Author: Philippa Gregory
Published: 2008, Touchstone
Rating: 3/5
Mary, Queen of Scots, is a queen with no kingdom. She is a naive and foolish woman, unable to hold her throne and unable to use the men around her to reach her goals. Imprisoned in England, she will do anything to be returned to Scotland and her young son. She is forgiven again and again until she forces her cousin, Elizabeth, to bring the ultimate punishment on an anointed queen.
Bess of Hardwick is a woman who has been in a low position. She knows what poverty is. Through making advantageous marriages she had gained what most Tudor woman only dream of: her own land. Upon marriage to her fourth husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, she finds herself a woman with a title. She has risen high and will do anything to keep her future secure.
George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury is a man of honor. He will serve his queen, Elizabeth, while admiring the Queen of Scots. He will keep his word, even it means bringing about his own ruin. Even if it means he loses his fortune and the love of his wife.
Told from these characters points of view Gregory weaves together the story of Mary's imprisonment in England and how she brought her own ruin. As always, Gregory has provided a pleasant read but this novel is lacking momentum. She only covers three years of Mary's imprisonment and the novel is repetitive. There is the endless saga of plot discovered, Mary forgiven, Mary moved, Mary plots again. In my personal opinion, Gregory would have been better off to write a novel about Mary's short reign as true Queen of Scotland before she was forced to flee.
However, Gregory brought up an element of life for Tudor women. Women in Tudor England were oppressed. They were not valued like a son. Daughters of the nobility were fortunate if they received an education comparable to that of their brothers. They were born into world dominated by men and they were valued for what goods and land they brought to the marriage. They were valued if they were fertile but rejected if they could not "breed". So, what woman would not use the men in her life to advance her station? Even if she loved her husband, why would she not use that love to secure her future?
This tragic reality for Tudor women is perhaps most well played out in the case of Henry VIII and his endless quest to have a son. He divorced Catherine of Aragon because she only gave him Mary. He had Anne murdered when she could only give him Elizabeth. Jane Seymour died giving him a son. It was said only a man could rule a kingdom. His own daughter, Elizabeth, proved him wrong. She proved every man living in the Tudor era wrong.
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