Author Anna Belfrage Reviews Queen Anna, Book One of the Stuart Queens Trilogy

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

A crown won in the eye of a storm. A queen who refuses to be broken... Princess Anna of Denmark sails for Scotland to marry King James VI, but storms ravage her fleet, igniting a deadly obsession with witchcraft in her new home. Arriving in a strange and paranoid court, Anna finds her new husband’s bed is a treacherous place.

Over the last few years, I’ve read my way through Mr Riches books—from the first I picked up about Eleanor Cobham, supposed witch, to this, his most recent release, Queen Anna. It is his first book set in Stuart times, and Anna—or Anne as she is known in English history—is the first Stuart queen, a Danish princess married to James VI of Scotland and I of England. As a Scandinavian, I am rather pleased Mr Riches allows her to keep her real name throughout the book—and I loved the occasional Danish words and sentences.

James is older than Anna. She is a young teenager when they wed in 1589, he is over twenty, well-educated and somewhat paranoid. That’s what happens when you grow up surrounded by regents who have a tendency to die, whether it be murdered, fatally wounded defending James’ crown, or executed. He has also developed a fondness for male favourites, surrounding himself with young, male courtiers.

Mr Riches describes Anna’s first few years in Scotland as difficult. A new language, new customs, a husband she rarely sees and who clearly has no intention of involving her in matters of the state—the latter not entirely surprising, as Anna has seen her mother navigating a similar situation, having been excluded from the regency for her young son when Anna’s father died. However, Anna’s parents had a close relationship, and while Sofia of Mecklenburg had no official say in things, she probably exerted a strong unofficial influences—as queens should. Anna does not.

When Anna realises she is to be excluded from the raising of her children, the relationship with James takes a turn for the worse. At some point, the only thing uniting Anna and James is the final prize: the throne of England.

As always, Mr Riches delivers a well-researched book and presents a female protagonist restricted not only by her gender but also by her role. When her husband lavishes attention on one male favourite after the other, she can do nothing but bear it—or manipulate things so that the favourite he chooses is one in Anna’s debt. In England, they live more or less entirely separate lives. Not even when their eldest son, Henry Frederick, dies, are they united for more than a moment. He reverts to his life, she to hers. It is quite sad, all in all.

Mr Riches gives us a woman who is very much an island unto herself in the bustling court of James I. Yes, she is intensely involved in masques and other entertainments, but other than her loyal female companions, her intimate circle is very small. It includes her surviving daughter and son, but it never includes the man she wed. Not even when she lies on her deathbed does James come to her side. But he did write a pretty poem for her afterwards. Somehow, I think Anna would have preferred a hand to hold on to.

Anna Belfrage

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About the Author

Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with two absorbing interests: history and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England.  Her Castilian Heart is the third in her “Castilian” series, a stand-alone sequel to her September 2020 release, His Castilian Hawk. Set against the