The Last Book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown

In the 16th century there was a woman, Elizabeth Barton, who was a farm worker. She became ill with a fever and saw purgatory visions. When she explained what she saw a priest was called. He decided she needed him to mentor her. She was moved to a convent and became a nun.

Elizabeth panicked when she realized she may have only had one actual vision. She did eventually have more visions later but they were manipulated by the priest.

She was allowed to travel, with the monk. She even was introduced to King Henry VIII. As she travelled, people lined the streets to see her. Elizabeth liked this lifestyle better than working on the farm.

Catholics travelled to the convent to see her. They were generous with their gifts for the convent. Until this happened the nuns worked hard and suffered because they had meager supplies for all their needs. The gifts allowed them to eat more meat and fresher vegetables and fruits. The nuns resented Elizabeth because though she became a part of their order she was exempt from chores and menial labor. They did benefit from the gifts so tried to accept her.

The priest who mentors her begins to feed her information that may have manipulated her visions to benefit their cause. King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his current wife and marry Anne Bolyn, but the Catholic church wouldn’t allow it. That is when Henry split from the Roman Catholic church and became the head of the church of England.

He did not like Elizabeth’s visions that showed him and his new Queen stuck in the fires of purgatory.

The priest was able to embellish Elizabeths visions because, Elizabeth could neither read nor write. She had no idea what he transcribed. He used her to try to persuade the King.

The King was not happy with any of them, and he took his anger out on them.

I enjoyed the historical information about the church and priest holes and why homes had them. The catholic church lived through a very dark time back then.

The story flips back and forth from the past to current day and a manor house in England.

A historian, Allison Sage, has discovered the book written about Elizabeth’s visions. She is invited to the manor house where Elizabeth, the convent, and the Vale family lived. The current owner of the manor house holds consortiums where historians are invited to share their information to publish documents together.

Allison is invited for the first time and encounters an old lover. Now that she is divorced, she is free to have a relationship, but both have their own history and it’s messy. Even if they could make it work, they had to remember that she lives in the United States while Wes lives in England.

The owner of the manor is in dire need of money and besides the history of Elizabeth there are rumors of a hidden treasure.

When a murder occurs, all of them are suspects.

The novel feeds us in alternating chapters between the past and the present the information needed to solve the mysteries. The characters were believable and the plot was complicated enough to keep me engaged until the end.

This was a well written book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would read more by this author.

I believe this is a debut novel.

This book was published April 14, 2026

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I include links to purchase for those readers who really can’t wait to read the books I mention. As an associate, I earn from qualified purchases. Thanks to all my readers who have supported me in the past.

The Last Book of Elizabeth Barton

What I am currently reading:

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth – A NetGalley book.

How to Live with a Ghost by Melinda Wichmann – Local author I met at an event.

If you like bargains, check out my Pango Bookshop – Get Lost in a Bookshop – https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/virginia468417

Happy reading!

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