From #1 New York Times bestselling author and "queen of royal fiction" ( USA TODAY ) comes a riveting and scandalous love triangle between a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition far exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them. In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen, yet one woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth's ambitious leap to the throne ...
Read More
From #1 New York Times bestselling author and "queen of royal fiction" ( USA TODAY ) comes a riveting and scandalous love triangle between a young woman on the brink of greatness, a young man whose ambition far exceeds his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them. In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen, yet one woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth's ambitious leap to the throne will draw her husband back to the center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Elizabeth's excited triumph is short-lived. She has inherited a bankrupt country where treason is rampant and foreign war a certainty. Her faithful advisors warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. As the young couple falls back in love, a question hangs in the air: can he really set aside his wife and marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are suddenly plunged into a struggle for survival.
Read Less
This novel managed to combine historical inaccuracies with character slanders while diminishing neither. Elizabeth the First, portrayed as a dependent, indecisive child, has an affair with her childhood friend.
donna
Jul 31, 2007
RUTHLESS ELIZABETH
THIS NOVEL CONTINUES WHERE THE QUEEN'S FOOL LEFT OFF. ELIZABETH IS NOW QUEEN AND IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STRUGGLE TO CONSOLIDATE HER POWER. HER THRONE IS THREATENED BY HER COUSIN MARY AND ALSO BY HER PASSIONATE ATTACHMENT TO ROBERT DUDLEY, HER FAVORITE. THE TROUBLE IS THAT MARY THINKS SHE SHOULD BE QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND ROBERT HAS A WIFE. HOW ELIZABETH SOLVES THESE PROBLEMS IS WHAT THE REST OF THE STORY IS ABOUT. OF COURSE THIS IS A FICTIONALIZED SOLUTION TO THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF AMY DUDLEY. FAST PACED FICTIONALIZED HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF TUDOR HISTORY.
TiffanyS
Jun 1, 2007
I love this book!
Another page turner from Philippa Gregory! Fiction based on actual history, this narration is very believable and extremely enjoyable. You will fall in love with the characters.
