The Tudor Prophecy by Julie Strong
This historical novel takes place in 1541 in the latter part of the reign of King Henry VIII. Hester Vaughan and her younger brother Dickie have lived in England with her maternal uncle Sir Hugh Grantmire and his family, consisting of his wife and daughter. The daughter, Lady Alice, is close in age to Hester and they are close friends. Hester's father is Welsh and still lives at his property there. His grief at the death of Hester's mother precipitated this move.
Hester has teenage dreams of healing King Henry from his leg tumours and being chosen as his next wife, but her attempt to make this happen results in disaster. At the same time, Sir Hugh has finally come to the point where his refusal to make an oath to King Henry's new church means that his life and lands are in jeopardy.
When Hester is summoned to join her father in Wales, she goes, but unwillingly. She has strange dreams that she struggles to understand. In Wales, she finds her father in his dying days, and struggles to hold off the strange and disturbing fates that her uncle there plans for her. A young bard and her Welsh maid are the only ones she can trust.
Meanwhile Lady Alice, her mother, Dickie, and his minder John struggle to make ends meet in their reduced circumstances. Dickie, who is developmentally delayed and has seizures, is unpredictable and loyal to his family, which sometimes puts them in dangerous situations.
When Hester's path crosses that of the young Elizabeth, Kind Henry's daughter, she realizes that she has been led to show her that her father's way is a cruel one and she can make different choices.
I was really engaged with this novel and while I was sometimes frustrated with Hester's choices, I see how they all led in a certain direction. Hester grew through the course of the novel, as did Lady Alice as she adjusted to her new reality. As the book neared its end, the final scene leads me to believe there will be a sequel to this book, which I look forward to.
The main parts of history were adhered to, with the real historical figures being where they were at the time. But the introduction of Wales and the Welsh people was interesting as it showed how religion disrupted the lives of the people in ways that I hadn't thought about.
