The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn) | Philippa Gregory

The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn) | Philippa Gregory | Loved this book

books:

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
	for more information click here

read in chronoligcal order

This is a great series, but you sometimes get lost in who is who and when did it happen. My suggestion is to read them in this order and not the order that Ms Gregory wrote them. Then you would have a better understanding of the events of history: The Constant Princess; The Other Boleyn Girl; The Boleyn Inheritance; The Queen's Fool; The Virgin's Lover. I am awaiting the final one in this series and it is The Other Queen.

Loved this book

I took this book on vacation to Mexico w me. It was a great, easy read. Philippa Gregory is so good at developing characters and try to tell the story as historically accurate as possible.

for more information click here

Queen Elizabeth

This book was very intriguing. Queen Elizabeth, also known as the Virgin Queen, is the main character in the book. She's portrayed very differently than how I've seen other historians portray her. Philippa Gregory really emphasizes Queen Elizabeth's supposed relationship with Robert Dudley, her childhood friend. Gregory also brought into light, Elizabeth's possible role in the death of Amy Dudley, Robert dudley's wife.

An interesting perspective and an absorbing read

The first three years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Calais is lost. The Catholic Queen Mary is dead and the Protestant Elizabeth will not have "Popish idolatry" in the churches of England or her people pray to anyone but God.

Without dwelling heavily on religion or politics the author still manages to clarify exactly what was happening in the country and the political worries that the Queen and her advisor's had.
The Queen herself is portrayed as fun loving, proud and stubborn yet also unsure and worry ridden with a habit of pushing her cuticles back nervously and making her fingers sore. Very different to the strong, almost masculine Elizabeth that we've often been led to believe she was like. Marriage is discussed as a move to make England more secure and to these ends the Queen flirts with various prospective husbands yet promises herself to none.

Gregory also captures the tranquility of the countryside and the more simplified living of country folk as we follow Amy's story; Her pain and her pride as well as her loyalty and hope that Lord Dudley will come home to her and that the rumours from court of the frivolities and obvious passion between Elizabeth and her childhood friend Robert Dudley...Amy's husband...will subside.

I really liked this interpretation of what might have happened between Robert and his wife...and Robert and the Queen, especially as (explained in the Author's note at the end of the book) speculation into the death that occurs, was never resolved!

for more information click here

Great perspective

I really enjoyed this quick read. Philippa manages to tell her stories from such an interesting perspective. Very creative and thoughtful. She weaves pieces of history into this fictional story. Highly recommended.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

products you might be interested in