It's really good. Upson is not perfect, but she creates the time period really well. And she includes actual parts of Tey's own bio AND they make sense!!! I like her approach to historical fiction.
But I would skip Book # 2. That was awful and did not make a lot of sense.
This one starts with a double execution at Holloway and then goes into the story while also taking an interest in prison life at Holloway at the time. It's well executed so far, and I don't even mind not really seeing where the plot is going right now.
That all does sound like excellent news. I still feel I ought to read the rest of Tey's own books first, but I'm definitely taking the rec on board -- and I'll gladly take your word that the biographical details are sound. (That would obviously be a major concern otherwise.)
They are more or less sounds, but they are at least not jarringly wrong. It's the small details about her bio that I appreciate in Upson's books. For example, I read Tey's/Daviot's play Queen of Scots a few weeks ago, which follows Mary's (QoS) in her last few days. In Two for Sorrow, the fictional Tey makes reference to it when trying to research the mindset of two of her characters in an unnamed play. I need to look up if there is such an actual unnamed play. There probably isn't but it is not obvious from Upson's writing that this is completely made up.
I fully understand your approach of reading the real Tey first, tho.
Oh, actually Lawrence Olivier played the traitor (I can't remember his name) in the stage production of Queen of Scots. The old library book I had of the play (dating back to the early 50s) had a list of actors of the original production in the front. :D
While I'm not a huge Larry fan, this would have been an early role for him, as it was not the male lead role.
Well-researched with minor elements of writerly license sounds good enough! :) And the details are of exactly the sort that would have me fascinated and seeking more information, too.
ETA: Interesting bit about Sir Larry -- IIRC John Gielgud featured in the original production of her version of RII ... (as the king).
But I would skip Book # 2. That was awful and did not make a lot of sense.
This one starts with a double execution at Holloway and then goes into the story while also taking an interest in prison life at Holloway at the time. It's well executed so far, and I don't even mind not really seeing where the plot is going right now.
I fully understand your approach of reading the real Tey first, tho.
While I'm not a huge Larry fan, this would have been an early role for him, as it was not the male lead role.
ETA: Interesting bit about Sir Larry -- IIRC John Gielgud featured in the original production of her version of RII ... (as the king).