The King's Confidante: The Story of the Daughter of Sir Thomas More (A Novel of the Tudors)

This is more the story of Thomas More than the story of his daughter, even though she played a huge part in his life. Thomas More was a behind the scenes man who was forced to go on stage even when he hated it. Plaidy, as usual, tells this story in such a manner that you feel for the people in the story.

More just wants to lead a religious life and raise a good family. He looks out for them as best he can, without all the glitz and glam everyone else of the time seems to feel is so important. But because he's brilliant is forced, time and time again, to go to court and serve King Henry VIII, a man More knew was dangerous, but could find no true way to back away. He was between a rock and a hard place.

But don't let his saintliness fool you. Plaidy does slip in some instances where you have to wonder if he was always looking for God. I'm not trying to downplay the man, but he was human and not at all perfect.

I did like that she showed a different side of English life in the 16th century. Many of her books are focused on court life and this one is decidedly different in that it's not always about court life, but about the middle class of England. I did like that you were introduced to a different set of characters than was usual for her.

Overall this is another Plaidy book not to be missed.

This is the story of the daughter of Sir Thomas More, a scholarly lawyer who rose to fame and fortune as the confidante and advisor to King Henry VIII. Chancellor of England, Sir Thomas More was a devoted family man, and the apple of his eye was his eldest daughter, Margaret, whom he fondly called Meg.

The More family was a happy one, and Meg was devoted to her father. Sir Thomas More, contrary to popular belief at the time, thought that women should be given an education equal to that given men. Consequently, the intelligent and precocious Meg became an erudite scholar. She was everything Sir Thomas More could have hoped for in a daughter.

The focus of the book is not the Court of King Henry but, rather, the home life of the More family and the ways in which they spent their days, shadowed only by the tempest caused by the King's desire to rid himself of his lawful wife in order to marry the notorious Anne Boleyn. This is an interesting departure for the author, whose books often focus on court life. This birds-eye view into a non-royal family in Tudor England is sure to capture the imagination of the author's many fans.

Excellent book all around! This was my first time reading Jean Plaidy and I look forward to reading many more. This was such an intruguing story that your attention is captured from start to finish.

I agree 100% with the previous reviewer.

This is one of Plaidy's best books, a wonderful albeit somewhat fictionalized account of the life of Sir Thomas More.
It delves beyond his association with Henry VIII and tells the story of how Thomas rose from an obscure lawyer to King's councillor then Chancellor of England and matyr to his conscience.
But throughout his rise and fall, the center of his world is really his love of learning and his family - particularly his eldest daughter, Margaret More Roper.
She is the daughter in question and it's through her eyes, as well as Sir Thomas' that this incredible story is told.

I had read this book under its previous title, St. Thomas Eve and re-read it years later under its new title, The King's Confidante. This is a superbly written book, by no means old-fashioned in structure or presentation. Despite this being an older book,a book my mother read when she was young, this story is so well told it is hard to put down. I am an extremely critical reader. If a book fails to catch my interest in the first page, I don't buy it. If I find any part of a book under par, or the ending disappoints, or it is unrealistically told, or the structure is weak, I don't keep a book or re-read it. I have re-read this book at least three times. I re-bought the book because the copy I had was falling to pieces. After all, it used to belong to my mother who bought it used years ago. This book is a keeper. It is the type of book one wants to re-read. I have read tons of books on the Tudor period, fiction and non-fiction and really like this book.