My Book Reviews

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A Woman of Noble Wit by Rosemary Griggs is an astoundingly successful book. Up until now, Katherine-Kate’s life has, like so many women, been lost to time, which is such a crying shame, as some of these women had more interesting lives than the men whose names are forever documented in history. Rosemary Griggs has given her readers an intimate and plausible story about the life of the mother of one of England’s greatest explorers, Sir Walter Raleigh.

At times this novel was raw, emotional and left me in tears. At other times it is carefree, enjoyable. As the …

I love historical fiction set in the Tudor era, so when I was asked if I would like to read A Woman of Noble Wit I immediately said yes, and I am so glad I did.

Sir Walter Raleigh - explorer, soldier, spy, statesman, the list goes on and on. But like Icarus, he flew too close to the sun and the rest is, as they say, history. As for those who came before him, little is known. Rosemary Griggs has decided to do something about this and has written a truly mesmerising story about Katherine Champernowne, Sir Walter’s mother.

For a woman from the past to leave a mark in history books, she had to have lived an extraordinary life. Some have notorious reputations, or they were considered women of immaculate character. In Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, there was one who was “a woman of noble wit.” She was the daughter of an ancient gentry family who had connections with the court of Henry VIII. Her large family would navigate political turmoil and religious reformations to survive. The name of this wife and mother was Katherine Raleigh, and her tale is told in Rosemary Griggs’ debut novel, “A Woman …

The Plot in Brief: Set in the Devonshire countryside of Tudor England, this is the fictionalized story of Katherine Champernowne, the mother of Sir Walter Raleigh.

The Characters: I’ll start by saying this book contains a very long cast of characters, often with the same or similar sounding names. The families in the story include the Champernownes, Carews, Courtenays, Gilberts and the Raleighs. I admit that I was at times confused as too who was who, especially as the families were intermarried. Many of the side characters were thinly fleshed out and remained unmemorable. The main characters, Katerine, her first …

A man may go adventuring, but a woman’s place was in the home. Her mission in life was to give her husband strong sons. She must be passive, accepting of her situation. Katherine-Kate’s life had been mapped out for her from a child. She will have no say in who she marries. She can only hope that her father does not wed her to some aged lord. Oh, how she wished she were her brother. Johnny’s life would be glamours and exciting, whereas Katherine-Kate would always be wishing for more. But that was the way of the world, and there …