I, Elizabeth: A Novel by Rosalind Miles Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of I, Elizabeth: A Novel
Book Review: Don't bother
Summary: 2 Stars
As an amateur buff of Renaissance history, I really disliked this book. I found a historical error part way through which bothered me quite a bit. I also couldn't stand Elizabeth how she fawned over the men in her life, as well as how catty she was to other women, or the lack of regard to other political happenings. She was dull and whiny and by the descriptions you'd think she never ate ever. While some of the descriptions about her clothing were very good, there was no mention as to why her clothing was so ornate. (ie, the grander the clothing, the grander the persons station) This book as a whole was entirely too long. Don't bother buying this book.Book Review: Elizabeth I "Queening It" - THE book to read for The Virgin Queen
Summary: 5 Stars
Rosalind Miles, oh Rosalind Miles...how happy I am to have found you! You have written a most excellent novel about my favorite monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, and gave me hours of reading ecstasy that I will never forget! I loved every minute of this book!!!!
I, Elizabeth is a fantastic read of the life, loves, trials and tribulations of Queen Elizabeth I, "The Virgin Queen". We follow Elizabeth from childhood, when she was labeled a "bastard" and her mother a "whore", to the treacherous times before her accession to the throne, through her 45 year reign as Queen of England, until her death at the age of 69. Miles does a great job at putting you right there with her through it all...the good, the bad and the ugly!
The novel is broken down into 5 parts...Bastard, Virgin, Queen, Bellona and Gloriana, the five phases in Elizabeth's life. At a little over 600 pages, this is no light reading...but, do not fret, the chapters are short and it goes by quickly. Elizabeth is portrayed just how I imagined her...spunky, fiesty, strong, vain, gutsy, ornery and a tad bitchy! And it's a good thing that she was all those things, or else she never would've lasted against her Parliament!
The question of Elizabeth's virginity was handled very well in my opinion...she was such a passionate woman (being the offspring of two very amorous people, poor girl didn't stand a chance) and always surrounded herself with adoring men, it's easy to see how the scandals and rumors started. The matter of marriage never ceased to be a nuisance to Elizabeth and I can certainly understand her reluctance to it...after seeing what all the men in her life did to their wives, who could blame her?
The dialect in this novel was superb, Elizabeth has some great quotes that would make me laugh out loud or give me fantastic insight into that complex brain of hers.
Bottom line: Yours truly most enthusiastically recommends this outstanding novel to anyone and everyone who will listen!
Book Review: Elizabeth in her "own" words
Summary: 4 Stars
I, Elizabeth tells the story of the great Queen's reign in her own voice. Starting when she was a little girl and experiencing a closeness with her sister Mary that would later dissolve and continuing on through her girlhood-her stay with Katherine Parr after her father's death and her first infatuations with Thomas Seymour and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. This book hits all the major points in Elizabeth's reign: her imprisonment in the tower by Mary, her learning to the play the political game early on in order to survive, becoming Queen and dealing with all manner of threats to her throne from the scheming Mary of Scots to her one time brother in law Phillip of Spain. Elizabeth also tells of her loneliness as her duties as Queen war with her desire to build a life with her beloved Robert Dudley. As Elizabeth's glorious reign continues through the defeat of the Spanish Armada, we get to experience Elizabeth in old age with all of her confidants disappearing one by one as she contemplates who she will name as heir after she is gone.
This is yet another book where there was just so much in there I am absolutely positive that I missed at least a few of the important points of the story. I LOVED this sympathetic telling of Elizabeth. Obviously there were some events in her reign that were questionable but here we see a woman who is determined, witty, vain, and an astute politician (I could almost see her thinking in her head "Dance puppets! Dance!" when she was playing the courting game to appease her ministers who were constantly haranguing her about the succession and getting an heir. The language was straightforward yet beautiful and I really felt for Queen Elizabeth and the decisions she struggled with. It can't have been easy to sign the death warrant for a fellow Queen or to always wonder if the men who were paying court to her (even her true love Robert) were doing so for their own gain and not because they genuinely cared about her.
A few things made me go hmmm. For instance, her girlhood infatuation with "My Lord of Surrey". Really? I've never seen anyone take that angle before. Also she could be so vindictive at times with any personal upset illiciting a demand for said offender to be conducted to the tower immediately. Overall though I really liked this telling of Elizabeth and felt that the author did a nice job of conveying both the personal and the public life of Elizabeth. This Queen was believable. It's funny because while I was reading this, during the portion of the book that covered Elizabeth's younger years I kept picturing Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth in my head but in the latter half as the aging Elizabeth I kept picturing Helen Mirren's take on Queen E. I suppose picturing either one as I was reading would be a good thing because both did fantastic portrayals of her and if I was picturing them as I read it would be because I felt the book was capturing Elizabeth quite well.
Book Review: Elizabeth the human
Summary: 5 Stars
I could not put down this novel. As a lover of Tudor history, Rosalind Miles' fiction took my imagination to a heightened level where the time table and historical names were in the background of a very palbable human quality. Love, jealousy, greed, sexism, religiosity - these were all matters that Elizabeth delt with on a daily basis, and many times the outcome showed her fallibility. Bravo. In a world where political figureheads are chastised for using the toilet like a human being, the fact that Dr. Miles reminds us that Elizabeth even had bowl movements made her more admirable in my eyes.Book Review: Elizabeth!
Summary: 4 Stars
Elizabeth is probably, without argument, the greatest queen of all time. She had the most cunning mind of her time. What we know of her is that she was the best ruler of England (king or queen) that the country has seen. Even Queen Victoria doesn't seem to really compare. But in Miles's book Elizabeth is portrayed, not as a stern queen, but as a woman with emotions and desires. Her scandalous relationship with Robert Dudley is shown as a genuine affection between them. Even Elizabeth's attitude towards her troublesome cousin, Mary of Scots didn't seem to be very harsh. When asked to sign her death notice, Elizabeth hesitated for many months and even years before she went through with it. She had compassion towards family; she restored all the titles her Boleyn side of the family lost when her mother was executed. In general she seemed like an actually human being. But I rated this book four stars instead of five because, despite of the excellent reviews, the book was just not very interesting. I was surprised, since Miles has written excellent books about Guenevere. A much better book, written by Margaret George would have done Elizabeth justice.