At the House of the Magician
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Determined to get closer to her idol the Queen, and further from her drunken and abusive father, Lucy chances to find employment with Dr John Dee, court magician and consultant to Elizabeth I, and his charlatan associate Edward Kelly.
Here she discovers that she also has second sight. This enables her to warn the Queen of danger, and leads to her covert employment as a spy.
Well researched, supported by both glossary and bibliography, and empathetically written, this is an excellent background text to accompany study of the Tudors.
Lucy's life encompasses experiences of great poverty and courtly splendour, and thereby underlines the enormous class divisions in society, as well as detailing everyday life, knowledge, intrigues and superstitions.