Blurb: Rinette Leslie of Granmuir has the ancient gift of divining the future in flowers, but her gift cannot prepare her for the turmoil that comes when the dying queen regent entrusts her with a casket full of Scotland's darkest secrets. On the very day she means to deliver it to newly crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, Rinette's husband is brutally assassinated.
Devastated, Rinette demands justice before she will surrender the casket, but she is surrounded by ruthless men who will do anything to possess it. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust-and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.
Review:
First, an admission: I was in love
with Elizabeth Loupas’ first novel, The Second Duchess. It was one of the best
books I read last year –even better than many of the offerings from more
established historical fiction authors. I raved about the book to anyone who
would listen and found virtually any excuse to recommend it to others. Needless
to say, I was incredibly excited about Loupas’ follow-up novel, The Flower
Reader.
Marina, known as Rinette, is the heir to a great Scottish
estate, a relation to the French crown, and a close friend to Mary of Guise,
the French-born Scottish queen. She also has the unique ability to divine the
future from flowers, an ability that makes her an asset to the crown as well as
a danger. When Mary of Guise trusts a casket filled with the secrets of the
Scottish nobles and predictions from Nostradamas to Rinette, her life is
changed forever. Rinette promises to protect the casket until it can reach the
hands of Mary’s daughter, but soon finds the deadly consequence of that
promise. Her beloved husband is killed, she becomes the target of numerous
court schemes, and is forced to marry a man she hates.
The Flower Reader takes a more unique approach to historical
fiction than just about everything else on the shelf right now. Rather than
being primarily biographical, Flower Reader is a historical mystery surrounding
the perilous court of Mary, Queen of Scots, but explored through the eyes of a
purely fictional character. In fact, many of the characters in this book are
fictional (more than the average historical fiction novel, I’d say), as is the
plot. And honestly, I thought this was incredibly refreshing for the genre, especially
since Loupas made the characters feel so real. They absolutely came alive on
every page, and I got completely engrossed in Rinette’s story and struggles. I
was cheering for her the entire time, even when it seemed like all was lost.
Would I say that The Flower Reader is as good as The Second
Duchess? That’s a tough one. Both novels are very different and follow very different
subjects with unique approaches, but Flower Reader is a worthwhile follow up
that is easily one of the best book I’ve read so far this year. I’d recommend
it to any fellow historical fiction reader.
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