I knew when I read Lady
of the Glen, Roberson’s poignant love story set in the time of the Glencoe
Massacre in the Highlands of Scotland that her earlier work, The Irishman would be a treat. And it was.
Oh, my.
Set in England in 1617, this is the story of Elizabeth Stafford,
a baron’s daughter raised in Kent and, through her father’s wrangling, given an
appointment in King James’ court as one of Queen Anne’s ladies. Before she ever
gets to court, however, a carriage accident puts her in the clutches of Kieran
O’Neill, last of the royal Irish family of the O’Neills, who has come to
England on a secret mission he hopes will win his country’s freedom.
What can I say about a proud, dark Irish hero, descended
from the Earls of Tyrone, who only wants to see Ireland free? And a
high-spirited young Englishwoman, one of Queen Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, who
rejects all her noble suitors for the love of such a man? The story is well
written, wringing with emotion and angst, and steeped in the history of the
times. This one will keep you turning pages, I promise.
Roberson has done much research for this story and
understands the feelings of the Catholic Irish, persecuted and suppressed by a
Protestant England. I applaud her for that. King James I is a character who
would have Elizabeth for his mistress and we see the debauched lifestyle of his
court as Elizabeth tries to preserve her virtue. Her dialog is often brilliant,
her storytelling compelling. Her characters vividly portrayed.
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