- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: Headline Review; New edition edition (1 Nov 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747266646
- ISBN-13: 978-0747266648
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,586,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'Fascinating and historically accurate' Kirkus Reviews THE QUEEN'S BASTARD: 'Breathes extraordinary life into the scandals, political intrigue and gut-wrenching battles that typified Queen Elizabeth's reign...The powerfully lascivious intersections of sexual and international politics...combined with Maxwell's electrifying prose, here make for enthralling historical fiction' Publishers Weekly 'well-researched and laced with plausible dialogue and absorbing narrative...a revived interest in the Elizabethan age make this novel highly recommended for fiction collections.' Sheila M.Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., in Library Journal 1 April 1999 'Tailor-made for moviegoers delighting in Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love...Thundering dialogue supporting plot upon plot' Kirkus Reviews 'She writes with pace and passion' Yorkshire Post (Leeds) 'Very readable mix of historical fact and romantic fiction... As a piece of romantic historical fiction the book is hard to put down. As a searing question mark on the accepted history of the Virgin Queen, it is fascinating' Belfast Newsletter
Product Description
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, banished from the court at the age of two, finds an ally in her father's sixth wife, Katherine Parr. Katherine offers motherly love and protection to the young princess and her brother Edward, and works to soften her father's heart and gain her readmittance to the Tudor fold. But when Henry dies and ten-year-old Edward is crowned King of England, a new era of instability begins for the young monarch and the sister he has left behind in Chelsea House. It is becoming clear that Katherine's new husband, Sir Thomas Seymour, has dangerous designs on the vulnerable teenage princess in his charge, and on the power to which she is the key...
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First Sentence
"The King is dead. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"The King is dead. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Maxwell's novel focuses on the life of the future Elizabeth I during the reign of her brother, Edward VI, and particularly her involvement with Thomas Seymour, Edward's Uncle and Lord High Admiral of England. Although there is much known about events, there is still plenty that is not explicitly clear, so Maxwell has plenty of leeway without having to rearrange historical fact.
Generally I found this to be well written with an easy, readable style - I read the whole thing in under 4 hours. It is a little sexually explicit in places, so I'm not sure I'd give this book to a younger reader.
Although not quite up there with Sharon Penman and Reay Tannerhill, in my opinion, this is still a pretty good read, with believable characters that you actually care about. Maxwell also concludes with a brief explanation of some of the choices she made to explain events in her novel, which is both helpful and interesting.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This novel is written from the point of view of Elizabeth as a young teenager of 13.It retells the affair with her step-father and her relationships with her brother Edward and Cathrine Parr beautifully. I bought this book as i am very interested in history and Elizabeth but even if you do not enjoy history that much it is still a wonderful portray of life a teenage Tudor princess. I read this book in 3 hours after reading it-i could not put it down. As i am a teenager my self and the same age as her in the book it appealed to me more. Read this book and be gob-smacked! 10/10!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Despite a potentially fascinating subject, Virgin promises a good deal more than it ever manages to deliver. Some of the most dramatic figures in English history are depressingly reduced to ciphers straight out of the Historical Romance Sourcebook - the Loyal Retainer, the Bawdy Devoted Nurse, the equally devoted Gallant Young Boy, the Scheming Evil Power-Hungry Bastard. Even Elizabeth herself - not to mention the situations in which the author places her, particularly toward the end - is ultimately inconsistent. Neither characters nor plot are ever given quite enough complexity to ring true, & at best sit incongrously with established historical fact, at worst completely contradict it.
Which is a damn shame, because the book as a whole is definitely entertaining (even if all too frequently as a game of Spot the Cliche), reasonably absorbing, with an interesting premise - it's just unfortunate that promising ideas are never developed enough to approach believability. Even the atmosphere of the Tudor Court is never quite there. Music & Silence this ain't.
Which is a damn shame, because the book as a whole is definitely entertaining (even if all too frequently as a game of Spot the Cliche), reasonably absorbing, with an interesting premise - it's just unfortunate that promising ideas are never developed enough to approach believability. Even the atmosphere of the Tudor Court is never quite there. Music & Silence this ain't.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
East to read, but not as in depth as other historical novels.
I have just finished reading this book and found it quite interesting as it focuses on an era of Princess Elizabeth's not commonly portrayed in many books. Read more
Published on 30 April 2006 by Rebecca Howarth
Very disappointing
This book started well, the description and historical facts were fine but after the first few chapters it turned in to Lolita set in Tudor times. Read more
Published on 20 April 2002
A historically accurate and gripping fast pace read
This amazing book details the sinister calf-love affair between Elizabeth and her step mothers husbnand Seymore. Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2001
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