Checkmate: Sixth in the Legendary Lymond Chronicles

It's a throwback to a similar episode in "Queens'...more

It's a throwback to a similar episode in "Queens' Play", but it's also a fair metaphor for the whole Lymond series. As a reader, I spent much of my time feeling rather like Philippa - pitchforked into situations of which I had no experience; forced to keep up by finding a mental toughness and agility I didn't know I possessed.

This is the epitome of great historical fiction. Dunnett doesn't stop to explain anything; she makes few concessions to a modern readership's sensibilities; but she invites us into the sparkling, complex, contradictory world of the mid-sixteenth century, and shows us exactly what made that world tick. And in the process, she shows us a lot about what we too are capable of achieving.

I tend to read this book when I need to walk taller, when I need to achieve the impossible.   hide