Author Sarah Kennedy is clearly as gifted as her main character, almost supernaturally at home in the 16th century as she combines the striking vocabulary of the time with her own poetic talents to create a rich and original tapestry of language. Such writing! Sarah Kennedy brings a lost world blazingly to life. Lee Smith

Sarah Kennedy reanimates lost perspectives of Tudor England in her . . . story of Catherine, a former nun displaced by Henry's dissolution of the religious houses. Suzanne Keen

The energy in the language conveys the urgency of a fraught moment in history with prose as bright and dazzling as Catherine's illuminated manuscripts. Kennedy's command of her characters and subject matter is impressive. Per Contra

Sarah Kennedy opens magical windows into the world of Tudor's England and brings it to life in vibrant colors and unforgettable reverberations. She reinvents the genre of historical fiction of that period giving voice to women of all ages, social classes, and economic standing. Domnica Radulescu