Review: The Pretender

The Pretender by Jo Harkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting historical fiction. The book is based on a figure in history for whom not much is known, however he did play an important role during King Henry VII’s reign.

The book begins in 1483 in the country with a small lad, John Collan. Soon enough his days of serenity and certainty of knowing who he is are over. At the age of ten, John discovers that the man who was raising him was not his father and he is Edward, the earl of Warwick. He is removed from the farm and all he knows and loves to be educated to be the future king, the hope of England.

Through the book, at each stage his name changes and who he has to become. He is not safe, the King spies could be anywhere, so he is moved about from time to time while he grows before all is ready for him to challenge the throne.

I really enjoyed the book. The way the story was told, the language and words used, I mostly enjoyed. The one, well two, caveats, it was fairly crude at times and a lot of cussing. The cursing may have been okay, but at times it was so jarring and modern it felt anachronistic. Yet there were often words such as distroubled, annon, and astonied, which made the book feel like it took place centuries ago.

It was a fairly sad book, for what happened to John, turned Edward, turned Simnel. The later part of the book I did not enjoy as much, how things went, but it seemed inevitable.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job. He managed the various accents and characters in such a way that I was impressed by the ability and quality. I may just have to look for another book by the narrator.


Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.




View all my reviews