Lady Hotspur: 5 reasons to pick up Tessa Gratton’s new novel this month
With Lady Hotspur, Tessa Gratton is back with another Shakespearean retelling set in same the world as Queens of Innis Lear — and it’s the perfect book to kickstart your reading year.
Fans of high fantasy and Shakespeare, rejoice! Tessa Gratton has returned to the world laid out in Queens of Innis Lear with her new novel, Lady Hotspur, and it has just about everything we love to see in a huge fantasy novel. Loosely inspired by Henry IV, Lady Hotspur tells the tale of three young women — once united as Lady Knights — caught up in rebellion, prophecy, and eventually war.
Hal Bolinbroke is the new prince of Aremoria, the result of her mother rebelling against the land’s previous king and taking the crown for herself. Hotspur is one of their knights, but she’s more than that to Hal — she’s also her lover and her best friend. Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as simply as that, and the two wind up on opposite ends of the battlefield.
In part, that’s because Banna Mora, the previous prince of Aremoria, vows to get her kingdom back. Becoming the queen of Innis Lear after she’s cast out by Hal’s mother isn’t enough; Mora wants to reunite both kingdoms and reign over them together.
With so much history, the three aren’t necessarily happy to be caught up in a war that could end with them betraying one another. But Gratton’s almost-600-page novel shows these women coming to terms with what it means to rule, what it means to love, and whether or not it’s possible to do both.
For its plot alone, Lady Hotspur is a story that will appeal to fantasy lovers everywhere. But if the plot itself doesn’t intrigue you, though, here are 5 more specific reasons to pick up Lady Hotspur this month.
Its powerful female cast
Lady Hotspur is being marketed for fans of Brienne of Tarth, and as a huge fan of Brienne — and every other woman from Game of Thrones — I can agree on this one. Gratton’s new novel is teeming with badass ladies, and many of them hold positions of power, something that’s hardly ever questioned by the book’s men. Women are accepted as knights, princes, and kings in Gratton’s world, and having the ability to wield a sword is to be expected.
For this reason, Gratton’s take on female characters is a breath of fresh air. There’s so much depth to Mora, Hal, and Hotspur, it’s difficult to know who to root for. All three are layered characters who aren’t afraid to reach for more. They’re the types of women we need to see more of in the fantasy genre, and theyr’e truly what makes this story such a joy to read.
The political manuevering
Anyone who loves a fantasy story wrought with politics will get their fill from reading Lady Hotspur. From the very beginning, the story raises questions about power and who’s allowed to wield it. Celedix’s rebellion forces readers to question whether a throne can truly belong to someone through blood — or if it can be stolen and kept, so long as the kingdom’s people are happy and cared for.
Naturally, with Mora and Hal pitted against one another, this question comes up often throughout the book. But there’s also so much more to dive into within the novel’s political sphere, including the questions surrounding marriage alliances and heirs, as well as the line between love and duty.
The complex character relationships
One of the biggest selling points of Lady Hotspur seems to be the F/F romance between two of its main characters — a simultaneously heartbreaking and saccharine storyline that does a stunning job of driving the novel’s plot forward. The love and betrayal Hal and Hotspur go through over the course of the story will keep readers flipping the pages, desperately hoping that the two find a way to remain together, even in spite of all the obstacles thrown at them.
And it’s not just the major romance readers will fall for while reading Gratton’s novel. The relationships between characters — whether they’re romances, friendships, or political alliances — are realistic in their many layers. It’s interesting to see which characters end up clicking with one another, as the relationships lead to some of the most unexpected developments in this story.
The nods to Shakespeare
Fans of Shakespeare will easily pick up on the allusions to his plays, with ghosts and prophecies making up much of Lady Hotspur‘s plot. While the story very much feels like a fantasy written in the present, it calls back to many classic tropes that serve to make the journey more interesting. From Earth Saints to wizards to ever-changing divination, there’s so much magic to be found throughout Gratton’s latest novel — and all of it will have fans of Shakespeare seriously nerding out.
The lush writing
Lush writing and descriptive chapters can make some fantasy novels drag on forever. Fortunately, that isn’t the case with Lady Hotspur. Gratton’s writing gorgeously ties everything together, and readers will get the sense that every word in this novel was handled with care — and with consideration of how it enhances the overall story.
Even when it’s not clear what’s going on at that very moment, readers will find that Gratton’s words all connect in the end. And what’s better than a novel that’s constantly feeding its conclusion?
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