The Mapmaker’s Daughter
Clare Marchant’s third novel returns once more to the Tudor period. The historical focus for this book is the Dutch Protestants who escaped Spanish persecution, many of whom sought refuge in London—including the book’s heroine, Freida Ortelius, who comes from a famed family of Dutch mapmakers. Building a new life in London with her family, Freida is asked by Queen Elizabeth to make a new map as a gift for Francis Drake. However, the Queen’s interest in Freida arouses suspicion and jealousy at court and, haunted by her past, Freida fears she will never escape the Spanish who brutally murdered her parents.
In the present day, Robyn is living with her father in Hay-on-Wye following the disappearance at sea of her husband six years before. She has been feeling directionless and putting off declaring her husband officially dead, but the mystery of a blood-stained Tudor map that she discovers at her father’s shop has piqued her interest, and so she begins to explore Freida’s story. This is a page-turning tale which I greatly enjoyed. It would be perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Christina Courtenay, or Carol McGrath.
