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Elizabeth became a shrieking, neurotic mess, unable to take a step without Dudley to guide her. Her scenes were compelling, and even when I was annoyed, I wasn't bored. True, Amy is portrayed as a kind, loving, simple girl, but she's not perfect in the beginning of the book. The pain in her breast (believed by historians to be cancer) is referred to as heartbreak, and we watch her terrible humiliation as she's thrown out of good homes, divorced by her husband, rejected by doctors--scenes that Gregory invented herself, of course. "The Virgin's Lover" is based around the love triangle between Queen Elizabeth the 1st, her Master of Horse, Robert Dudley, and his wife, Amy Robsart.
That there's so many of them made me feel I was being beaten over the head with a club that read: AMY IS A VICTIM.A shame. Meanwhile, though Elizabeth and Robert are not shown as nice people, they are genuinely in love, and we have to admire their intelligence and wit. I've rarely seen a book with so much potential go down the crapper so quickly and completely.I will say this: Gregory knows how to write. I hope she writes more about characters that she doesn't have such an obvious vendetta towards in the future; I'm certainly interested enough by the talent shown here to read more. She is shown in at least half a dozen scenes screaming and crying, screaming and crying, screaming and crying until we the reader grow so irritated with her that all sympathy is gone. That storyline is never followed up, obviously because Elizabeth did NOT kill people of opposing religions, and was comparatively one of the most tolerant monarchs Europe had ever seen up until that point.
In essence, Gregory is trying to repeat her success with "The Other Boleyn Girl" here. We do know that Elizabeth I was vain, tempermental, coquettish, and sometimes downright mean. But Gregory couldn't let her readers know that, lest they get too positive an image of her.Meanwhile, we're treated to at least as many scenes of Amy suffering. We have the nasty, self-serving man (Henry VIII/Dudley); the kind, sweet girl who loves him (Mary/Amy); and the capricious, selfish, vain woman who tears the man away, only to grow increasingly neurotic as the story goes on (Anne/Elizabeth).The sad part is, the book didn't begin that way. We're told all about how she has Catholic priests locked up, and ominously informed that she will "probably" have them killed. A book willing to focus on those faults is rare, and was very interesting to read, as was a love triangle with three flawed people.But about halfway through the book, when war was declared in England, the story fell apart.
She's snippy in some parts, judgmental in others, and obstinately refuses to see her husband as he is, instead pushing her idea of how he should be onto him. Also, in the early years of her rule (when this story takes place) she simply wasn't as good a queen as she was later on, when she'd grown more experienced.
The characterizations of Elizabeth and Dudley and all the rest--blech. I expected Gregory to be a bit hazy on the historical accuracy (hell, that's why it's called fiction) but to come up with this. I heartily enjoyed Philippa Gregory's other Tudor novels, and I'm fascinated by Elizabeth I.
And don't get me started on Dudley. It's absolute drivel. Oh please please PLEASE don't get me started.This was such a disappointment.
When this book came out, I was excited. The only thing she could do competently in this "novel" was bang Dudley. I'm so glad that all Gregory's other Tudor novels were better written and so much more engaging.
I wish I had never read it. I was halfway through and I wanted to do nothing more than smack Elizabeth around for being a weak, empty headed IDIOT.
Great book. Every book of Gregory's that I read always keeps me entertained and wanting for more. When I finish one, I cannot wait to pick up the next.
All rights reserved. Some of the great highs and lows that the characters feel are often mirrored by my own emotions as I cheer for the victory of some and dearly wish for a humbling fall, for others.I highly recommend this book.(8 out of 10 Diamonds) - Thoroughly enjoyed it© 2008-2009 Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (Book Reviews By Bobbie). I love Philippa's writing as she moulds and shapes the characters, developing and changing them because of their experiences and interactions.
I enjoyed this story because it showed me how naïve a young Queen can be; how her fallibility and her weakness against the lustful pulls of the flesh could lead to a loss of power and control.As the new Queen comes to power, the married Robert Dudley comes racing to be at Elizabeth's side, as her favourite and as a passionate and all-consuming lover. You can not help but feel badly for her state of affairs.The story has wonderful flow and the plot is well written and well timed. The Virgin's Lover is a really interesting take on the romantic entanglement between the devastatingly handsome, Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I.
The characters and their personalities are very carefully carried through from one novel to another. By charming and seducing the Queen, Robert believes he will have control over the throne of England.
Lady Dudley, Robert Dudley's wife, is such a wonderfully morose character until her husband is near, when she shines like a beacon of unrequited love and hope.
Pulls at your heart and your head. Like all the P. Her research and attention to detail are extremely well done. Highly recommended if you enjoy historical fiction. Gregory books I've read (4-5)I couldn't put this down. Of her Tudor series, this is my favorite one.
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