Gaele Hi
2.5 Stars – rounded I wanted to express my unwavering love for this book – it had the promise of nearly everything that intrigues me: tudor-era historical moments, a mystery in searching for the how and why, and even some adjustment as a character is stuck in a time other than their own. Unfortunately there were threads that went untied, the time travel – aside from being unusual as Alison is stuck in the now, while her awareness and information about the Tudor-era past is her own experience, and the woman in the painting was believed to have died as a teen, but is now identified as someone else. Firstly – just the set-up is twisted, and should provide plenty of intrigue on its own. Katherine Parr’s daughter, Mary Seymour, was a teen and destined for marriage, just like her cousin. But one is pregnant, the other thought to be heading to witchcraft, when one disappears along with a child never mentioned. See – RIGHT THERE – there is your story as the cousin of Mary actually Alison in the present day, or does the painting that her ex has unearthed have some sort of message for Alison in the present – and where is the child? And just who is related or not. But – that wasn’t the story –as too much time was given over to ‘romance’ and the threads that truly were intriguing- those got lost for me. Don’t get me wrong – Cornick can write a lovely description and plays with fact and fiction that most moments ‘feel’ as if they could be actually taken from history – when often they are a product of history, word use and imagination giving that sense. And, for someone who loves the concept of an historic figure having the ability to travel in time – and then, perhaps to be aware of the ‘real’ versus the polished and more sanitized versions of history this many years on – is opportunity squandered and not delved into near enough in this book. It’s a solid, if I thought uninspired, and overly convoluted read. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review .I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility