Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

Peggy is an orphan who lives with her uncle, aunt and beloved cousin, until she is thrown out of the household for refusing to marry the man her uncle has chosen for her.  Peggy has few options, so she turns to a gentleman who seemed to know her mother when she was alive but whom she only met the day before.  With no other choices, Peggy is drawn into the sparkling grandeur of being a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I.  But she does not go as herself, instead she assumes the identity of Lady Francesca Wallingham.  As Fran, she joins the circle of girls serving the queen but she also must be watchful for anyone discovering her.  As the intrigue increases, Peggy realizes that anyone around her could be a spy and starts to question what happened to the real Fran.

Zettel manages the near impossible in this novel.  She has a historical novel that stays true to the time period and yet manages to read as swiftly as a more modern teen novel.  Without ever breaking out of the setting or inserting modern sensibilities, Peggy still manages not to turn off readers with her opinions.  Readers are quickly shown what life was like for an orphaned and penniless girl in this time with a sexual assault on Peggy soon after we meet her.  This helps underline her lack of power and explain why she takes on the danger that she does for the rest of the book.

Zettle plots this book with great skill, revealing the true motivations of the characters slowly.  There are several mysteries at play here and more that emerge as others are figured out.  The pacing of the book is don’t very well too, with enough historical detail to make sure the setting is strongly presented but never too much to slow down the speed of the storytelling.

A dark and mysterious historical novel, this is much less froth and much more intrigue and betrayal with some romance too.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.