It's been a rough few days, so I needed something quick and simple that I could read in very small chunks if necessary, so I turned to one of my favourite childhood series; the 'My Story' diaries, and a book I've read before (albeit quite some time ago). This particular book focuses on the story of Elinor, a lady-in-waiting at the Court of Henry VIII, and her view of the King's 'Great Matter'; his separation from Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

The reason I loved these as a kid and still do now is that they take well known events of history and bring them right down to earth. The diary format is a great way of personalising these milestones, and drawing the focus away from the main players to imagine how an 'ordinary' person may have viewed events in the context of their own lives. It's a very clever balance that's struck between involving these fictional young girls in real events, while also staying true to history and giving the reader a glimpse into their 'normal' lives.

Where this one falls down slightly is that the diary format doesn't really work, as it covers such an extended period of time. As a result, Elinor's diary entries have been spaced quite a long way apart. I appreciate that if it had been done with entries for every few days, the book would be huge, but when you're looking at an average of one entry every two to three months, it just doesn't feel like you get the depth you would expect from a person recording their intimate thoughts. It really is jst an overview of the main plot points of this moment in history - the pace is very quick as you bounce from one recognisable moment to another, with very little in between. There are some personal touches, but just not enough to make it feel as 'real' as many of the other books in the series. However, the fact that it doesn't go into a lot of depth means that it is an engaging read for someone with a short attention span (me at the moment!).

If I were a child learning about the Tudors for the first time, and thus a member of the target demographic for this book, I'd learn an awful lot very quickly. This series is a great way into history for the uninitiated, and I love the fact that they also include some additional material such as a timeline, images that relate to the story etc. in the back of each book so that children can be guided to further reading and understand where the story fits within history. I know I certainly made use of the information I found in there on more than one occasion (even as an adult!).

Usually, these books are pretty good at sticking with established fact, right down to the little things. But, there is one absolute clanger of a historical inaccuracy right at the end, which really annoys me - Anne Boleyn did not have a block at her execution! In light of this and the big gaps in the narrative, it does make me wonder if the author of this particular book was given a subject to write on that she only had limited knowledge of? It feels like perhaps she mainlined a couple of the major works of non-fiction on this period and fairly quickly rehashed them into a fictional narrative.

I'll always enjoy a book on the Tudors, and this one certainly did what I needed it to in this particular set of circumstances, but there are definitely better books in the series.