The Forgotten Sister: A Novel

“In September 1560, Amy Robsart died in Oxfordshire. Her death has been a mystery to historians and Tudor enthusiasts for years, and Nicola Cornick’s novel The Forgotten Sister gives it a fascinating supernatural twist, making her book stand out from so many other novels about the era.

Amy’s story alternates with the tale of Lizzie Kingdom, a modern-day celebrity whose life has curious parallels to the people of Amy’s time. Lizzie also has a gift: psychometry, the ability to touch an object and see snippets from the lives of people who have interacted with it. After the mysterious death of a close friend, she finds herself drawn into a mystery that has spanned centuries, and her gift may be the only way to save herself.

Even with only a casual interest in the Tudor era, I found myself drawn into the alternating stories. What I loved most was Cornick’s ability to bring out the voices of each era in their respective chapters, while not letting either fall into a stereotype of itself. Some may find the pace a little slow, but I relished the way the mystery was drawn out until the final, satisfying conclusion.”