The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn) | Philippa Gregory

The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn) | Philippa Gregory | An Elizabethan Tug of War

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The Virgin's Lover...

	The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn) Philippa Gregory Touchstone, 2005 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 165 reviews view larger image
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A Good Read

This book is well written, and flows keeping the readers attention. For a historical novel, she does a great job in keeping the reader enthralled. There are much better reviews than mine that go into more depth, but short and to the point this is a great novel written by a very good author and I do not think you will be dissapointed. I must also say that I did read two other books alongside this one called "My Enemy the Queen" by Victoria Holt, and the other, "Queen of This Realm: The Tudor Queens" by Jean Plaidy aka Victoria Holt. These three books are all great reads about Queen Elizabeth I and they do go into much depth, they do not dissapoint.

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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.

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Excellent Finale

The Virgin's Lover is definitely an excellent closing novel to read after the other four in this "series." I found it to be bittersweet and true to the true nature of the characters. The ending in particular will break your heart; Gregory's treatment of Amy is so gentle and yet honest that you cannot help but hurt for her.

For reference, the order to read these books is:
The Constant Princess
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Queen's Fool
The Virgin's Lover

The journey that began with a bang ends with a whimper.

After tearing through The Other Boleyn Girl, I made up my mind to read all four of the other books in Gregory's Tudor series, sure that each one would be the equal of the fascinating, soapy and wonderfully rendered first novel. Unfortunately, none of the others succeeded in matching that one, either in the writing and storytelling, or in my own enjoyment factor. This one comes closest, but it is still a far cry.

My main problem with this novel is that it has to be judged more by what it ISN'T that what it IS. For instance, it ISN'T horribly repetitive like The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance. That's kind of like judging food by saying "Well, it didn't make me sick." Food isn't SUPPOSED to make you sick, and books aren't SUPPOSED to be horribly repetitive. Yet somehow that's a compliment to Gregory.

Readers of Gregory's other books will be alternately rewarded and disappointed by the inclusion of other characters and/or historical figures in this novel. For instance, Hannah the Fool, a fictional character Gregory employed as the star of The Queen's Fool: A Novel makes a brief appearance and is referenced a few times when it's relevant to the plot. Mary Boleyn & King Henry VIII's illegitimate daughter Catherine is brought back as a minor character, and while it's wonderful to see her come into such a good future, it's puzzling that her brother Henry was omitted -- especially since Gregory writes in the author's note of TOBG that he grew to be a minor player in his half-sister/cousin Elizabeth's court.

And then we come to my primary problem with this novel: Elizabeth herself. In every single history book, historical fiction novel, television special and movie I have ever seen on Queen Elizabeth I, she has always been portrayed as an intelligent, cunning and capable ruler with the strength and conviction needed to run a Kingdom alone for nearly fifty years, and position it to be one of the most powerful nations in the world for centuries to come. In short, she's always portrayed as nothing more or less than what she was: the greatest ruler in Great Britain's history. Gregory's interpretation of this character turns her into a sniveling, whining child who is incapable of making even the simplest of decisions without going to a man for guidance and spends more time moaning about the fate of her Kingdom than she does actually taking a hand in deciding that fate on her own. This may be seen by some as a novel approach by Gregory, but I was annoyed and dismayed by the Elizabeth she created. How could such a powerful female icon be reduced to this dependent, paralyzed, and frankly stupid woman? I've never considered myself a feminist, but even I was appalled by this.

However, it's easier to dwell on my problems with this novel than to itemize all the little things I did actually enjoy about it. In fact, if it weren't for the utterly abrupt, rushed and disappointing nature of the ending, I might have even been moved to give it five stars.

I didn't like any of Gregory's other books enough to make reading her non-Tudor efforts a high priority. I like historical fiction enough to know that I'll certainly read them one day, but that day is a long, long ways off. And hopefully that will give her plenty of time to come up with something else that matches the power of The Other Boleyn Girl.

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