Elizabeth I: A Novel

This review also appears on my blog: thehistorylady.wordpress.comMargaret George's latest novel, Elizabeth I, is not a book that could have been conceived of, or written by, a young woman. George's insight and understanding (according to Wikipedia she is 68 years old) is what sets this novel, which focuses on the last thirty years of Elizabeth's life, apart from the several hundred others about her (at least 50 of which are in print as I write) because you have to be aware of your own mortality to understand it enough to write about it.The book opens with England facing invasion from the Spanish Armada. The battle is inevitable, and Elizabeth is prepared. This Elizabeth really is married to England, and you feel this throughout the novel. When Elizabeth narrates, the voice is regal. Physically, she's suffering through hot flashes, aching bones and is a bit forgetful, but she keeps the "show" alive--fantastical dresses, amazing jewels, and pageantry. She's wise--she's the sum of life experiences about her legitimacy, scandalous affairs (Thomas Seymour, Robert Dudley), rebellion and Reformation and war with Spain. She is old, burying her closest confidantes - Robert Dudley, Blanche Parry, William Cecil, Henry Carey, Francis Walsingham--and realizes she's next.Many authors paint Elizabeth as the vain, older woman who believed in a love affair with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a much younger man--but George's Elizabeth is smarter than that. She sees Essex for the egotistical man he is, tolerates his foibles and failings, seeing him as harmless until it is nearly too late and he mounts a credible rebellion.Because few authors have focused on the last years of Elizabeth's reign, not many realize the challenges she faced at home and abroad. She dealt with poverty and famine and continued religious strife between Catholics, Protestants and Puritans, rebellion from the Earl of Essex and of course, death. Abroad, she faced down the might of Spain, quashed rebellion in Ireland, and founded colonies in Virginia.So many books about Elizabeth revolve around the love story between her and Robert Dudley. This is not that kind of novel--it is a thoughtful book, not a love story--unless you consider it a love story between Elizabeth and England. And, though it took me a while to make up my mind, I like this Elizabeth who is more disciplined, less romantic than most portrayals.The novel is narrated in two voices: Elizabeth's--regal, sometimes cynical, always shrewd; and the more earthy, sensual and desperately ambitious voice of her cousin, Lettice Knollys (granddaughter of Mary Boleyn). Lettice is Elizabeth's alter ego--she is the sum of choices Elizabeth did not make, i.e., to be a wife, mother and lover. Her promiscuity stands in sharp contrast to Elizabeth's virginity. She looks like the Queen, only younger and still attractive enough to attract Elizabeth's long-time love, Robert Dudley, and when the two marry Elizabeth banishes them from court, but Lettice craves reinstatement--missing the limelight and boisterous court life. Lettice pins her hopes for reinstatement at Court on her beautiful, gifted but rash son Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex. Those hopes end with third husband and her son being executed. I can't say I liked Lettice very much, but as a foil, almost a doppelgänger to Elizabeth, her character is perfect.I've now read most of Margaret George's novels and this one ranks up there with The Autobiography of Henry VIII and Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles as a favorite. I read this book twice, and liked it even more the second time, when I understood the plot and could follow the depth and nuances George brings to her characters. It is beautifully researched, evocatively written and a satisfying, thoughtful read. Like Elizabeth, and George, I'm not getting any younger, and I appreciate a novel that celebrates the older woman and mighty Queen Elizabeth became.Confession: It was this book that sent me to an e-reader (after I got my autographed hardcover copy from Margaret George). At 688 pages, it is a heavy read - I did not mind the length as much as the weight! When I heard George speak about the book at a reading she talked about how her editors always want her to write shorter novels, but she says she cannot seem to! Perhaps it is because she researches her subject so thoroughly that it is hard to leave anything on the cutting room floor.

It’s interesting that Margaret George chose to write about the less spectacular part of Queen Elizabeth’s life—or rather, her denouement, so to speak. It starts briefly during the Armada but quickly moves on to her relationship with Essex. And there it stays. Written alternately in first person both by the queen and by Essex’s mother Lettice Knollys, we get a thorough examination of this charming, self-centered, ambitious young man. Lettice, as we are quick to be reminded, had married Robert Dudley (the queen’s favorite) in secret and was thenceforth exiled from court. So we have this low-level tug of war between these two women over Essex, who does his best to reconcile them and only serves to exasperate Elizabeth even further. Outsiders see Elizabeth’s fascination for the young man as an old lady’s last fling, but she never quite admits such a thing. After all, many at court are taken in by his charisma as well. The queen does admit to temptation on occasion, but she is much too sensible:"The Virgin Queen. The curious Virgin Queen. Do I truly want to go to my grave never even knowing what it is I have turned my back on? Do I not feel cheated in the deepest sense?Especially if no one would ever know.But Essex talks. He is a gossip.I can deny it. Whom will they believe?If only something could be done and then immediately erased, made not to exist. As we can taste a piece of pastry and then spit it out without swallowing it. But this is not like that. Once done it is done forever."I don’t think she really believes Essex’s protestations of love and adoration. But what older woman wouldn’t enjoy such attention from a beautiful young man? Nonetheless, Essex is a fool and abuses Elizabeth’s trust again and again, until he goes too far. Anyone who has read about Queen Elizabeth knows the story. There’s nothing new here. I admit I read the book with little enthusiasm; it even helped put me to sleep a few times. But the author’s prose is so effortless I continued to the end. It was kind of like communing with an old friend—both of them. I knew what was going to happen; my interest was in seeing how these two narrators dealt with the situation. By now, the queen is worn out and it’s sad to see her limp along from day to day. There’s little joy left in her life. All her familiar friends and advisors fade away. It’s a sad book, really. Now that I’m a “senior citizen” myself, I can relate to it!

I've read a few of Margaret George's novels previously, and have read several times her `Autobiography' of Henry VIII - a wonderful epic novel of Henry and his life; moving, empathetic and intriguing. This novel of Elizabeth is also all those things. It starts in 1588, when Elizabeth, and England, await with desperate anticipation the arrival of the Spanish Armada, sent against England and the `heretic' queen by her predecessor's husband Philip II of Spain. I'm guessing most people will know already that the Armada was a failed enterprise of Philip, and that Elizabeth went on to be Queen of England and her territories for many more years after; but the suspense, the anticipation, the anxiety are all captured well for the reader from the first page of this book.I particularly enjoyed the way the book's chapters move from the story of Elizabeth, as told by her, to the story told by Lettice Knollys - cousin of Elizabeth and long her bete noir - she dared to become involved with, and marry Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth's favourite; and was mother to Robert Devereaux, later Earl of Essex, another of Elizabeth's favourites, doomed by his ancestry, and by her favour. (The story of his rise and fall, captured so well in the years in which this book is set, are particularly exciting to read about.) Lettice Knollys is an intriguing Elizabeth character about whom little seems to have been written; I have long been fascinated by her, since discovering, many years ago, a novel by Victoria Holt, My Enemy the Queen. She seems to have been a remarkable woman, although perhaps not very likeable.This book reads well; although much of it is, of course, the novelists' interpretation of historical events (particularly difficult to portray convincingly when attempting to write in the first person of someone like Queen Elizabeth I, or Lettice herself), it is engaging, well-paced, and a real page-turner. I have read, over the years, many non-fiction books about the Tudors, including Elizabeth, and the history of all aspects of Tudor England, and I did not find that this novel jarred on my senses (as some historical novels do tend to). Rather, the novel and its material is approached in an understanding and compassionate way; the topic never fails to enthrall the modern reader, and this book is highly recommended.

I was rather taken aback when I found that this book did not begin until 1588, the year of the Armada and the death of Robert Dudley BUT, I really must say, that on commencing to read, it did not matter at all.Like nearly all of George's books the narrative is highly readable whilst encompassing all the relevant important details, but also adding in a generous amount of how Elizabeth, must personally have felt, particularly over the deaths of so many of her faithful Ministers and close friends.The inclusion of narratives from her cousin Lettice Knollys (aka Countess of Essex, Lady Blount) is particularly intriguing as we can never really know the truth - except that it IS know that Elizabeth definitely took a dim view of Lettice for various reasons, the main one being Lettice's seduction of and eventual marriage to Robert Dudley.There is a wealth of detail describing how the Crown was always strapped for money because of having to fend off the various forays from Spain and the on-going problems with Ireland.All-in-all an excellent read.

I am a huge fan of Margaret George, having read and enjoyed all her previous novels. I eagerly awaited the release of her latest, having pre-ordered it well in advance. I must confess to a feeling of apprehension, however; a niggling concern that I was in for a disappointment. How wrong I was! This is, in my view, as brilliant as her "Autobiography of Henry VIII", which I have read twice and enjoyed even more the second time. Like that earlier work, this is a truly magical book, which makes even a very quick reader like myself slow down to savour the beauty of the words and the exquisite descriptions. George is particularly adept at evoking the atmosphere of the Tudor court; I could almost taste the wine and smell the roasted venison! I actually found myself re-reading certain passages which struck me as especially wonderful. This isn't an easy read by any means; it can be quite a challenge to keep pace with the shifting allegiances and complex politics of the period. Trust me, though, whatever effort the reader puts in will be richly rewarded. I will never forget my journey through the latter years of Elizabeth's remarkable reign.

Brilliant! Terrifically well researched and written, equally as good as her Henry VIII and Young Nero, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Elizabeth I, a novel yes, but everything about it seems to ring true to the times and the known facts. Well done again.

A wonderful account of the hard life This marvelous Qeen I n our history.very well written an read.enjoyed by all .