Carol McGrath Reviews: The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden

Author of Mistress of the Sea and The Lost Duchess, Jenny Barden, who offers a give-away copy of her new novel, The Lost Duchess ( see end of the review)



The Elizabethan Age is a comparatively settled period in England’s history, one of glory, expansionism, the opening years of Empire, exploration and discovery. This all came with a price. Every historical moment of brightness also contains its darkness. Jenny Barden’s new novel, The Lost Duchess, published in hardback and as an e book this November, contains such themes, glorious events of exploration and colonisation, and the price paid by many individuals, men, women and children, struggling to colonise the New World’s relatively unchartered shores. It is a novel rooted in England’s seafaring history, set during the adventurous exploits of Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins which specifically concerns the lost colony of Roanoke. The question that Ms Barden explores throughout her second novel is what happened to this colony? How and why did the colonists disappear, leaving agreed, though difficult to decipher signs, carved into trees close to their deserted and destroyed fort? They vanished before help and provisions could arrive at a time when this help was delayed because England, in the following years, was threatened by a Spanish Armada. When help did come it arrived too late, after the colonists had been left to contend with a period of sustained drought, and the threat of a once friendly indigenous people who had turned against them.

The Lost Duchess is a meticulously researched historical novel and this reader found herself avidly reading the paratexts that open each chapter, and which are in part quotations extracted from contemporary documents. They frame the story’s narrative, authenticate it and enhance it. The story’s narrative thrust is gripping. Its plot ingredients include adventure at sea, settlement, political shenanigans, betrayal, conflict and romance.  Queen Elizabeth herself encourages settlement of the American Eastern seaboard hoping to find natural wealth and to afford English ships safe harbour when they wished to indulge in a spot of privateering or were threatened by the Spanish. As a consequence, the narrative contains a sense of constant danger. The sacrifice was that her policy, along with political ruthlessness, put colonists at great risk without sufficient protection. This is open to question but Ms Barden ultimately offers her readers a convincing theory as to why the colonists were put down at Roanoke rather than the safer Chesapeake Bay area which was their original destination.

In this story an assorted group of settlers, many of whom really existed, set sail for the New World on a ship piloted by Simon Ferdinando. These colonists include the fictional Emme, one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, who is determined to escape a scandal which threatens to destroy her future at court. Emme has the task of gathering information and reporting back to Walsingham and the Queen. She must return to England but, despite horrific conditions, the threat of famine and conflict with the indigenous population, she has other ideas. Kit Doonan is a man with a history, a character who first appears in Barden’s first novel Mistress of the Sea but who by the time this book opens is a ship’s boson. Emme and Kit Doonan are attracted to each other, though Kit harbours a secret. This, along with Emme’s previous encounter at court, conspires to prove that the course of true love is never easy. After all, Emme has previously been compromised and will not give her heart away too readily. Both protagonists are successfully portrayed and are engaging characters. Emme is courageous and proactive. Kit is human to a fault, yet honourable and extremely sharp. Taken out of their normal surroundings, Emme and Kit face challenges and encounter extreme difficulties which they must overcome if they are to survive. Emme is presented with many challenging situations both physical and emotional. All the characters in this novel are fully realised, but importantly the anti-hero, Simon Ferdinando, presents surprises, and ultimately we discover the true villainy in the sad narrative of Roanoke’s destiny.

The Virgin Queen in the 1580s

Finally, the indigenous people of America’s south-eastern seaboard are portrayed as convincingly as James Fennimore Cooper once wrote them. After reading this novel I undertook my own research about Roanoke and found out that two Native Americans had indeed come to the Elizabethan court. One betrayed the colonists and was determined to destroy them. Why this happened is shockingly and accurately suggested in Ms Barden’s fiction. The final chapters of The Lost Duchess are un-put-down-able and beautifully composed.

The Lost Duchess is an excellent read, informative and imaginative, beautifully written and brimming with characters whose destiny we care about. I not only enjoyed a thoroughly researched work of historical fiction and an engaging, well-written tale, but understood yet again that whilst power can be manipulative, human nature can rise above it even in the face of desperation and adversary. Highly Recommended.


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Carol McGrath is the author of The Handfasted Wife published by Accent Press and available as a paperback and an e book.