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There is historical fiction - and there is historical fiction. Anyone can dust down a set of fusty old names, chuck in a few mead-fuelled brawls and the odd syphilitic courtesan and be done with it. It takes real skill - and devotion - to bring characters blurred by the passage of time into focus, to breathe real life into them, to make their existence tangible to the 21st-century mind. In A Secret Alchemy, Emma Darwin has managed such sorcery... Passion is also the key to the success of this book. Not your standard, cinematic carnal passion (although there is enough of that: the scene in which Edward proposes to Elizabeth is worthy of the steamiest Andrew Davies bodice-ripper); rather Darwin's evident and genuine passion for her subject: history. There are several great love affairs to be found in these pages - but perhaps the greatest is the author's own with the past: the gossamer-thin threads of memory, real and imagined - and the shimmering web that they weave.
Such fascination is channelled through the character of Una. As the tragic events in her own life lead her to the ghosts of these long-dead noblemen and women, so she leads the reader through the maze of the past. Slowly, meticulously... Darwin builds an intensely atmospheric narrative. Her characters emerge from the rough marble of time into beautifully rounded, polished figures. It takes a while for the reader to get to know them; but when you do, the depth of the acquaintance is such that you feel their fates all the more acutely. There are many twists and turns in this tale, some of them real, some of them not; together they add up to a spellbinding whole. The Times
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There is far and away enough drama in the actual history of the Wars of the Roses to fuel a fine novel, and Darwin takes full advantage of it all... What does she make of the mystery of the little princes in the Tower? You’ll have to read this terrific novel to find out. I couldn’t put it down for the entire 399 pages. Toronto Globe and Mail
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A detailed and fascinating historical novel... a real winner for any fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and their ilk. Waterstones Books Quarterly
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...beautifully paints the world surrounding the princes in the Tower... a love story which moves effortlessly between the past and the present. Edinburgh Evening News
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Spellbinding. Woman & Home
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Powerful and utterly convincing. Daily Mail
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A convincing and intelligent read. The Bookseller
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Complex and engaging, written with great intelligence and a fine grained feeling for the period. Sydney Morning Herald
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A very intelligent read... very tightly written, wonderfully inspirational. It really takes you places. Radio New Zealand
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In measured, golden prose, Darwin
gives breath - and joy, hope and
tears - to dusty textbook characters.
An engrossing read. WHO Weekly
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Shifts effortlessly between the historical era and
present-day England... Darwin writes so
compellingly of love, loss, grief, and of
human lives driven by forces outside any
one person's control that the novel remains
gripping from its very beginning. Notebook Magazine
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This is a work of great
atmosphere and a story well told. Sydney Sunday Telegraph
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Breathtaking drama ... Darwin's at her most powerful exploring Anthony's faith or Elizabeth's understanding of women, love and marriage in her time... a satisfying end ties the threads together. - Publisher’s Weekly
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Beautiful and unique, and Darwin weaves past and present together seamlessly. Darwin’s authorial skills are showcased most brilliantly with Elizabeth... Darwin gets her “voice” just right. Elizabeth is innocent yet wise, and as she grows up, marries, matures and deals with increasingly more difficult circumstances, her narrative voice grows, too... Darwin strikes the perfect balance with these characters; they are rooted in historical truth, yet are enough the product of her imagination to keep the reader completely absorbed. – www.armchairinterviews.com
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An exceptional novel...Darwin is a very assured writer who knows how to make her story compelling... certainly succeeds at breathing life into the historical scenes. Past and present contain parallel elements — family secrets, uncles, lost loves. But the story never seems forced or false. -Halifax Herald
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A judicious blend of scholarship and poetic flourish... matters of the heart, not history, are at the novel’s core, and the period details are delightful. There are fine descriptions of falconry, chivalry, court manners and intrigue, of the natural world, and of lust. There is also the perennial obsession with blood... The intimacy that Darwin creates in her parallel stories of Elizabeth’s bloody trials and of Una’s immersion in the past is touching... - in any century everything is still a family matter. – Boston Globe
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This wonderful piece of storytelling gets to the heart of the characters involved... We feel what it must have been like to live in those turbulent times as the characters come to life and we empathise with their fear...I was captivated. – Ryedale Gazette & Herald
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...draws the readers into the time and events that took place over 500 years ago. It will have you wanting answers to questions that have been long since forgotten. This novel is a truly remarkable way of bringing history back to the forefront of everyday life. – Hunts Post
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