Product Description

Called La Jardiniere, a resourceful and clever jester to the queen's court, Nicola was a most unlikely person to end up "fool" and friend to Mary, Queen of Scots. But Nicola isn't an ordinary comedian clowning before the court; her sharp tongue is rare amongst the fawning nobles. As fate takes Mary from France to Scotland, and into confrontations with rebellious lords and devious advisors, Nicola remains deep in the queen's inner circle. But when the Scots start to turn on Queen Mary, Nicola struggles to find something-anything-that she, just a fool, can do to save her friend.

"Rich and involving . . . Readers are treated to a fascinating look at royal politics through the eyes of Nicola." (School Library Journal, starred review)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1842516 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Turtleback
• 390 pages

From Amazon.com
"Where history ends, storytelling begins," writes Jane Yolen in her author's note to this exciting novel based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Only a few facts are known about Mary's young female jester, le Jardiniere, but Yolen and her collaborator, Scottish writer Robert Harris, have created a fascinating girl narrator based on this historical oddity. Le Jardiniere relates the true and tragic tale of the ill-fated 16th-century queen of Scotland.

In 1559, when a ragtag troupe of traveling entertainers is snatched from the sodden streets of Rheims to amuse the bored visiting French court, 13-year-old Nicola Ambruzzi impresses the queen with her wit and honesty. The beautiful young Mary takes the girl under her protection as "the queen's own fool," commissioned to speak the truth boldly amid the fawning lies and schemes of the courtiers. Around them swarm secret plots, duplicity, and betrayal; death is a constant threat.

After her weak boy-husband King Francis dies, the kindhearted Mary is unwilling to hear Nicola speak the truth about her suitors. She experiences two disastrous marriages, first with the handsome wastrel Darnley and then--for political expediency--with his murderer, the treacherous Bothwell. When he plots against her, she must flee back to Scotland to try to resume her throne in the midst of swirling conflict between the Protestant lords and their Catholic rulers. Nicola's wit and daring get them through some dangerous situations, but Mary is eventually imprisoned in the stark castle of Lochleven, where their hairsbreadth attempts at escape wind up a story from history as exciting and deeply affecting as any of Yolen's fantasy novels. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly
"La Jardini?re," one of the court jesters to Mary Queen of Scots, is the subject of this collaborative offering from veteran Yolen (Off We Go! and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, reviewed above) and Scottish debut author Harris. The resulting lengthy first-person novel will appeal to fans of historical sagas, but it lacks the emotional punch that would seem to accompany its interesting subject. A member of a slovenly traveling troupe, young Nicola performs for Queen Mary, wife of the newly crowned King Francis, in Rheims while the royal family mourns the death of Francis's father. Nicola's clever and fearless observations soon win the queen's favor as well as a place at her side: "I am sure it befits a nobleman of France to be to be grand in every sense," she quips, punning on their girth. Nicola remains loyal to the royal through the latter's two subsequent husbands (both nefarious), persecution for her Catholicism in a Protestant Scotland and the queen's being falsely accused of murder. While Nicola's wit sparkles, Mary remains an elusive character. At times the authors seem confined by the facts: several prolonged illness and escape sequences have very little effect on the story's outcome, and the numerous members of court may well blur together for readers. Unfortunately, the curious position of court jesters--intimates with royalty, yet never equals--is only hinted at and never fully explored. Ages 10-14. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The life of Mary Queen of Scots gets a fascinating new telling in this sweeping novel narrated in the voice of a female Jester--La Jardiniere. When orphan Nicola Ambruzzi performs for the French court with her troupe of players, the bold, smart-mouthed peasant girl wins the interest and affection of Mary, and Nicola joins the court as an entertainer and truth-telling companion to the new queen. A deep friendship develops as Nicola follows the queen through her dramatic life in France and Scotland, finally leaving Mary before the queen's flight to England. With an outsider's eye for vivid detail, Nicola makes the cultural and historical particulars of costume, food, houses, court personalities, and politics easily imaginable. Readers without previous knowledge of the period may have trouble keeping track of characters and become weighed down by the book's dialects and sprawling length. But the exciting story of conspiracies and power upheavals offers a rich introduction to the tumultuous history, and readers will respond to the poignant experiences of alienation, romance, intrigue, betrayal, and justice as Nicola and the young queen come of age. A brief author's note helps separate fact from fiction. Gillian Engberg