The Lady and the Poet

This was a very pleasant story and I enjoyed it despite its complete lack of excitement. It is just a love story. The lady is Lady Ann More, daughter to one ambitious George More who desires to marry her off to the man with the greatest title to his name. The poet is Master John Donne who holds no favor in her father's eyes. The two fall in love quite by accident. In the court of Elizabeth I, (Do not be fooled.. The Queen only has one brief appearance. This is not about Elizabeth.) the lady and the poet meet. Their meeting is not favorable for either one at first, but over time they come to grow a friendship that eventually leads to something more and forbidden. Thru Ann, readers get an in depth look at life of young lady during Elizabeth's reign. There is sickness, death in childbirth, fear over expressing religion different from the queen's, scandalous affairs, gambling debts, blackmail, and arranged marriages. The latter is one that Ann is trying wholeheartedly to avoid. Her father is most intent of marrying her off to a rather insolent Master Manners. (That really is his name!) As everyone around her is preaching that a woman's place is in the home and that she must be a dutiful daughter and marry the man of her father's bidding, a rebellious streak arrises in Ann. She will stop at nothing to be with the man she loves, the scandalous John Donne. However, deep inside, she is worrying over his supposed affair with a countess. A battle with the chicken pox leaves her feeling fearless tho and she aims to take action into her own hands and that is all I am going to reveal. Very plesant story, but tho it made me smile, it never made me laugh outright. And whereas it would make me go "Oh, dear..." it never made me want to cry in sympathy. The romance was sweet, but not heart thumping. Basically, it didn't move me. The prose was lovely, but at times there was too much of it. Four stars.