- Paperback: 466 pages
- Publisher: Griffin; Reprint edition (April 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312253869
- ISBN-13: 978-0312253868
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.5 x 4.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,772,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Brought up in France, Mary returned to Scotland as a widow at eighteen to take up her throne. Beautiful, clever, with immense personal charm, she was totally unprepared for the brutal realities of ruling a country just emerging from civil war. In an era when religion and politics were one and the same, the inevitable clash between Catholic queen and Protestant subjects was intensified by the most bitter personal rivalries, and Mary found herself in ever-increasing danger: from the fearsome John Knox, who preached damnation to queens and death to Catholics; from her sanctimonious and ambitious brother; from her brilliant secretary of state; and from Elizabeth I, dazzling and unscrupulous, who feared Mary as a threat to her own throne ...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I first cracked the spine of this novel I was aprehensive about it. I thought I was going to be reading a stuffy historical novel about a queen and her court's wrongdoings. I was, however, mistaken. For the first time in my readings, I have found a book that successfully combines a history that nobody really knows the intricacies of and a fiction that is so realistic, it may have actually occured. Instead of trying the queen and painting a portrait of an angered lunatic, Mary is shown as a young girl (only 24 by the time she was married for the third time) frightened and manipulated by her lords for their own personal gain. I was instantly swept into the story of her life, was steered into the motives behind her actions and left feeling a pain for her and the tragedy that was her life. Reay Tannahill successfully created this world and manipulated the reader to like and support the characters as Mary herself did, then turn to dislike them and cast them away whenever the queen was betrayed. A landscape portrait has finally been painted of history for a twentieth century reader to relate to but it is cleverly concealed in a fiction steeped with intrigue.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Almost a parody of the historical dramas of Sir Walter Scott, Fatal Majesty has it all. Drama, excitement, romance and a very good dose of history. The novel sticks to the historical background of its heroine- Mary, Queen of Scots but fills in the minor details fictionally. A really good- sit down for a couple of hours with a nice cup of tea and absorb yourself in the past -type of book. Well worth a read- difficult to put down.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book started out fairly well I thought, although being an avid "fan" of Mary Queen of Scots I kept noticing little details here and there where I was thinking "That didn't really happen like that" or "This could really have been expanded on". I found this latter one particularly grating at the end, where Mary is imprisoned and years slide by so quickly one can hardly get a feel for the isolation she must have felt. And her death at the end I thought should have been more emotional...though I did like the one sequence of Elizabeth and the "scream". The one point on which I completely agree with the reader from Canoga Park is Tannahill's treatment of Bothwell. Initially I thought he was going to be characterized positively, but then he became the murderous, uncivilized lout that I also thought historians had done well to disprove now...and the "kidnapping and rape" was in actuality almost certainly done with Mary's collusion. Tannahill also takes Antonia Fraser's tremulous view that Mary had been five weeks pregnant at the time of her miscarriage, and not five months, which was initially reported and far more likely...because this would prove that she did indeed have an adulterous affair with Bothwell. Instead of putting in the entirely probable romance between Mary and Bothwell, Tannahill tacks on details about the relationship between Lethington and Mary Fleming, which I was only mildly interested in at best. I guess this was to substitute for the total lack of love she portrayed in Mary's life, but it didn't work for me and left me feeling really unsatisfied.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
"... the optimism that so often overrode her intelligence ..."
I admit to being a little perplexed by the reviews that are currently displayed for this book. A mixed bag, people seem to have found it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Keen Reader
The Scottish Queen.
Am half way thougt this book at the moment and must admit I have given up for the time being and reading another book,Iv,e just reached the part where Bothwell come's into play so... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Looby loo
Wonderful read
I loved this book. I hadn't previously read much about mary queen of scots but this book was interesting and close enough to accuracy to be truly excellent. Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2008 by J Mac
Good but not great
I too find this book not quite satisfying - there is no 'roundness' to the characters and I feel that there is a lot of poetic licence (necessary, I suppose, when detailed minutiae... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by Mrs. Judith Lugg
competent novelistic treatment
This is an oddly unsatisfying book, despite it telling the story that it sets out to tell. Tannahill's prose is flowing and competent, but she never makes her characters come to... Read more
Published on 15 April 2007 by Roman Clodia
Jackie Collins 90's style!
If you want a book that's racy, true to fashion and slightly escapist than this is the book for you. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2003 by "natd22"
Fantastic and Compelling. A must read for all women
What a book! From the moment I picked it up I could hardly put it down. The more I read, the more you become trapped up in who's doing what and the reasons why. Read more
Published on 20 Dec 1999
Painfully inadequate picture of the unfortunate Queen Mary
Mary is sidelined in favour of Maitland of Lethington and Mary Flemming (one of the Queens four Mary's)The queen is depicted as possessing little sense and lacking a free will. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 1999 by L. S. Sinclair
A royal disappointment.
I've long been fascinated by the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, so I was looking forward to reading this new novel. I can't say I thought much of it, however. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 1999
Amazing, best historical fiction I've read!
Studied in England for a few months and purchased the book there; this author has a gift for finding the perfect words to describe human emotion and interaction. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 1999
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