Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I bought this book for my Kindle.

Thoughts: I am setting this aside 25% of the way in. I appreciate the writing style and the humorous tone to Susanna's portions of the book. However, there are long chapters in this book that deal with random aristocracy characters and how they summoned a demon to take down the royalty in the country. There are a ton of characters in these chapters and it is hard to follow both all the characters and what is driving the story forward.

The portions from Susanna's POV are entertaining; I enjoyed watching her start to make a living for herself selling her paintings (even if she does have to pass them off as her dead husband's). I enjoyed the humor and irony in these portions. Unfortunately, for me, these portions didn't makeup for the long chapters dealing with the other parts of the story. Additionally, this book oddly flips between first and third person...sometimes even mid chapter. This was jarring and made it tough to read.

I would say this book takes some patience to read, which is something I am in short supply of right now. So, out of frustration and just pure boredom, I am setting this aside. It's not an awful book so far, but it is also a bit of a mess format and story-wise. I don't recommend picking this up unless you have the time and patience to struggle through some odd writing and some less interesting (and more confusing) story/character elements.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this wasn't for me. Susanna's parts of the story were good but the other half of the story was confusing, full of too many characters, and boring. I didn't have the patience to make it through this. I may pick it up at some point in the future and I also may checkout some other books by Riley since I did enjoy her writing style in general. ( )

One of 3 loosely-linked historical novels (with a soupçon of fantasy) by Judith Merkle Riley, this historical novel deals with the miniaturist, Susanna Dallet. Left in poverty by the death of her philandering husband, she becomes paintrix to Thomas Wolsey, and accompanies Mary Tudor to her wedding with Louis XII of France.

Deftly written, I enjoyed this. Susanna is not a simpering miss of a heroine, but a woman who isn't sure she wants a man back into her life after the way she was treated by her late husband. Certainly not the mildly misogynist Robert Ashton who is told by Thomas Wolsey to look after his investment.

There is some period fantasy - angels and demons, along with Black Magic, but not enough to mark this as a historical fantasy.

Recommended.

One of 3 loosely-linked historical novels (with a soupçon of fantasy) by Judith Merkle Riley, this historical novel deals with the miniaturist, Susanna Dallet. Left in poverty by the death of her philandering husband, she becomes paintrix to Thomas Wolsey, and accompanies Mary Tudor to her wedding with Louis XII of France.

Deftly written, I enjoyed this. Susanna is not a simpering miss of a heroine, but a woman who isn't sure she wants a man back into her life after the way she was treated by her late husband. Certainly not the mildly misogynist Robert Ashton who is told by Thomas Wolsey to look after his investment.

There is some period fantasy - angels and demons, along with Black Magic, but not enough to mark this as a historical fantasy.

Recommended.

Witty historical fiction with a bit of fantasy (in this case, angels and demons), this book is set during the reign of Henry VIII in England, and includes scenes in France as well.

I loved the main character, painter Susanna Dallet - she is captivating and has a rather droll sense of humor.  Daughter of a Flemish artist and trained by him, she's married to another cheating artist (who was only trying to get her dad's secrets from her) and trying to be a good wife.  She takes on a commission on behalf of her husband for a miniature of Mary Tudor, sister of the king, intending to pass her work off for his, but then her husband is caught in bed with another woman and killed, and Susanna has to pretend his ghost did the work.

That starts off a romp of an adventure that has Susanna working for Cardinal Wolsey and ultimately sent to France as part of Mary Tudor's entourage for her marriage to its aging king.  There's also a plotline involving a mysterious book sought by the Priory of Sion as well as a villian in England, the involvement of demons and imps and angels and cherubs (rather silly, but fun), and of course romance.

Each section of the book begins with an art catalogue description of one of thirteen paintings supposedly done by Susanna, but attributed to others or unknowns.  Susanna then makes a retrospective comment about the painting that foreshadows what is to come in the book.  I loved this, and only wish I could have seen the actual portraits, as I believe some are real (for example, there are a number of portraits of Mary Tudor by unknown artists).  I also loved all the description of painting techniques and processes included in the story.

I think author Judith Merkle Riley may have based Susanna on the real female Tudor era artist Susannah Hornebolt, who was known (like her father Gerard) for her miniatures.  Interestingly, this artist had a brother name Lucas Horenbout, and the art catalogue descriptions of two of the thirteen paintings list him as the artist - which makes me wonder if perhaps the real-life Susannah's work was mistakenly attributed to her brother!

Sadly, we can't ask the author, as she died in 2010.  I plan to read the other five of her historical novels ( )

This is a wonderful book with a strong heroine who is able to best her male counterparts in medieval England. There is lots of court intrigue and sorcery. Was a really fun book to read. ( )