The Virgin's Lover
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Review
Praise for THE QUEEN'S FOOL 'Philippa Gregory [who] is a mesmerizing storyteller.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'An atmospheric read for anyone who loves to wallow in Tudor intrigue.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'After serving up the highly delicious The Other Boleyn Girl!Gregory has concocted yet another treat from the Tudor court!.I loved The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool is even better!.The pleasure to be found in this kind of historical fiction!.is a chair-by-the-fireside-on-a-cold-winter's-night kind of pleasure!it is the kind of pleasure only a born storyteller can offer.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'A rich brew of passion and intrigue.' DAILY MAIL 'Potent historical romance!a thrilling plot.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Fascinating!engrossing!.memerising!riveting!.compelling!.a pacey narrative that is just begging to be read in one sitting. Most impressively of all, she has taken a story in which we all know the protagonists and the hand history dealt them and has infused it with an extraordinary sense of suspense, drama and surprise.' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'A splendid tale of passionate liaisons. Gregory exuberantly depicts the struggle between Mary and Elizabeth' WOMAN & HOME 'A hugely satisfying plot-twist-a-page story.' TIME OUT 'Burns with passion.' INDEPENDENT 'A gripping page-turner; this follow-up to The Other Boleyn Girl confirms Gregory as our best writer of historical fiction.' CHOICE Praise for 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' TLS 'This compulsively readable novel is a wonderful account of the Tudor court!This is the finest historical novel of this year' DAILY MAIL
Product Description
Sumptuous historical novel from bestselling author of THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and THE QUEEN'S FOOL Elizabeth I has acceded to the throne of England, a position she has waited and schemed for all her life. She is surrounded by advisers, all convinced that a young woman cannot form political judgements. Elizabeth feels that she can rely on just one man: her oldest friend, Robert Dudley. It is soon plain that he is more than merely a friend. In a house in the countryside waits a very different woman, Amy Robsart -- Robert's wife. She has no taste for life at court and longs for the day when her husband will return home. She has loved him since she was a girl, but now they are adults she hardly sees him. Meanwhile, the pressure grows for Elizabeth to marry, for it is unthinkable that a queen should rule on her own. Elizabeth's preference is clear, but he is unavailable. But what if the unthinkable were to happen! Philippa Gregory blends passion, personalities and politics in this stunning novel of the Tudor court and a country divided.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing...happened.,
By
This review is from: The Virgin's Lover (Paperback)
I'm an avid reader of Philippa Gregory's books, and I really enjoyed 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and 'The Boleyn Inheritance' - this book, however, misses the high mark set by Gregory's other works.
The two problems I had with this book are pretty simple: 1) The characters. Amy Dudley, despite her difficult position, failed to get my sympathy - she was interesting, but she was also deeply annoying, since all she seemed to do throughout the whole book was whine about one thing or another. I had even less empathy with Robert Dudley, who was completely unlikeable and not charismatic enough to hold my attention. Elizabeth was good at times and bad at others, but she too was aggravating through much of the book - she showed her spirit, but there were times when her inability to see Dudley's bad side was incredibly infuriating. The brilliant and cunning Elizabeth of 'The Queen's Fool' has mysteriously vanished without a trace. 2) The plot. Gregory's other books have had excellent plots with a fair bit of moving around, but the problem with 'The Virgin's Lover' is that nothing actually HAPPENS in it. Yes, Elizabeth is in love with Dudley. Yes, Amy is in love with Dudley as well. And yes, Dudley is lusting after Elizabeth. Good. Now, can we get back to the politics and court backbiting, please? If you see this book somewhere for 50p, then go ahead and buy it - you might enjoy it more than me, as the other reviews here attest. But I wouldn't advise you to waste your money on paying the full price for it - go and read 'The Boleyn Inheritance', instead.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit of a disappointment,
By Kristin "viking_woman" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Virgin's Lover (Hardcover)
Compared to Philippa Gregory's other historical novels, particularly The Other Boleyn Girl, The Virgin's Lover is a bit disappointing. While an entertaining read by an author who always does her research meticulously, it lacks the tension and the sympathetic characters which have driven her other books. It centres around Elizabeth I in the early days of her reign, along with her lover Robert Dudley, his wife Amy and Elizabeth's advisor Cecil. The problem is that Elizabeth is alternately weak and pathetic, and selfish and ambitious; Robert is almost entirely unlikeable as an ambitious, selfish womaniser; Amy, who is the least disagreeable of the central characters, is given less "air time" and though she wins the reader's sympathy she is too submissive and unassuming to be a heroine. Gregory presents an interesting version of the events surrounding the still-mysterious death of Amy Dudley, but which lacks the page-turning appeal of her other work.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ROMANTIC HISTORICAL FICTION AT ITS FINEST...,
By
This review is from: The Virgin's Lover (Hardcover)
This is romantic historical fiction at its finest, replete with an abundance of period detail. The focus of the book is the romantic triangle involving the newly crowned tempestuous Queen, Elizabeth I, her lover and Master of Horse, Sir Robert Dudley, and his long suffering wife, Amy, whose dreams of a simple life with her husband are shattered with Elizabeth's rise to the throne upon the death of her half-sister, Queen Mary. There is also a cat and mouse game involving Elizabeth, her Secretary of State, the canny and shrewd William Cecil, and Robert Dudley, which develops as it becomes clear that Dudley has his heart on becoming King and ruling alongside Elizabeth as an equal, something that can only be accomplished through marriage to Elizabeth. Unfortunately for Sir Robert Dudley, his wife, Amy, a secret Catholic, has no intention of divorcing him. Moreover, Elizabeth has no intention of letting Dudley rule as King rather than just being King consort, were they to someday wed. Yet, she is in a quandary, as she finds herself unable to resist Dudley's charms and can refuse him nothing. Elizabeth turns to William Cecil for help in saving her from herself. William Cecil knows all too well that marriage to a Dudley would be disastrous for England, as Dudley, being the Queen's favorite, is one of the most unpopular men at court with the other courtiers. Moreover, the Dudley family, though a powerful and ancient lineage, has a treasonous history. What Cecil devises is diabolical but plausible. This twist in the tale is certainly an ingenious way of explaining a mysterious death, a death that has never been satisfactorily explained by historians. It is a death that certainly served to cast a pall upon Dudley's ambitions and ensured that he and Elizabeth would never wed. It also ensured that the canny William Cecil would be the most powerful person in England, excepting Elizabeth. This is a wonderful tale of the Tudor Court and the beginning of the Elizabethan era. Those who enjoyed the author's book, "The Other Boleyn Girl", will surely enjoy this one. Set against a backdrop of political intrigues, it is a well-written, well-researched work of romantic historical fiction that will keep the reader turning the pages.
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