Fans of Scottish fiction and historical novels will lap up this absorbing new novel from award-winning Scottish author Janet Walkinshaw.   The-Five-Year-Queen---coverThe eagerly-awaited second instalment of Walkinshaw’s ‘Scottish Reformation’ trilogy follows the well-received Knox’s Wife, which was unique in focusing on protestant reformer John Knox as a main character.   The Five Year Queen deals once again with the theme of religious history as well as putting the spotlight on another important yet oft-overlooked historical figure involved in the religious and social upheavals of the Scottish reformation.   Walkinshaw has a gift for seeing historical events through the eyes of women and In The Five Year Queen she has written possibly the first and only historical novel to focus on Mary of Guise - the eponymous protagonist.   The author’s clear, elegant prose has won her many fans and awards - her short stories have featured on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland - and her evocative language quickly draws readers into the novel, and the world of young Marie de Guise.   The book begins in 1537, when the French beauty has been recently widowed and finds herself in great demand among rulers looking for a suitable wife.   Marie is ordered by King François of France to marry Scottish King James V, in an attempt to strengthen the famous ‘Auld Alliance’ between the two. In England, meanwhile, Henry VIII is vying to make her his fourth wife.   Although she initially refuses both, her mind is changed by a letter, apparently penned by King James himself, pleading for help in governing the unruly Scottish kingdom.   With her sympathies engaged, Marie duly sets off for Scotland, where she is surprised by the level of sophistication at the Scottish court, but is conscious that she remains an outsider, and wary of the deep religious divides that are nurturing distrust, disloyalty and treacherous behaviour.   The threat of war is never far away, and over the border in England Henry looms large as a figure hungry for war, while the wider Protestant reformation is wreaking havoc across Europe.   Although James has several illegitimate children, his wife is well aware that she must bear him a son and heir, as other members of the nobility lie in wait, eager to seize the throne.   Walkinshaw returns to several key themes of her short stories, as collected in Long Road to Iona & Other Stories - travel, pilgrimage and shrugging off of identities - as she describes King James and Marie making a journey to a holy site that is said to help barren women bear children.   It is in moments like this that we see the living, breathing people behind the historical figures.   Marie becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son, but external pressures take a great toll on her marriage and her husband begins to suffer depression and violent changes in personality. Although he appears to improve and his wife gives birth to another son, the story takes a tragic turn when both boys die, and it is unclear whether their deaths are natural or murder.   With Scotland on the brink of war with England, King James becomes ill again and, days after the birth of a daughter, he dies. Widowed for the second time, Marie is offered the chance to return to a wealthy life in France, but instead stays in her adopted nation to raise her daughter - the child who will grow up to become Mary, Queen of Scots.   The Five Year Queen will have great appeal to those with an interest in the past, but its weaving of historical fact and dramatic license makes for an absorbing work of women’s literary fiction, packed with heartache, dilemmas and turmoil.   The character of Marie de Guise is sympathetically drawn, and Walkinshaw endears her to a modern audience, many of whom might never have heard of her before, by highlighting her human traits - her fears and foibles, as well as her many strengths.   It’s a great read, and an important reminder of the role played by women in shaping British history.   The Five Year Queen by Janet Walkinshaw is available now, priced £7.99 in paperback and £3.54 as an eBook.