A short novel about David Rizzio’s murder? Yes please! Rizzio was a confidante of Mary Queen of Scots and he was assassinated by Darnley (her husband) and a group of conspirators in front of the pregnant Queen in a shocking show of power.
This brutal moment is explored in detail, with the confident scheming juxtaposed with the reality of what happens, the feelings in the room, the tensions between the conspirators, the consequences. It’s very much a “look what we’ve done” moment.
The novel also gets into the heads of some of the religious extremists of the time and why a Catholic Queen was such a problem for some.
Lyrical, touching, raw – this novella packs a punch. It also felt very historically and psychologically true.
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