Well really, it must take considerable skill to take a queen like Elizabeth I and turn her into a simpering, giggling, sex-crazed airhead the way Philippa Gregory has in this long boring book. While we know that Elizabeth’s initial years as a monarch had many travails, surely she wasn’t one to break into fits of giggles and tears every few minutes? Surely she didn’t just donate her backbone to nearest idiot and use Robert Dudley to make every decision including whether to turn left or right or go straight in her own palace?
I have seen Elizabeth I portrayed as being narcissistic and an uninhibited tantrum thrower, but is there any evidence that she was so bad that her reaction to threats on the border would be to collapse into Robert Dudley’s arms? What happened to the Queen who was mean? And who above all had a mind of her own? Who would rule England and be ruled by no man? I don’t know how much this book is fact and how much alternative history, but it stands out among the many books movies there are about Elizabeth I as being implausible and determinedly silly. You feel no admiration for her and after a few pages, like her courtiers, only despair of her. Mostly you wish she’d just go away.
As for Robert the Dudley. He came across like a jerk, which he probably was, but minus any charisma. He seems to be a megalomaniac and rides rough shod over his own country –just as long as he can have sex with Elizabeth. They even secretly get married, committing bigamy without a backward glance at the rest of England.
The only person you like is William Cecil, who isn’t detailed but is in the background as a horrified bystander. I suspect you only like him because he echoes your own sentiments and wants to slap Elizabeth about as hard as you do.
And there’s poor Amy Dudley. I wonder if she’s perhaps one of the more realistic characters in the whole story, but that may be just because you feel sorry for her being the discarded wife. Then there’s the enduring mystery of her death.
I’m not sure I could have survived this book if it hadn’t been in audio format. As it is, the narrator drones on and on, except for the startled squeak with which she starts some of her sentences.
Philippa Gregory’s other books are far more admired and The Other Boleyn Girl is a most amazing movie as well. But this one… unless it’s true to history or something, is somewhat nausea-inducing. I see from the author’s own disclosure that much of it did happen. Sure, but surely there wasn’t so much weakness of character? Or perhaps that’s what I’d like to believe! Where’s the queen who would “stop at nothing”?