Review: The Players

The Players by Minette Walters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

England, 1685, the scars and division between Catholics and Protestants still run deep after the Civil War, neighbour informing on neighbour, spies everywhere. Charles II had done much to bring stability to England but after his death without legitimate heir his younger brother James (James II) ascended the throne.

When Charles II's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth launches an ill-advised Protestant rebellion in the West Country, it is quickly quashed and Monmouth escapes the battlefield only to be captured shortly afterwards. In the following days and weeks thousands of 'rebels' are arrested across Devon, Dorset and Somerset. Where Charles had adopted an attitude of let bygones be bygones, James was still smarting over his father's (Charles I) execution and consequently decided to charge all rebels with high treason, for which the sentence was hanging, drawing and quartering. His agent? Judge Jeffries, who later became notorious as Hanging Judge Jeffries as a result of his adherence to James II's desire for revenge.

So far that's historical fact, what Minette Water does is to weave a fascinating and engrossing human tale around these historical facts featuring lady Jayne Harrier (who I now gather - thank you Google - is a character from another book by Minette Walters) and her enigmatic son. Her light touch is wonderful, no turgid historical politics, just a clever man, and two clever women who try to save as many 'rebels' as possible.

I absolutely loved this, I don't want to go into more detail about the story because so much of it depends on the cleverness unfolding gradually. This was a bit of a blank spot in history for me so it was wonderful to have it brought to life so vividly and so clearly, so often family relationships are so complex I get totally lost (don't get me started on the sheer number of Elizabeths and Henrys during the Wars of the Roses) but this was wonderfully clear and I loved the way that all the characters had light and shade. My only gripe was that I could have read a book twice as long!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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