Lady in Waiting is written by author Susan Meissner. A new author to me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Most of the novels I read tend to follow a girl in her early twenties, unmarried who falls in love and the couple live happily ever after.
This novel is very different in that it follows two different ladies and at different times in history. The first lady is modern day Jane Lindsay, who lives in New York, is in her mid to late forties, married and runs an antique store. The story begins with her husband telling her he wants to live apart from her for awhile. As the story progresses she finds a ring in some piles of merchandise sent to her antique store. This ring belonged to the Lady Jane Grey, whose story is told through the eyes of Lucy Day, the dressmaker. The novel then goes back and forth between Jane Lindsay's life and the affect of her separation and Lucy Day's story of Lady Jane and her tragic life.
The novel takes the two stories and shows a picture of love and the choices we make for ourselves as women. Whether you have been married for many years, such as Jane or were never married to the one you loved, such as Lady Jane Grey the take away from this book is that you have choices to make and you must stand up for what you believe in.
I love the way that Meissner used the historical figure of Lady Jane Grey as a parallel (using the ring) to the modern day Jane Lindsay. She captured the beauty and grandness of the 16th Century, but also showed the dark and frightening side of the Reformation.
I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a novel filled with history that is intertwined with love, romance and women standing up for that in which they believe.
I have not read any other novels by Susan Meissner, but I am definitely putting her novel The Shape of Mercy on my must read list. You can check out any of these novels on Amazon.
I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
