Book Review: The Virgin's Lover

As a new queen, Elizabeth faces two great dangers: the French invasion of Scotland, which threatens to put Mary Queen of Scots on her throne, and her passion for the convicted traitor Robert Dudley. But Dudley is already married, and his devoted wife Amy will never give him up, least of all to an upstart Protestant Princess. She refuses to set her beloved husband free to marry the queen; but she cannot prevent him from becoming the favorite and the focus of the feverishly plotting, pleasure seeking court. Others too oppose the marriage, but for very different reasons. William Cecil, the queen's wisest counselor, knows she must marry for policy; her uncle hates Dudley and swears he will be murder him first. Behind the triangle of lovers, the factions take up their places: the Protestants, the priests, the assassins, the diplomats and the moneymakers. The very coin of England is shaved and clipped to nothing as Elizabeth uncertainly leads her bankrupt country into a war that no-one thinks can be won. Then someone acts in secret, and for Elizabeth, Dudley and the emerging kingdom, nothing will be as planned. Blending historical fact with contemporary rumor, Philippa Gregory has created a dark and tense novel of Tudor times, which casts Elizabeth I in a light no one has suggested before. Passionate, fearful, emotionally needy, this is a queen who will stop at nothing.

This was the first novel by Philippa Gregory that I ever read, and I found it at the library whilst searching for The Other Boleyn Girl. At the start of my reading, I knew little of Elizabeth I's reign, and by the end of the novel I had not taken much away. The Virgin's Lover describes the complicated story of Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Dudley, her Master of Horse from a family line of traitors to the crown -- and little else save for her brief war with the French involving the Scots and the difficulties of ruling a bankrupt and religiously-torn country. Elizabeth is portrayed as anything but the strong, feminist and brilliant Virgin Queen she is known as today, and is instead, at twenty-five, immature, overly-flirtatious to the point of being 'slutty', and more reliant on the love and support of Robert Dudley than the guidance of counselors.

Do I necessarily disagree with this shockingly weak portrayal of history's favorite queen? No. Elizabeth was not always the iron queen with the heart of stone that we remember her to be; she was once a young woman, sincerely in love, and quite torn between heart and mind. The only thing troubling about this unique portrayal is Gregory's characteristically disdainful tone toward Elizabeth, carried over from its prequel "The Queen's Fool". The author has a distinct bias against Elizabeth and her mother, but if you are no fan of historical accuracy and enjoy the demonization of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I, then this book is fully recommended. As I personally adore the mother-daughter duo after tiresome and passionate research of them, I found it quite irksome.

As for the book itself, while "The Virgin Queen" was juicy, sexy, scandalous and romantic, it was lacking in flow with predictable and cliche characters -- Amy, the faithful wronged wife; Robert, the selfish and UNfaithful husband; Elizabeth, the man-stealing whore -- and without distinctive plot. From the start, the story is building up to the moment Elizabeth and Robert consummate their relationship, and the sexual tension is gripping and enjoyable; but after, the story falls flat, with their love 'progressing' like an awkward roller coaster and one historical event flowing directionlessly into another, up until SPOILER Amy Dudley's death. Gregory fails to create a sympathetic ending for Dudley's wronged wife, and the story ends suddenly with very dry, predictable drama and little closure -- although this was most likely intentional. 

Overall, "The Virgin's Lover" is recommended for historical romance enthusiasts considering starting up on the Tudor/Elizabethan era, but NOT for history buffs. 

Book Review: The Boleyn Inheritance

Three Women Who Share One Fate: The Boleyn Inheritance
Anne of Cleves: She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VIII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family, or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses.

Katherine Howard: She catches the king's eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love -- but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe.

Jane Rochford: She is the Boleyn girl whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.

The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about a court ruled by the gallows and three women whose positions brought them wealth, admiration, and power as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror. Once again, Philippa Gregory has brought a vanished world to life -- the whisper of a silk skirt on a stone stair, the yellow glow of candlelight illuminating a hastily written note, the murmurs of the crowd gathering on Tower Green below the newly built scaffold. In The Boleyn Inheritance Gregory is at her intelligent and page-turning best.


Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl", ridden with biases, historical inaccuracy, and propaganda, is the most infamous novel in any Tudor history buff's world -- and so it was with sincere shock that I found myself actually enjoying TOBG's sequel. The prejudices toward and slut-shaming OF Anne still exist, distinctive as the Boleyn ghost who is created in Lady Rochford's, Anne of Cleves' and Katherine Howard's interweaving stories, but, having been dead for more than three years, she is no longer the focus.

The three stories of the Boleyn 'heiresses' start out strong, as three women, all doomed in their own ways, make their journeys to the dangerous court of Henry VIII. Yet, once Anne of Cleves is divorced and left behind -- so is her story. Directionless, stiff, empty and unconvincing, the reader is reminded WHY Anne is the 'forgotten wife', and her chapters dull out what would otherwise be a fantastic plot. On the other hand, Katherine Howard innocence and childish selfishness make her story all the more tragic, all the more romantic -- and all the more fascinating. Love transforms her from girl to woman, and the age old question is presented -- is true love worth dying for? On the other hand, there is some genius in the split perspectives of Jane Boleyn and K.H. While having two characters tell the same story can be dangerous -- who likes redundancy? no one -- their POVs actually enhance the novel's characterization, with emphasis placed on Jane's dark experience and poor Katherine's sincere naivety. Fast-paced, full-blooded, intriguing and tragically romantic, "The Boleyn Inheritance" is more than a historical flick -- it's almost a psychological thriller.


Statistics
Pages: 518
Publisher: Touchstone
Year Published: 2006
Kylie's Rating: ♛♛♛/♛♛♛♛♛ (3/5 Stars)