The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn)
by Philippa Gregory
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Book Summary Information
Author: Philippa GregoryEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2004-11-16
ISBN: 0743256158
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn)
Book Review: "Since there is no one for us but each other"
Summary: 4 Stars
The time is 1558 and the court of Elizabeth 1 is fraught with strife and controversy. The kingdom of England is still reeling from the bloody and violent reign of Mary 1, with the Protestants now seeking desperately to hold onto power. As Bishops are imprisoned the monasteries destroyed, and the church lands thrown into poverty, the young Queen remains determined to hold true to the legacy of her father and not let the country slip back into Catholicism.
But the young princess, only a year into her reign, is yet to make a significant impact. The Pope has branded her a heretic, issuing an edict on her life, her people don't yet fully trust her, and most of the Privy Council is anxious for her to marry in order to beget a "a good Protestant prince to the throne and get a sensible man's hand in the reign of England." The beleaguered Queen has only two trusted counselors, William Cecil, and Robert Dudley.
It is one thing to adopt the trappings of the highest office in the land, but it is another to make decisive judgments that will affect the nation. Elizabeth faces treachery and duplicity on all sides: legitimate heirs plot against her, the treasury has been ransacked, and with the crown unsteady on her head and enemies everywhere, she has to deal with a church, that is in open, and determined opposition to her and which would, unless it is swiftly controlled, bring her down.
In desperation and with nowhere to turn, the young Queen looks to the handsome Robert Dudley. Robert had once been the greatest man at court, second only to his father who ruled the King, but shame has recently cast a pall over his family. Ambitious and determined, he seeks to return the family name to the great royal heights it once new. But the debonair courtier must vie for her loyalty with William Cecil, the Queens most trusted adviser.
Robert and Elizabeth's love affair soon blossoms, the court becoming rife with unsubstantiated gossip, much to the chagrin of Cecil and the rest of the Privy Council, who would prefer that Elizabeth forget Dudley and marry a man of royal blood that would cement her power and keep England safely Protestant. But Dudley, who ultimately seeks his own supremacy, scandalously spends his days with the Queen in London, abandoning his wife Amy, who remains back in the country.
Amy is a simple girl who loves her husband dearly. But she remains conflicted, torn between admiration for her husband and jealous of his love that he bears the queen. Poisoning her love for him with envy and jealously - this heretical queen- dares to take him away from her. Amy's happiness has been solely dependent upon Sir Robert, her desire revolves around him, and she is lost without him and also infuriated with him. Amy feels she has failed in the love of her husband, and envious of the greatness and excitement of his life and his importance at court.
War between France is a near certainty, with half the country feeling as though Elizabeth has bought them to the brink of ruin, to heartbreak and poverty, all in the first year of her reign; and all of Europe is laughing, saying that she is being shamed by the adulterous love of her "horse master." Cecil soon realizes that something must be done and the stage is set for a plan that, will once and for all, secure the Queen's security on the throne.
Philippa Gregory writes of Tudor England with a passion that is unsurpassed. She takes the reader right into the heart of Elizabeth, as she deftly tries to negotiate with the most powerful stakeholders of the court. She is right to be politically cautious, as every decision in England has a hundred opponents, every change a thousand. Anything that threatens a man's individual prosperity makes an enemy of him and anything that is to his benefit makes him a gasping, unreliable ally.
The author portrays a world of rampant and uninhibited power; a world that places God above the angels, angels above kings, kings above mortal men. It's where everything at the Tudor court comes from the throne as the fountainhead of money, position, place, and authority, flowing into the lesser tributaries of the great possessions of the court and torrents of wealth cascading from a badly managed treasury.
It is also a world where proximity to the throne always means "proximity to the chopping block," and where Elizabeth, now the supreme ruler, is faced with some tough choices, balancing the careful path of true love with the demands and needs of her country and her people. Mike Leonard August 05.
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