The Stolen One by Suzanne Crowley

Title: The Stolen One

Author: Suzanne Crowley

Published: July 2009

Source: Bought from bn.com

Synopsis from goodreads.com:

No one wanted you. But I did. 

Kat's true identity is a secret, even from her. All she has ever known are Grace and Anna and their small village. Kat wants more—more than hours spent embroidering finery for wealthy ladies and more than Christian, the gentle young farmer courting her. 

But there are wolves outside, Grace warns. Waiting, with their eyes glowing in the dark . . . and Grace has given Kat safety and a home when no one else would. 

Then a stranger appears in their cottage, bringing the mystery of Kat's birth with her. In one night, Kat's destiny finds her: She will leave. She will journey to London, and her skill with the needle will attract the notice of the magnificent Queen Elizabeth—and of the wolves of the court. She will discover what Grace would never tell her.

Everything will unravel. 

The Stolen One was intended to be a cure for my Tudor England Historical Fiction withdrawal, one of my favorite genres (started by Carlyn Meyers Young Royals series in middle school), but it disappointed me. I had expected more drama, more intrigue, more romance, more than there was in this book. The first third is devoted to her life in the country with Grace, the woman who's always taken care of her, and Anna, who's deaf but like a sister. I found that to be boring.


The rest is about her time in Queen Elizabeth's court, where she tries to unravel the mystery of her birth and who she really is. It was dramatic and intriguing, but I wanted more. There were quite a few instances where characters were introduced and then...nothing. They didn't have a role, or if they did it was small. Or she would build something up and then nothing would come of it. It was frustrating.

I didn't like Kat much either. I guess it's because she is so much different from myself. Instead of staying in her nice little country house she runs away to London and brings poor Anna with her, and when she's there she doesn't do what Grace told her, she does whatever she likes. It frustrated me, the way she wouldn't listen. The historical facts in this novel were very interesting though. She must have done quite a bit of research to get the gown's and the hair and the jewelry correct.

It wasn't a terrible book, just not as good as I expected.

Characters: 7/10
Writing: 8/10
Originality: 9/10
Plot: 8/10
Ending: 7/10
Overall: 39/50  C+
Cover/Title: 4/5 The cover is gorgeous and stays very true to the book, down to the pear in her lap. I think that a different title might have fit better though.