Synopsis
There is much excitement at Court as the famous painter Levina Teerlinc arrives to paint the Queen's portrait. The Maids of Honor are recruited to help entertain the Queen during the sittings, and to pose for the painter while the Queen is busy. They love being in the studio but have to beware as deadly poisons are used in some of the paints! One of Lady Grace's fellow Maids of Honor, Carmina, begins to act rather strangely—she seems confused and always tired. Her family has recently been involved in a feud with another noble family after her father was killed in a jousting tournament—is it possible that Carmina is being poisoned? Could the painter or her assistants be involved? Can Grace solve the mystery and discover the truth behind the strange happenings at Court?
Children's Literature
Written in the style of a personal journal, Feud chronicles the exploits of Lady Grace as she investigates the poisoning of one of her fellow Maids of Honor. Lady Grace is one of several young women who wait on Elizabeth I in the year 1570, and Grace is determined to find out who or what is making Lady Carmina ill. In order to keep the court from panicking at the threat of someone in the Queen's court being poisoned, Elizabeth orders Grace to investigate quietly and report directly to her. While the poisoning and the investigation play a primary role in the novel, there are also a great many historical facts interspersed throughout, with interesting looks into the daily life of the court of Elizabeth I. The character of Lady Grace is undoubtedly fictional, as well as the poisoning of one her associates, but the poisoning lends a necessary focus to the book that allows interesting historical details to be mixed in. Included at the end of the text is a brief history of Elizabeth I.