The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir is an exciting addition to the realm of Tudor fiction. The story follows Lady Elizabeth from when she is three years old to when she is become Queen of England and all the trials in between.

I am very impressed with Alison Weir’s storytelling ability. I have not yet read any of her non-fiction work but as she is an historian first, I appreciated the level of detail and historical account in this novel. The conversations between characters and descriptions of England and life in the 1500s were compelling and thorough. I’m sure there are some who would be put off by the more controversial aspects of the story, especially between the Admiral and Elizabeth, but I thought it gave the plot an enthralling twist that had not yet been put forth in other Tudor fiction, setting The Lady Elizabeth apart. 

Another way that this story is set apart from the other Tudor fiction is that a good portion of the story follows Lady Elizabeth when she is a young girl. I was fascinated that young children were treated more as adults in that era, their life expectancy being much lower than today (as described by Weir). In the storyline we get to live with Lady Elizabeth as she grows into adulthood, making mistakes, taking chances, and becoming more intelligent, perceptive and cunning. There is a very distinct feeling and voice between dowdy, spiteful Mary and daring, vivacious, precocious Elizabeth.

I am rating The Lady Elizabeth 4.5 because the story lagged for me a bit three quarters of the way through the book. I thought the omnipresence of doom throughout the last section was a bit too much. In “A Conversation With Alison Weir” at the back of the book Weir states that The Lady Elizabeth is the first part of series, with The Phoenix and The Bear being the sequel. Very much looking forward to reading this. In other reading I would recommend The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory (religion – Queen Mary) and although I have not yet read The Virgin’s Lover by the same author I imagine it would be a good basis of comparison. I am adding Weir to my list of favourite authors. 

My Rating: 4.5

Chapters

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Another great Tudor historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory. There are a lot of reviews out there on The Boleyn Inheritance and Phillipa Gregory's other Tudor books...one more certainly will not disrupt the mix. I did not mind that the story switched between Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard...I thought it created a lot of suspense although I had to check myself from skipping ahead all the time, impatient to see what happened next for the characters. Jane Boleyn seemed like such a sympathetic character in the beginning and then she turned into this terror. Poor Katherine Howard has absolutely no sense (great believable writing) and you can't help but laugh out loud at her multiple times throughout the novel and even toward the end when is sentenced to death. And stalwart Anne of Cleves...who finally comes into her own and gains the freedom she deserves. 

You'll not want to put this gripping story down!! Definite must for historical fiction readers and Phillipa Gregory fans. 

My Rating: 5.0  

Chapters

The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle

I found Barbara Kyle’s The Queen’s Lady to be a bit hit & miss. On the positive side there were a lot of twist and turns to the story, which keeps you guessing what is going to happen next. The Tudor history is captivating in itself and this story just shows another viewpoint of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the political and religious players of the time. On the negative side there was a loss of coherency to the story, as it seemed the author wanted to present all the differing religious views of the time, making the story unnecessarily complex. Some of the plot, particularly about the Münsterites and Anabaptists, was quite strange. There is so much going on the story its confusing and I think the chapter divisions would have benefited from an accompanying timeline and not just a specific title. 

If you would like to read a similar story (historical fiction, strong female protagonist and a minor study in religious views of the time) I would try Phillipa Gregory's The Queen's Fool. All this said I think I will read the sequel about Isabella Thornleigh. Note that this book was first published in 1994 as A Dangerous Temptation. The sequel featuring Isabella Thornleigh was previously published as A Dangerous Devotion and will be published in February 24, 2009 as The King’s Daughter. I think the timing of the books are suspect, riding on the wave of popularity of The Other Boleyn Girl current pop culture interest in The Tudors. 

My Rating: 3.5

Chapters

The Queen of Subtleties by Suzannah Dunn

Suzannah Dunn provides another viewpoint of the life of Anne Boleyn. The author does write dialogue well but in the case of this historical novel I just couldn't see that this would be the speech of the time, with seemingly modern day catch-phrases interspersed. This novel does have emotional impact and is imaginative but I just did not see the point of the two story-lines differing in time and point of view and only the one connecting thread. This is the author's first historical novel and I would be interested to see how she improves in her next, the story of Katherine Parr - The Sixth Wife.

My Rating: 3.0

Chapters