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    Crossing the Floor: The Story of Tariana Turia
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    Crossing the Floor: The Story of Tariana Turia
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    Crossing the Floor: The Story of Tariana Turia
    Ebook822 pages11 hours

    Crossing the Floor: The Story of Tariana Turia

    By Helen Leahy

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This biography of Tariana Turia sees family members, iwi leaders, social justice advocates and politicians share their experiences of this remarkable woman. While parliament was not part of her life plan, Tariana Turia was involved in many community initiatives. A turning point came in 1995, when Tariana’s leadership was evident in the reoccupation of Pakaitore. Here was a woman with the courage to care, the determination to speak up and a deep commitment to whanau. Inevitably, she was invited to stand in the 1996 general election. In her eighteen years as an MP, she advanced thinking in the disability area, advocated for tobacco reform and spoke out about sexual abuse, violence and racism. She also led the Whanau Ora initiative. In 2004, she crossed the floor, leading to the birth of the Maori Party.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHuia Publishers
    Release dateNov 1, 2015
    ISBN9781775502692
    Unavailable
    Crossing the Floor: The Story of Tariana Turia
    Author

    Helen Leahy

    Helen Leahy is specialist advisor for Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu/Te Putahitanga o Te Waipounamu (Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency). She was formerly ministerial advisor and Chief of Staff of the Maori Party, and during the 2014 general election, she was national secretary for the Maori Party. Prior to this, she has held roles as a policy analyst, press secretary, speech writer, party secretary and electorate delegate.

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    Reviews for Crossing the Floor

    3.5/5

    9 ratings21 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This book took forever to read. I'm not a huge fan of fae stories, but I got this in my winter BookBathBox and figured I would give it a go. Unfortunately, I just didn't really like it. I didn't care for any of the characters, and I found the whole plot just kind of boring. Sometimes I really enjoy political intrigue and court politics books, but this one missed the mark for me.
    • 4/5
      Originally posted on The Emerald City Book Review (emeraldcitybookreview.blogspot.com)This is a tale of two courtiers in Elizabethan England. One is on his way up, newly appointed to the Gentlemen Pensioners, elite bodyguard to the Queen herself. The other has recently fallen from high favor, and is fighting for her life in the cutthroat atmosphere that pervades the royal court.But there's a twist: the sovereigns they serve are not the same. A shadow court exists below the streets of London, a court of Faerie known to few mortals. Is Elizabeth one of them? What does she know of Invidiana, the dark and hidden counterpart to her bright and shining reign above?When two courtiers, one mortal and one of Faerie, find their paths intertwining in unexpected ways, they know that nothing can ever be the same again. They must risk everything to find the answers.Marie Brennan's lush and lovely tale will draw you in at once and not let you go until long after midnight, if you're anything like me. There is no shortage of historical fiction about the Elizabethan period, including a goodly amount of fantasy -- and small wonder, given the truly fantastic personalities, events, and literature that era produced, let alone the clothing styles. Midnight Never Come is a worthy addition to the list, spinning something compellingly original out of the threads of history, folklore, and tradition. Historical personages, legendary figures, and Brennan's own inventions mingle seamlessly, each of the large and varied cast of characters depicted with conviction and strength.Most of all, her two protagonists will captivate you with the details of their lives in court: real or imagined, it matters not. You won't want to stop reading until you find out what happens to them, how it happens, and whether (let's face it) they have a future together. Can the ancient alchemical formula "As above, so below," become a reality and not a mockery?This is surely an entertainment, not an educational or philosophical tome, yet such deeper questions do rest at its foundations. Along with Brennan's fluent, elegant writing, this is one of the greatest pleasures to be found in reading this novel. In the halls of fantasy fiction, long may she reign.
    • 4/5
      The Fae have always been around. But even they can change. Humans are like that, whatever gets close to them is altered. So although the faerie began by merely jesting, swapping children, dancing the nights away, slowly some of the human motivations began to creep into their lives. And the humans don't stop, they build hamlets become villages and cities. Where once (and still in the deeper shadows) the fae played in Hill and Glen, now there is the Oynx Court most fabulous and unique of all their realms.It sits astride, beneath, apart and contained within the City of London currently ruled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I - recently having taking power from her cousin Mary Queen of Scots. Such little trifles as human wars and tensions between nations matter little to the fae of course. But their Queen has made a bargain, and so at times Elizabeth requires aid, and the Fae are sent with a portion of mortal bread to sustain their masquerade at court. Luna is one such, out of favour with her own Queen and not noticed by the other. She's tasked to learn more about he chief spymaster as the Fae could do without the humans learning too much about them - even immortal beings are susceptible to fervent religion uttered at them. However when she falls even further out of favour, she finds aid in a quarter she'd never expected, and then it all comes down to trust.I'm not a big fan of historical fiction but this is counterbalanced by a very well done faerie world. Lots of beings lots of conflicting motivations, a good sense of time and the problems of humans. I'll probably read the rest of the series especially if they're set closer to our own time.
    • 4/5
      Summary: During the reign of Elizabeth I, England was flourishing, and Elizabeth's court was a center of power and influence. But underneath London, there was another court, equally powerful. Invidiana, faerie queen of the Onyx Court, rules with a power just as ruthless as that of her mortal counterpart, and the politics of the two realms are intertwined to a degree known only by a very few in either the human or fairy realms. In the mortal world, Deven, a young courtier eager to gain a place in Elizabeth's court and thus secure his position, begins to uncover dark secrets and hints of threats against Elizabeth's power. In the fairy court, Lune has fallen from favor after making a unfavorable bargain with the water fae, and is now caught between the queen and her ambitious and deadly lieutenant. Lune must keep her true identity hidden from Deven, even as he unknowingly stumbles closer to the truth, but in the end it will take both of them working together if they are to save both of their realms from disaster.Review: On the surface, I should have loved this book. Elizabethan England! Fairies! Hidden secrets! Glamours and intrigues and spies and double-agents and a cameo by John Dee! Marie Brennan's lovely writing, which I'd only previously encountered in short story form, but which I really enjoyed! But something about it never quite clicked for me, so even though I should have loved it, it took me a very long time to get through this book, and it wound up being not quite as good as I would have hoped.While I felt like the book kept me at arms' length from the characters and the story for most of its length, particularly in the beginning, it did definitely pick up steam once we found out more about what the issue was and got more of the history and the backstory and the actual conflict, with the result that I was much more absorbed in the back half of the book than I was in the front half. It's a clever idea that Brennan's playing with, and it ultimately did wind up delivering the thing that I want from my historical fantasy: a feeling of resonance and power and plausibility. I know the history (well enough, anyways); what I want is for authors to weave a fantasy world around and through that history that leaves me feeling like "yes, that could be true." Elizabeth I's reign was pretty phenomenal in a lot of aspects, so sure, maybe there *was* a bargain with the fae at the heart of it. And by the end of this book, I was there; Brennan pulls from a lot of British Isles mythology, and winds up with exactly the kind of resonance and authenticity that I wanted.However, the set up to get to that point took a looooong time (or maybe it just seemed that way because of how slowly I was reading - kind of a chicken-and-the-egg thing: was it a general lack of interest in reading that made this book seem so slow, or was the slowness of the book sapping my interest in reading it?) So, while this book had a lot of good elements, it took me a long time to get to them, and this book never really got into my brain or into my heart the way a lasting favorite would. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: I liked this one but didn't love it, but if books about the Faerie Court or Tudor-era England (or both!) are your thing, then I think it'd be worth a try.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. It took me longer to read than normal, I had to keep flipping back and forth to remind myself who was who and when it was taking place and who was with who, but I didn't mind at all because it really kept me involved with the story. I love books that deal with Queen Elizabeth and her Court and I think Brennan did an excellent job with putting everyone in it and all the politics that went on at the time and mixed them with the faerie court. I almost wish there would be a second book, but I also think she ended it in a very good way. It's hard to end books like this without having an opening for sequels. I think this is a must read for anyone into fantasy and period reads.
    • 5/5
      The Summary: Two kingdoms in England are intertwine in a vicious circle. Who aids who? Where is the balance of the scales? And how can the pact be broken?The Take Away: As in her first two titles, Brennan tells an enthralling tale. I loved how she entwined history with faerie lore, without changing the history. Lune, the outcast fae and her human consort Michale are fabulous characters drawn together by circumstances and kept together through commitment and fidelity. Both promise to serve their respective queen. One breaks the promise to aid the other but only to destroy one of the greatest evils done to England.Brennan u yses the history and structure of the fae to tell a marvelous story without changing either side. Quite remarkable.
    • 4/5
      I had been searching for this book for years. I would see it, and defer purchase and then forget the author and title, and be unable to find it again. I wanted it because I like SFF, and historical fiction.This book is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. It moves as the court moves, so sometimes it is in London, and sometimes at other nearby locations. There is a prolog that depicts Elizabeth in the Tower where Mary had placed her ostensibly for her religious beliefs, but really because she was afraid Elizabeth's supporters were going to overthrow her. The premise is that Elizabeth was definitely slated to die, but she made a pact with one of the Fae. Invidiana, was a woman who also wished to be Queen, but of the Fae. She makes Elizabeth an offer she can't refuse.The story jumps then to a mature Elizabeth who is secure on her throne, and to Invidiana being the Fae queen. It is implied that the poor weather caused the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and that the weather and other combatants were supplied by the Fae.The POV character for the human court is a poor, socially low level young man who comes to court, Michael Deven. He did some good work for Walsingham, and has been sponsored to become a member of the Gentlemen Pensioner's, Queen Elizabeth's bodyguard. He is loyal to the Queen but he also wants to make his fortune and advance in social rank.The POV for the Fae is a character named, Lune. She was a lady in waiting for her Queen Invidiana in the Onyx Court. The court was created under human London and protects the Fae from the charms and religious injunctions that humans use against them. The Fae are not open about their existence, they sneak around humans and go in disguise.Lune is in disgrace because she was responsible for negotiating the deal that had the sea folk helping the English and destroying the Armada. Her Queen felt she gave up too much. In royal disfavor, Lune has become a target in the court. Life in the Onyx Court is dangerous, because the Queen is vicious, capricious and likes to play games. Even living out in the countryside is no protection from the Queen's machinations, so there is no safe place. Because the Queen is that way, her courtiers emulate her, and are very cut-throat.Deven and Lune do end up together, when Lune is sent to the human court to spy on them. She goes in disguise at the start and latches onto Deven for his inside knowledge. Of course, Lune's plans fall apart, and Deven becomes aware that she is Fae and that they exist.The story is mostly about how he finds out about Lune, and what they do together to fight Individiana. Her evil influence is felt at Elizabeth's court, and Walsingham instructs Deven to find the secret actor pulling the strings. Walsingham suspects a human agency dabbling in the politics of the realm, not a magical one. He dies before Deven learns of the Fae.I enjoyed the book. I thought it was well written and gave a good picture of the time period. Brennan is able to balance the past with enough modernity to make it understandable to us, without being jarring or anachronistic.The characters were very well done. They all seemed believable and real, and like people I want to know more about. The construct of the Fae and their world was interesting, as was the politics and history of the various realms.The story was good, though a little light on the influence of the Fae on Elizabeth's court. Something more dramatic than meddling in Ireland would have been better. Much of the story of the Onyx Court is told towards the end when they are trying to overthrow Individiana. More information about how and why the court became evil sooner would have been better, since the explanation at the end was not really shown in the story.Finally the structure of the story is a bit odd. There is a human who has been sucked into the Fae world, and is trapped there. He is a seer, and he has strange passages that describe his dreams, sights and experiences, but he isn't really explained til the end. What is in the passages, doesn't always connect or make sense for a lot of the book.I think Brennan was trying to gild her story with some of the literary magic that was part of Elizabeth's time period, but it wasn't meaningful for me.The narrative is also broken up with date, and location lines. It helps break scenes and lets you know when and where the story is, but I didn't find them terribly important.The problems I have listed are really minor and keep the book from being 4.5 or 5 stars, but the story is still a very good read.I have the next book in the series, In Ashes Lie which is set in 1666 England.
    • 5/5
      This book surpassed all my expectations! After borrowing it from a fellow LT member I thought it was a tad on the dull side but soon got caught up in the drama and political issues it brought forth. Lune, a member of the fae is undercover for her queen in mortal London.. She meets and falls in love with Devon, a member of the Queen's Gentleman Protectors. She soon is in over her head with her spying and the Queen of Faeries, Indiviana; casts her out of the Onyx Throne hall to beg for food and a place to sleep. Devon and Lune, along with many supporters, see that it is time for Invidiana to give up her throne. Easier said than done! A tale of loves lost and found in merry old England.
    • 5/5
      With her latest book, Brennan has moved from more traditional sword & sorcery to intricate historical fantasy. Anyone wanting or expecting more of the same might be disappointed. I was not. Set in the late 16th century, Midnight Never Comes opens with a pact between two women who will soon become the most powerful rulers in England: Elizabeth the Virgin Queen, and Invidiana, faerie ruler of the Onyx Court below London. The Onyx Court is a dark shadow of the city above, a secret place of cruelty and deception. One member of Invidiana's court, a faerie named Lune, struggles to regain the favor of her queen by spying on events above. Lune's counterpart is the human courtier Michael Deven, who has been tasked by spymaster Francis Walsingham with finding the hidden player influencing Queen Elizabeth. As Lune and Deven discover the secrets behind Invidiana's power and the true nature of the faerie queen's pacts, they must choose whether to work together, risking everything to try to break Invidiana's rule. Lune was a more appealing character to me, in part I think because her stakes were higher. Whereas Deven starts out trying to secure a position in Elizabeth's court, Lune serves a more temperamental and dangerous ruler in a court that makes human politics look as simplistic and straightforward as the squabbling of preschoolers. Watching Lune navigate that court, seeing her fall and struggle to rise again, leaves Deven feeling a little bland by comparison. I confess to being a poor historian, but even to my eye it's clear Brennan has done a great deal of research for this book. Every detail is meticulous and precise, evoking not a generic English fantasy setting but a very real and concrete place and time. Brennan blends historical detail with the fantastic so smoothly I barely noticed the seams. This is a book that invites you to slow down and savor. Broken into five acts, each act builds more tension, moving from a relatively leisurely introduction toward a much more focused struggle in the final act. By the end, I had a hard time closing the book, and lost quite a bit of sleep as things came to a climax. If you're looking for nonstop action and excitement, this may not be the book for you. But if you want rich worldbuilding and a story you can truly immerse yourself in, I'd recommend picking this one up.
    • 5/5
      I'm new to writing reviews, but "Midnight Never Come" certainly inspires me to write one. It's not often that a book intertwines historical figures and fantastic personages with such elegance. Oddly, the author manages to make both the mortal and immortal characters come to life with what I can only call a startling realism. Considering that more than half the major characters are mythical by nature, that's quite an accomplishment.These are not the poetically spoken dewdrop fairies of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", although they do rise from the same folk tradition. (It's helpful that the author is proficient in both folklore and history.) Somehow, without sacrificing the poetry or sense of magic, the author makes her inhuman characters quite easy to relate to. For "great shadows", they're remarkably three-dimensional. Then too, the author has a gift for deftly blurring the lines between what's natural and what's not; there are very earthy fairies, and an unearthly human wandering their halls with mad forays into prophecy. Playing with the concept of just what it means to be human - or not - makes for vivid characterizations.The plot is every bit as intricate - which does, admittedly, make it a bit tricky to follow in places. We shift between the story as told by different characters, and the focus shifts from events past to events present, sometimes without warning. Fortunately, it's easy to become immersed enough in the story that one picks up the trail each time the plot doubles back in a new direction, until it all comes around quite nicely with the ending.
    • 3/5
      There are two courts in London, and two queens rule England. One Mortal, one Fae. I do like the Fae, and I'd loved to read even more about the different Fae and lands.

      Elizabeth and Vididiana They know of each other. To the rest The Fae ares stories. The tricksters, the fair ones.

      Do I like Elizabeth? No, she is always so petty. Did I like Vivi? Gods no, she was one mad cow. You can see my point, things are not better in the Court of Onyx.

      I need to get to the point. Lady Lune is sent to the mortal court. There she will gather information. At the same time we have Michael, new to the court and trying to get into Walsingham's good graces. And uncover who a hidden player is at court. The will obviously meet at one point, and maybe even like each other, at the end. Hint hint.

      We have political intrigues. A spot of romance. The dangers of the fae. The dangers of a mortal court. And it makes so much sense. Of course the Fae were in the background, this works so well.

      Conclusion:
      I never expected the conclusion to actually arrive in this book, which was good! But it also makes me so curious what will happen in the rest of the series.
    • 5/5
      I very rarely read a book that I can't put down, but Midnight Never Come delivered all the way! I literally devoured it at one sitting long after I should have been sleeping, and the next day passed it on to a friend with an emphatic "You have to read this!"I had high hopes for this book, and it surpassed them all. I have loved for years Melissa Scott's Armor of Light, a story of magic and Queen Elizabeth's court, but Midnight Never Come was even better. Imagine mixing A Midsummer Night's Dream with a healthy dose of Christopher Marlowe, a soupcon of the Faerie Queen, and a big dose of urban fantasy. This would be the result, and what a glorious mixture it is! Highly recommended!
    • 5/5
      Great court intrigue. Would likely appeal to historical romance readers, if they didn't mind the romance taking a backseat. May also appeal to readers of Jacqueline Carey, though the mortal world is real.
    • 5/5
      The Tower of London: March 1554Elizabeth, 21 years old, is visited on night in her prison cell. A beautiful woman stands in front of her offering not only to set her free but to rise her to the throne where her sister now sits."And in return? What gift- no doubt a minor, insignificant trifle- would you require from me?""Oh, tis not minor." The faintest of smiles touched the stranger's lips.The pact that is borne that night will rise 2 women, one mortal and one fairy, to power.Michael Devon, a courtier for Elizabeth I, and Lune a courtier for Invidianna, will soon try to figure out what is behind the power of these two women and break it.Very, very interesting story. The plot keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end.I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical novels with a twist of fantasy added. I would suggest readers have some knowledge of the Elizabeth I time period. Can't wait to read other books about the Onyx Hall fairies.
    • 4/5
      The central conceit in Midnight Never Come is that Elizabeth I was not the only Queen to rule in England during that time. There was a second, shadow kingdom, one below the city of London. One ruled by a faerie queen. The two kingdoms are not independent of one another; their histories have been interwoven since a fae calling herself Invidiana approached Princess Elizabeth, imprisoned in the Tower of London by her sister Mary and awaiting execution, and made the startling offer: Elizabeth's life and freedom for an alliance. "As I will raise you to your throne, you will raise me to mine," Invidiana promises. "And when we both achieve power, perhaps we will be of use to each other again."Was this a pact with the devil or the key to survival for both England and the Onyx Court? Three decades later, the two kingdoms have become entwined in ways Elizabeth could never have foreseen, from the storm that stopped the Spanish Armada (with magical help) to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots (which maintained the balance of power between the various faerie realms).Now comes to court a young man, Michael Deven, full of idealism and ambition, anxious to find a patron and make his fortune. He is not the only one to seek favor at court; Lune, a fae courtier once trusted by Queen Invidiana but now marginalized, seeks to regain her former position. Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's master of spies, suspects a conspiracy, but has not yet begun to suspect schemes that transcend merely human politics. One plot twist follow another, with such skillful blending of historical and fantastical that at times I found myself wondering which was the real series of events.
    • 4/5
      Historical Fantasy is a difficult subgenre in which to write. The author must both create a story using the elements of fantasy, like wizards, elves, and faerie beings, and must try to maintain historical accuracy for the period of history in which the novel is set. It is a tricky business, but Marie Brennan, a relatively new author whose books are being published by Orbit, manages to pull it off rather well in Midnight Never Come, her tale of Elizabethan intrigue and faerie powerMidnight Never Come is set in the latter days of the reign of Elizabeth the First, Queen of England, sometimes called Gloriana. Her court has been one of internal peace, even as outside enemies have threatened, but under her reign England has prospered. Michael Deven is a young man who has come to Elizabeth’s court to seek personal advancement. Coming from humble beginnings, he has managed to become one of the Queen’s personal bodyguards. But that is not quite enough to make his fortune in a court where one’s job can cost more than to maintain that what one makes. So Deven seeks out Sir Francis Walsingham, queen’s spymaster. What occurs brings Deven into a close contact with the realm of the Fae, a shadow court that exists beneath the streets of London, and separate from it in time and space. Lune is a courtier of that shadow court, a Machiavellian world whose queen derives great pleasure from causing emotional and physical pain in her subjects. Lune is very much like Deven, seeking advancement in her own court. But the two of them soon discover a secret that could destroy both courts, as well as Lune herself, and they must race against time to solve a riddle and overthrow the evil Faerie Queen Invidiana.I highly recommend Midnight Never Come to any lover of stories about the Fae, those interested in historical novels of Elizabethan England, or those who enjoyed or still enjoy fairy tales and myths.Full Review at Grasping for the Wind
    • 4/5
      The premise: In Elizabethan England, everything is not as it seems. Queen Elizabeth rules all of England, but beneath the London, another Queen rules another city. A Dark Queen who'll do whatever it takes to keep Elizabeth in power, as well as hold on to her throne. But two courtiers have stumbled upon the secret of this darker, shadow rule, and will do anything to break it.My RatingGive It Away: by time I finished the book, I was enjoying myself and will actually seriously consider getting the sequel. But it took a very long time for my interest to get snagged, and that's more my fault than the author's: I have a strong dislike of fairies and I've sadly lost interest in the Elizabethan period in which this book takes place. I will say that on the surface, this looks like it's another fairy book with an evil Queen who needs to get what she deserves, but there's more to it than that, and once I got to that point in the book, I was very engaged. Like I said, I'll consider reading the sequel. I've read all of Brennan's novels so far, and she's improving as a writer, there's no doubt. I think if there's a flaw in this one, it's that the historical detail sometimes gets in the way of the larger plot, and I'm curious to see if the same happens with In Ashes Lie (the sequel). Who knows? But I intend to read on, despite my dislike of fairies. That's how much I like the author. The full review, which includes some spoilers as well as cover art commentary (and why I like this author so much), is in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Marie Brennan's MIDNIGHT NEVER COME Happy Reading!
    • 3/5
      I have had this book on my to be read pile for quite a while. I really enjoyed the Warrior and Witch series by Brennan and was excited to read this one. I didn’t like this as much as the Warrior and Witch series; it was just kind of slow.The whole premise of this book is that there is a fae court ruled by a Queen named Invidiana that lies beneath the English court of Queen Elizabeth. Initially it’s not all that clear what is driving the story. We basically switch between Lady Lune and Michael Deven’s stories. Lady Lune is trying to regain the favor of Queen Invidiana and survive the shadow court. Meanwhile Deven is trying to gain Queen Elizabeth’s favor and make a name for himself.This story is largely layers of intrigue and conspiracy (not my favorite thing to read about). There is a lot of history in here as well, which was interesting some of the time but started to bog the story down towards the end.Additionally I never really engaged with the characters all that well. Lady Lune and Deven both seem strangely isolated and self-serving; they just weren’t all that interesting to me.The story moves slowly, at the beginning it doesn’t seem to have much of a point. As things continue you can see that Invidiana is having a negative impact on both fairy and human lands and then the story becomes more cohesive. As far as the writing style itself; the book is decently written and flows well. IOverall this was an okay book. The book is well written and the idea behind a underground fae court that drives Queen Elizabeth’s above court is interesting. However the story moved slow and was bogged down by a lot of the history. The story was also primarily intrigue based which really isn’t my thing. I personally won’t be reading any more books in this series; it just wasn’t that interesting to me.
    • 5/5
       A nice, fairy-filled urbanish fantasy that takes place in two worlds, with two Queens of England. It's part historical fiction and part fantasy. The fairy Queen of England and the human Queen of England are about to come to blows, while a human and a fairy must find a way to save their two worlds. Fun, exciting and more than a little dark.
    • 5/5
      A dark and intriguing read, Midnight Never Come takes some of the traditional fey and moves them to the Elizabethan court. I found this originally at work and fell in love with the book. I love how Brennan brings Elizabethan England to life, from the court life to the outskirts of London at the Angel Inn. While some of the plot elements and revelations seemed a little off for me (particularly the details surrounding Individiana’s backstory), the plot was deftly woven and I did not want to put it down.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of two courtiers; a young man, Michael Deven, and a fae woman, Lady Lune. Deven is a mortal who is in the Gentlemen Pensioners in Elizabeth I court and Lune is a faerie in the Onyx Court of Queen Invidiana. Both courts mirror each other with the Onyx Court lying beneath the streets of London. Deven is on the rise in his court while Lune has fallen from her queen’s grace. They eventually work together to break Invidiana’s power so that both courts will survive.This book was a fast enjoyable read. The beginning is about courtly life with politics, spies, and plotting. Near the end, the story becomes a fairytale with curses and lost loves. Invidiana is dark and evil like a classic wicked fairy or witch. She has a hand in the history making events of Elizabeth’s reign. It was this mix of fantasy and history that made the book and interesting read.