The Other Queen (Hardcover)

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Philippa Gregory has long been one of the most assured practitioners of historical fiction, but her profile was raised even higher by the film of her novel The Other Boleyn Girl. Gregory admirers, however, were heard to remark of that movie: ‘Not as good as the book!’ And if her new novel, the highly accomplished The Other Queen is ever afforded the Hollywood treatment, there will no doubt be a similar chorus. The reason for this dedication by her readers is not hard to fathom: assiduously researched historical facts are married to consummate storytelling skills – and the effortless ability to rescue historical figures from the dusty pages of the past.

At the centre of this novel is Mary Queen of Scotland, forced to flee into England. Mary, a devout Catholic, is, of course, a living threat to the rule of her cousin Elisabeth, whose Protestant reign is uncertain. We’ve been here before, of course, in various books and films. But Philippa Gregory’s story this time has a different emphasis: Elizabeth’s chief advisor, Cecil, formulates a plan in which the destabilising Mary will live under guard with his faithful friend, Bess of Hardwick. Bess is a remarkable woman herself; someone who has forged her own destiny, and is now in her fourth marriage, to the distinguished Earl of Shrewsbury. But soon Bess and Mary find themselves plunged into very different personal crises – with Bess’s marriage under considerable strain.

The Other Queen is wonderfully accomplished stuff, evoking a much-pored-over era with a totally fresh eye.
--Barry Forshaw

Review
Praise for 'The Boleyn Inheritance': 'Philippa Gregory truly is the mistress of the historical novel!It would be hard to make history more entertaining, lively or engaging: the characters truly come alive!This is a reliably breathtaking, suspenseful and imaginative romp from Gregory. Full of all the colours, sights and sounds of the Tudor court, it really transports you to the era. A winning formula.' Sunday Express 'This is historical fiction at its best' Bella 'A thrilling romantic history' Eve 'A fascinating insight into court life!Highly readable and thoroughly enjoyable and no-one writes popular history as well as Philippa Gregory' Daily Express 'Philippa Gregory brings the turbulent Tudors to glorious life!Delicious' Times Praise for 'The Constant Princess': 'One of Gregory's great strengths as a novelist is her ability to take familiar historical figures and flesh them into living breathing human beings. "The Constant Princess" is a worthy successor to her previous novels about the Tudors and deserves to be a bestseller.' Daily Express 'Gregory's research is impeccable which makes her imaginative fiction all the more convincing.' Daily Mail 'Gregory is great at conjuring a Tudor film-set of gorgeous gowns and golden-plattered dining.' Telegraph 'The contemporary mistress of historical crime. Her novels are filled with strong, determined women who take their fate into their own hands!Gregory brings to life the sights, smells and textures of 16th-century England.' Kate Mosse, Financial Times 'The Virgin's Lover': 'A book to lose yourself in!a simmering mixture of intrigue, lust and betrayal at the court of Elizabeth I, it breathes new life into the suspected love affair between the young queen and Robert Dudley.' Daily Mail 'Convincing and entertaining'. Daily Telegraph 'A fascinating new take on a story we thought we knew.' Eve 'History has a sexy makeover in an erotic account of Elizabeth l's relationship with the married and tantalisingly unavailable Robert Dudley.' Glamour, Books of the Year 'Gregory's success lies in restoring humanity to her historical figures.' Daily Mail 'Gregory vivdly portrays court life -- all the political intrigue, divided loyalties, love and betrayal.' Woman and Home 'Queen of the historical novel.' Mail on Sunday 'The Other Boleyn Girl': 'It is a credit to Gregory that she is able to sustain interest in an epic-length tale when the ending is one of the most well-known moments in English history. The very believable dialogue and detail take you all the way into the claustrophobic privy chambers of the royal palaces!Gregory has launched herself into a popular period and produced something with that most underrated of virtues: readability.' The Times 'This is an intelligent variation on a familiar tale [with] witty use of metaphor.' Time Literary Supplement 'This compulsively readable novel is a wonderful account of the Tudor court!This is the finest historical novel of this year.' Daily Mail 'The Queen's Fool': 'Totally absorbing!this is a triumphant piece of storytelling, not least because Gregory manages to make familiar events fresh and unloved people fascinating.' Gay Times 'Gregory offers a subtle examination of the tension between profound personal faith and the dangers of imposing that faith on others.' Jewish Quarterly 'It combines history and invention in gripping and memorable style.' Red 'Historical fiction at its most masterly. Meticulously researched and realised and with an engaging and totally convincing heroine, "The Queen's Fool" invites readers to rethink their opinions of both 'Bloody' Mary and the 'Virgin' Queen. Superbly plotted, exquisitely written with the enviable capacity to simultaneously thrill and provoke thought, this novel is even more 'unputdownable' than "The Other Boleyn Girl."' Historical Novels Review 'Gregory serves up some more deliciously sombre moments from a factious Tudor court.' Independent 'Gregory's dramatic, plot-driven novel is thoroughly readable.' Sunday Herald

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60 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (11) 3 star:  (11) 2 star:  (19) 1 star:  (12)           Average Customer Review 2.7 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   77 of 82 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars It's not a bad book, but nor is it terribly compelling., 30 Aug 2008 By  Julia Flyte - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    "The Other Queen" is about Mary, Queen of Scots' imprisonment in England, focusing on the early years of her imprisonment. The story alternates between three perspectives: George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick who were charged with responsibility for the Queen; the third narrator being Mary, Queen of Scots. Bess is an ambitious social climber who initially thinks that hosting Queen Mary will be a way to advance the family fortunes, but who is dismayed to find that it drains their financial resources instead. George on the other hand becomes infatuated with the Queen, which causes irreparable friction in his own marriage. I've enjoyed other books by Philippa Gregory, but The Other Queen lacks momentum. It's a long book and not a lot happens (and when things do happen, they're invariably taking place somewhere else). I enjoyed it in a mild way, but it felt so repetitive: countless variations on Bess complaining about money, George idealizing Mary and Mary telling us how charming she is. Bess was actually quite a remarkable woman for her time, but she comes across as being so unpleasant that she failed to elicit my sympathy. You also get the feeling that most of the exciting parts of Mary's life have already taken place, so there is lots of time spent filling in her back story. As always, Philippa Gregory has done her research. I didn't necessarily agree with her interpretation of Mary's personality, but I couldn't fault it on historical grounds. It did feel however as if she couldn't quite make up her mind what the nature of Mary and Bothwell's relationship had been and why Mary had chosen to marry him, which I think is something that she needed to establish more clearly. Towards the end of the book events also get twisted and compressed, presumably to bring about a neater conclusion. Mary's execution (still 15 years away) is described in a dream sequence: couldn't Philippa Gregory come up with a better way to include it? I kept waiting for the book to get going, but it never really did. At one stage Bess writes: "I can hardly believe that this nightmare goes on, goes on and on, and we never achieve victory and we never achieve peace". In many ways that reflects how I felt about the book. It's not a bad book, but nor is it terribly compelling. Comment Comments (6) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   31 of 38 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging, 27 Nov 2008 By  Sunglasses - See all my reviews The Other Queen is a very interesting book and gives another remarkable perspective on the life of Mary Queen of Scots. I've only recently become interested in the life of this iconic Tudor figure after reading the modern day thriller Full Story Inside followed by an excellent biography My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots. There are actually an awful lot of books out there about Mary but as a fictional account The Other Queen is both very compelling and factual. The story is told from Mary's point of view as she is held against her will in England after she fled from Scotland. Her days in captivity as prisoner of the Earl of Shrewsbury are given a very interesting perspective, although sometimes overly romantic which was obviously not to the taste of some reviewers. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   20 of 25 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars the other queen, 25 Oct 2008 By  Valerie Ledger "Val Ledger" (Leicestershire, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    What has happened to the Philippa Gregory we all love and know? I found this book extremely boring and think she has let her fans down badly.She could have said it all in two chapters!! I would rate this book compared to all her other brilliantly written books absolute rubbish!! I only gave this one star as the review has no facility for scoring Nil. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 60 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 2.0 out of 5 stars Not very gripping I am a huge fan of Philippa Gregory but really couldnt get into this book, in fact I didnt finish it. Read more Published 11 days ago by Kim Cowley 4.0 out of 5 stars Good historical novel I've been fairly obsessed with the Tudor period since I first learnt about Henry VIII at school so when I started to read the Philippa Gregory series I was quite apprehensivethat... Read more Published 18 days ago by else 3.0 out of 5 stars The other Queen - sorry, but I was disappointed. I have just finished reading Philippa Gregory's latest Tudor novel and must confess that I was disappointed in it. Read more Published 21 days ago by Janie 5.0 out of 5 stars Shut up, its great This book is great, ignore the 1 2 3 and 4 star reviews and stop rating gregory down!!! Published 22 days ago 5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating read Philippa Gregory is my favourite historical author. Her style is both engaging and easy to follow. This book focusses largely on Mary's captivity. Read more Published 24 days ago by Jane Reid 2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing Being a fan of Philippa Gregory, particularly of her other Tudor novels which I have loved, I was so disappointed with this non story which I had to force myself to finish. Read more Published 26 days ago by D. Hunter 1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed! Having read nearly every offering by this author, I was particularly disappointed that this book failed to live up to her usually compelling work. Read more Published 27 days ago by K. Howell 4.0 out of 5 stars Good things come to those who wait!!! As a big fan of Philippa Gregory, having read all of her Tutor novels and for the most part finding them reasonably fun, historical romps I was looking forward to her latest... Read more Published 29 days ago by A. Lalor 1.0 out of 5 stars Gone downhill I have read many of Gregory's books, I loved the Wideacre books and The Queens Fool which I could not put down, this book however is a struggle to read. Read more Published 1 month ago by J. E. Steer 3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed I couldn't wait to read this, I always love Philippa's books but I was so disappointed. Nobody is particularly likeable and I felt the book just dragged. Published 1 month ago by Debbie Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 60 customer reviews...

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