The Queen's Spade by Sarah Raughley

Hey friends,

Since I shared my usual Saturday newsletter on Tuesday this past week (if you haven’t had a chance to, I definitely recommend checking it out), I wanted to introduce a new section to Kim’s Tea Room for my book reviews today. This will be a space where I share my in-depth thoughts on recent reads that I haven’t shared in other spaces yet.

As always, I’m hoping for this space to be communal. Please feel free to comment your thoughts on my musings, share whether or not you’ve read these books, or if I've done a good job of convincing you to add them to your to be read list or not.

I’m kicking things off with my mixed feelings on THE QUEEN’S SPADE by Sarah Raughley.

Synopsis: In this riveting historical thriller inspired by true-life events, Belladonna meets Bridgerton as revenge, romance, and twisted secrets take center stage in Victorian England’s royal court when Sally, a kidnapped African princess and goddaughter to Queen Victoria, plots her way to take down the monarchy that stole her from her homeland.

A young lady can take only so many injuries before humiliation and insult forge a vow of revenge. . . .

The year is 1862 and murderous desires are simmering in England. Nineteen-year-old Sarah Bonetta Forbes (Sally), once a princess of the Egbado Clan, desires one thing above all else: revenge against the British Crown and its system of colonial "humanitarianism," which stole her dignity and transformed her into royal property. From military men to political leaders, she’s vowed to ruin all who’ve had a hand in her afflictions. The top of her list? Her godmother, Britain’s mighty monarch, Queen Victoria herself.

Taking down the Crown means entering into a twisted game of court politics and manipulating the Queen’s inner circle—even if that means aligning with a dangerous yet alluring crime lord in London’s underworld and exploiting the affections of Queen Victoria’s own son, Prince Albert, as a means to an end. But when Queen Victoria begins to suspect Sally’s true intentions, she plays the only card in Victorian society that could cage Sally once again: marriage. Because if there’s one thing Sally desires more than revenge, it’s her freedom. With time running out and her wedding day looming, Sally’s vengeful game of cat and mouse turns deadly as she’s faced with the striking revelation that the price for vengeance isn’t just paid in blood. It means sacrificing your heart.

Inspired by the true story of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Queen Victoria’s African goddaughter, The Queen’s Spade is a lush and riveting historical thriller for fans of This Ravenous Fate, A Dowry of Blood, and Grave Mercy.

My Thoughts

As aforementioned, I have mixed emotions about this one. On one hand, I was excited, enthralled, and reveled in Ina/Sally’s rage with Queen Victoria and her minions. I loved how she schemed and plotted to get her revenge against all of the people responsible for hurting her and, most importantly, someone she deeply cared about, her friend Ade.

In getting to know just how deeply this revenge scheme goes, we are introduced to various people in her life, including:

Mama - who aggravated the shit out of me with the way she consistently bent the knee to Victoria and the upper echelon. She was so blindly willing to kiss Queen Victoria’s feet for the simple hopes of being included in proper society and potentially stepping into a higher station. Although unsurprising, especially for that time, I’d hoped for more and better.

Harriet - Your typical high-standing lady who moans and groans about her parent’s unfair treatment of her as they too tried to maintain their place in society. But she was a snake in the grass, at least to me, from the start. There were moments when I found Sally to be naively trusting of her based on the simple fact that Harriet loathed her mother. Her true colors eventually come to light in a somewhat predictable way by the end.

Bertie: Queen Victoria’s son, heir to the throne, and spoiled brat.

Rui - Though I’m aware this was done absolutely by design by the author, he is my favorite character in the story. Rui helps breathe life into Sally’s ruthlessness because he is ruthless himself. With their bond, we witness reflection, tension, and a potential love story for the ages.

There are a host of other characters that play a role in the overarching plot. But these are the ones who stood out to me the most, apart from the list of folks on her revenge list. Although we are in Sally’s perspective throughout the story, we learn so much about her, her character development, and the plot through these characters, and I think that was done well.

Things that truly didn’t work for me:

The constant somewhat surface level thwarting of Sally’s plans. There’s giving your audience whiplash as a way to move the plot or character development artfully and entertainingly. And then there’s simply just throwing things in whenever you can just to keep the story going. Unfortunately, The Queen’s Spade had more of the latter, and I was over it midway through the book.

There was also the bittersweet ending. I think Ina/Sally gets what she wants in the end. But I won’t lie, I wanted more. I understand why Raughley took the route she chose, especially for historical accuracy, with ending it the way she did. But it left much to be desired for me.

Overall, I don’t dislike the book. I just liked it enough. I don’t think it’s one I’ll ever reread, and only lightly recommend it.

Have you read The Queen’s Spade? If so, what are your thoughts? If not, who are some unsung heroes you’d like to see featured in historical fiction?