Set in the tumultuous Boleyn-era England, The Crown follows would-be nun Joanna Stafford as she searches her beloved priory for a treasure of unimaginable worth—and unimaginable danger. The scion of a disgraced and impoverished Catholic noble family, Joanna feels compelled to stand witness to a rebellious cousin’s horrific execution. But showing support for ardent Catholics is becoming more and more dangerous since the Act of Supremacy gave Henry the Eighth complete control over the English church, and Joanna is thrown into the Tower of London for her suspicious religious and political motivations. She is eventually coerced by an ambitious bishop to return to Dartford Priory and search for a mysterious object called the Athelstan crown, hidden by Edward the Third centuries before. A taciturn monk and a charming constable assist her, leading to an extremely chaste, but enjoyable love triangle.
While The Crown doesn’t have the pacing or plotting of other historical mysteries like The Name of the Rose or The Mistress of the Art of Death, it was fairly easy to read, and Bilyeau weaves in historical details with a deft hand. However, to focus overmuch on the mystery or the love triangle is to miss the single most important thread running through the story, which was Joanna’s commitment to serving God as a nun while Henry the Eighth dissolved the religious houses one by one. As a non-Catholic, it was very interesting to read about a character so wholly devoted to her faith and a life of religious vocation. Throughout the novel, Joanna makes a passionate case for why convents and monasteries are meaningful and relevant in her time. And by the end, I could see how they could be relevant in my time as well.