories together in an engaging, imaginative story.

The real Arbella's life was quite a sad one. Descended from Henry VIII's sister Margaret (and therefore the granddaughter of Henry VII), she was considered a likely successor to Elizabeth I. In addition, her uncle was Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, which made Arbella cousin to the future King James. Arbella's father died when she was an infant and her mother when she was only seven; she was raised by her redoubtable grandmother, known as Bess of Hardwicke. In Freemantle's version, Elizabeth named James as her successor because she felt that England had had enough of a female monarch; the truth is that more likely that the queen's advisors, Lord Burghley and his son Robert Cecil, pressed her to favor James. Although extremely well educated, Arbella was infrequently at court, more often kept under her grandmother's thumb at Hardwicke Hall. She showed little interest in becoming queen, but James suspected her of ambitions to the throne. There were several plots in her lifetime to remove James and make her queen, but she was a loyal subject, even revealing one such plot to the king herself. Quite cruelly, both Elizabeth and James kept Arbella from marrying. They used her as bait in several marriage proposals but likely feared that if she produced an heir, that child, too, could become a threat. In 1610, at the age of 35, she secretly married the much younger William Seymour without the king's permission. Arbella was fourth in line to the throne, and Seymour, who also had Tudor ancestors, was sixth; James clearly saw the marriage, adn possible children, as a threat. When James discovered the marriage, he imprisoned them both, Seymour in the Tower of London and Arbella under house arrest. The two were able to exchange letters in secret and planned an ill-fated escape. Seymour succeeded, but the two never met up, and Arbella was captured and imprisoned in the Tower. In despair, she starved herself to death.

Freemantle sticks fairly close to the factual details of Arbella's life but takes a freer hand with Aemilia Lanyer. The facts: Her father, an Italian, was a musician in the court of Elizabeth I. As a child, she was sent to live in the household of the Countess of Kent, where she received an education. Already known as a poet, she frequently stayed at court where she was often called upon to read her work. At the age of 18, Aemilia became the mistress of the queen's cousin, the Earl of Hunsdon. When she became pregnant, she was banished from court, and her family married her off to a first cousin. It was not a happy union, and when her husband died, Lanyer opened a school to support her children. She published her first book of poetry, dedicated to Lady Arbella, at the age of 42 and was frequently called to court to read for Queen Anne. Although Lanyer and Arbella may have been acquainted, there is no evidence of a friendship between them.

Freemantle, however, imagines a sympathy between these two educated, literary-minded women that blossoms into friendship; that is her main invention and the hub of the novel, and Lanyer is inserted into several of the key episodes in Arbella's life. Lanyer is given a personal as well: we see her interactions with neighbors both kind and cruel, her relationship with her son Henry, her efforts to provide for herself as a widow, and more. As the author's creation, she comes alive on the page; as a woman granted a measure of freedom, she becomes a lively counterpoint to the confined and oppressed Arbella, but both serve as reminders of the limitations placed on women at the time.

Overall, the book was a fine combination of fact and fiction, well researched and engagingly written. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction set in Tudor and Stuart England. I listened to the book on audio, which was wonderfully read by Emily Watson and Rachael Stirling. ( )