Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #479 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Synopsis
Sumptuous historical novel from bestselling author of THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and THE QUEEN'S FOOL Elizabeth I has acceded to the throne of England, a position she has waited and schemed for all her life. She is surrounded by advisers, all convinced that a young woman cannot form political judgements. Elizabeth feels that she can rely on just one man: her oldest friend, Robert Dudley. It is soon plain that he is more than merely a friend. In a house in the countryside waits a very different woman, Amy Robsart - Robert's wife. She has no taste for life at court and longs for the day when her husband will return home. She has loved him since she was a girl, but now they are adults she hardly sees him. Meanwhile, the pressure grows for Elizabeth to marry, for it is unthinkable that a queen should rule on her own. Elizabeth's preference is clear, but he is unavailable. But what if the unthinkable were to happen! Philippa Gregory blends passion, personalities and politics in this stunning novel of the Tudor court and a country divided.

About the Author
Philippa Gregory is an established writer and broadcaster for radio and television. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. She lives in the north of England with her family.

Customer Reviews

An Elizabethan Tug of War
I love Philippa Gregory's Tudor novels and am only sorry that I have now concluded reading all of them. This one has some problems that disappointed me - Elizabeth is a giggling, easily-led dope, and not the shrewd manipulator and politician that we know her to be from historical record. I suspect Dudley and Cecil are fairly accurately represented, however, and I was very interested in the viewpoint of Amy Dudley, the innocent wife cast aside in favor of power and the title of King.

This was an interesting read, and one that kept me turning the pages, but it was not up to the standard of the other Tudor books. I preferred Boleyn Inheritance and The Constant Princess for intrigue. I hope for better things in the future.

A woman who happens to be a queen
When i finished with The Queen's Fool, i've hated Elizabeth for her laughing at her sister's misfortune. Philippa has deliberately darken the character of Elizabeth in that book. But in this one, Elizabeth is no more than a woman who happens to be a queen. I would like to believe her love to Robert is real, so it makes the saddest love story of monarchs.

Honestly i did not fully finish the book. There's still about a 100 pages left, but i just couldn't stand to see Amy killed, worse, i don't want to see how Robert MUST break up with Elizabeth.

In terms of plots, the story is not as attractive as The Queen's Fool and The Constant Princess.

Brilliant but not as good as the others
I only discovered Philippa Gregory a month ago and I am already a big fan. Having read 'The Other Boleyan Girl' and 'The Queen's Fool' and thoroughly enjoyed them I was quite excited to read 'The Virgin's Lover' and I am pleased to say that although not as good as it's predessesors it is still a very worthwhile read.

Previous reviewers have summarised the story so I won't repeat what's already been said but let me just state that this book is excellently written and definitely deserves to be on the bestseller list.

Perhaps other reviews have been a bit mixed about this book. I think this is because this book is bound to suffer from comparisions to it's predessors. Arguably it isn't as addictive but it is still good although at times it is a bit slow-paced especially Cecil's parts, which seemed like more of a history lesson than a historical novel. It is at best brilliant, at worst mediocre. I don't think this has anything to do with the author's ability to write but more that she chose a relatively short time period (two years in fact)so there's an absence of material to write about. However on a seriously critical note the ending is somewhat abrupt and unexpected leaving the reader feeling agitated and wondering why the final part of the story is rushed by so hastily. It is mainly for this reason that I give this novel 4* instead of 5.

The only reason I can give for the mixed reviews is that perhaps people don't like the way Gregory changed her style with this novel. In her previous books she writes in the first person a technique that I myself felt worked incredibly well helping to draw us straight into the action and really making us empathise with the character. However in this book the author writes from the point of view of four characters: Elizabeth, Robert, Amy and Cecil. This approach works well in that it does show us the bigger picture and gives us a more objective view of events but on the other hand it suffers in that it lacks the personal style we have come to associate with Gregory's books. That was the only slightly debatable problem with this novel and is more of a personal preference than a serious fault. Perhaps four characters was a bit too adventurous. Three would have been sufficient.

What I liked about this book in particular is that the characters appear very human and are therefore easier to relate to. What also is very interesting is that it is very difficult to discern from reading what side Gregory was on. The characters are in many ways not very likable; whether this was Gregory's intention or not remains ambiguous. Despite Gregory's attempts to portray Amy as a pious, strong woman desperately clinging to her faith and her straying husband during a time of great political and religious upheaval I still couldn't help but find her a weak, whining and aboveall irritating character. I always sighed with agitation when I came to reading Amy's parts. Undoubtedly she is critical to the story but I felt there wasn't enough story to keep one interested especially when you compare her with the glamour of court. I liked the portrayal of Elizabeth. Too many history books depict Elizabeth as this fierce woman. It was refreshing to see a more human and vulnerable side to her although I found her inability to perform her role as Queen without the presence of Robert rather irritating as the story progressed. As for Robert: well what can I say? Of all the characters Robert is the best progressed from The Queen's Fool. In fact he was probably my favourite character in the book. He had great presence (some very good one-liners might I add and the romance scenes are excellently executed) and even towards the end when his true intentions are revealed one cannot help but feel sorry for him. I think that's what made this book truly great: characters that irritate and annoy you but yet you wanted them to happy.

Overall I would highly recommend this novel though it is advised to read 'The Other Boleyan Girl' and 'The Queen's Fool' beforehand as it does put the story into perspective.