Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

It might be difficult to imagine a thirteen-year-old girl as having the maturity to fit into a powerful political regime. Certainly not a girl in this era. But in 1513, young Anne Boleyn entered the Burgundian court of Margaret of Austria and settled in as one of the royal maids of honor. History has recorded much of Anne’s life leading up to her marriage to Henry VIII and her ultimate sad demise three years later. But her early entry into royal households has been merely glossed over. Rozsa Gaston’s Maid of Honour: Anne Boleyn at Margaret of Austria’s Court paints a vivid picture of a young girl learning her way in the very difficult and dangerous world of sixteenth-century nobility. As her story unfolds, this brief interlude in Anne’s life, someone who would ultimately change history and make herself into a legend, is a powerful opening to what she learned from one of the most brilliant female rulers in history. Her path was paved at a very young age and she had far to go in a short time.

Rozsa Gaston’s novel, Maid of Honour: Anne Boleyn at Margaret of Austria’s Court, is a work of art in itself, a historical novel that will have readers riveted to the very end. Like the passionate and thorough re-tellings of history written by some of the great writers of our time, Sharon Kay Penman, Jean Plaidy, and Tracy Chevalier, to name but a few, Rozsa Gaston has woven a fascinating tale based on thorough research. The characters are well-developed, the dialogue is engaging and believable, and the plot moves forward at a fast pace. As the story unfolds, readers will learn about the dangerous life in royal courts of the sixteenth century, and how one figure in history can be molded into a clever and diplomatically austere person of prominence. The sixteenth century was a challenging time, one of changes and discord as people at all levels questioned the world that dictated their lives. Anne certainly did and she made it her life’s mission to make a mark on the world in which she lived. This becomes clear as the story progresses. Readers can only hope that the author will continue with Anne’s life as she moves away from Margaret of Austria’s court and into the equally dangerous world of the French court, before returning to her native England. An engaging and educational read.