The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau

I don't think I have made any secret of the fact that I am a bit Tudored out and so I am being very selective about the books that I read that are set during the Tudor period of British history. When I saw that this book was coming out though, there was no question for me as to whether I would read this or not. Bilyeau's debut novel, The Chalice, which features a novice nun named Joanne Stafford who comes from a disgraced noble family was a good read for me last year but I did have some issues with the pacing.

Everything I enjoyed about The Crown was present, but The Chalice is by far the stronger book of the two. The pacing is strong and consistent, the mystery is interesting, the plot twists and turns, the historical facts are fascinating and the characters are captivating!

After the dissolution of the monasteries, former novice Joanna Stafford is trying to make a home for herself in the town of Dartford in Kent. It is difficult to be out in the community, especially given that the town isn't particularly welcoming to the former nuns and friars. In addition to the former sisters who share her life, Joanna also has custody of a young boy, Arthur, who is the son of her cousin who was executed for committing treason in the previous book.

Joanna knows that she needs to find a way to make a living and so has a plan to start producing tapestries. She just needs her loom to arrive from the low countries and she will be able to start working and live a nice, quiet life with the only dilemma for her being her love life. At the end of The Chalice things were kind of unresolved, which made sense given that Joanne had a religious vocation. She definitely felt a strong connection to Geoffrey Scovill, a constable that she met when he saved her from a mob at the beginning of the last book, and a strong emotional connection to Brother Edmund, the apothecary who is a constant in her life.

When her cousin and his wife suddenly show up in Dartford with an invitation for both Joanna and Arthur to visit with them, it is a surprise to Joanna. She has no intention of being drawn back into the world that comes with being a member of one of England's most infamous families and related to many of the other noble families like the Howards. Only agreeing to accompany her cousin as long as she does not have to attend Court, Joanna goes with them to London.

Despite her protests, Joanna is drawn into a complicated plot that relies strongly on a prophecy that concerns her.  Suddenly her quiet life is a long way behind her as she finds herself faced with the responsibility of trying to restore the Catholic faith to England. The last thing that Joanna wants is to fulfil the terms of the prophecy but  life conspires to bring Joanna to a place where she has very little choice.  The plot is constantly evolving and bringing Joanna into different situations, even having her travelling to Flanders. Joanna is not always blindly following fate, for want of a better word, especially once there are people starting to die around her. There were a couple of times when she did do a couple of things that had me shaking my head, but she is also able to find a resolution to the prophecy that enables her to be who she wants to be. I did find the resolution to be very interesting, especially with the way that Joanna was introduced to both Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. I would think that Joanne will be back at court with everything that we know is going to happen regarding those two women in the future.

One of the pieces of history that I learned about during reading this book was about a law that was passed by Henry VIII that prevented anyone who had taken religious vows from being able to marry. Once again this left those former nuns and brothers with few options. They could no longer fulfil their religious obligations but they also could not become fully immersed in secular life either and it had very interesting implications for the story.

Once again, the book ends with some ambiguity in relation to Joanna's future. Which just left me with one major question when I finished the book ...when is the next one out?

Rating 4.5/5

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Synopsis

In the next novel from Nancy Bilyeau after her acclaimed debut The Crown, novice Joanna Stafford plunges into an even more dangerous conspiracy as she comes up against some of the most powerful men of her era.

In 1538, England is in the midst of bloody power struggles between crown and cross that threaten to tear the country apart. Joanna Stafford has seen what lies inside the king’s torture rooms and risks imprisonment again, when she is caught up in a shadowy international plot targeting the King. As the power plays turn vicious, Joanna understands she may have to assume her role in a prophecy foretold by three different seers, each more omniscient than the last.

Joanna realizes the life of Henry VIII as well as the future of Christendom are in her hands—hands that must someday hold the chalice that lays at the center of these deadly prophecies…

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

When a young novice nun sneaks out of her convent to go to London she sets off a change of events that she couldn't even begin to imagine. Sister Joanne Stafford is a member of the aristocratic, once mighty, Stafford family. Her cousin has been implicated in treason and has therefore been sentenced to burn. Joanne is determined that her beloved cousin will not die alone. Once she reaches London, she is caught up in a rough crowd and is only saved when a young constable named Geoffrey Scovill steps in.

Once her identity is revealed, she find herself in the custody of the king, housed in the foreboding grounds of the Tower. After a prolonged stay, she is given a way out by no lesser figure of Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester - she must find the holy relic, the crown of Athelstan and let him know where it is. In the process, she might just be able to ensure that Dartford convent is not closed during the reformation. She is released from custody and sent back to Dartford convent in the company of two Brothers - Edmund and Richard.

As Joanna searches the priory for clues as to the location of the crown, the clues seem to be even more confusing. Confusion gives why to fear though when there is a murder at the Priory. There are secrets everywhere, even within the priory. Sister Joanna must unravel them all, even knowing that if she does unravel the biggest secret of all, there may be tragic consequences.

In order to find out more about the elusive relic, Joanna finds herself travelling from the priory to other religious institutions, to the homes of family and interacting with people from the world that she had left behind when she acted upon her religious vocation.

For the most part, this book was an entertaining read. There were a few times when the pacing was a bit uneven, but Joanna and her accomplices are interesting enough to overlook that most of the time. I did wonder if we were heading into love triangle territory for a little while when Geoffrey kept on appearing in the most unlikely of places, but in the end any romantic undertones were very subtle, and the characters acted appropriately.

The author has said that she is working on the next book to feature Sister Joanna and I have to say that the ending left the direction of the next book quite open, so I will be reading along to see what happens next.

When I got the first pitch to read this book, one of the blurbs compared this book to both Dan Brown and Philippa Gregory and when you added in the fact that I am, in fact, pretty much Tudored out, and I wasn't all that fussed about it! When I read the pitch again the second time I received one, I decided to give it ago and I am glad that I did.

Whilst this novel is set firmly within the Tudor reign of Henry VIII, it is different from so many of the other Tudor novels out there. Our main character, Sister Joanne Stafford, is from the aristocratic Stafford family, and yes, Henry, Katherine of Aragorn, Princess Mary and several other famous names are found in the pages of the book. In many other books with this setting, the big issues like the reformation of the monasteries form part of the story of Henry and his family, whereas in this book it is the reformation and the people that are affected directly by it that take centre stage and Henry and co are the sideshow. It is a refreshing point of difference!

Rating 4/5

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father—and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . .

Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London.

The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic—a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain.

But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands.

With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

This book is one of my reads for the Historical Fiction Challenge and is cross-posted from Historical Tapestry.

We are also giving away a copy of the book. To find out the giveaway details head over to Historical Tapestry!