Tagged: elizabeth tudor
Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky
(Cover picture courtesy of Longitude.)
November 10, 1544
I have been living with this constant fear of exile now for two days. So far I have heard nothing. Plans seem to proceed as normal for our move to Ashridge. This palace, too, is becoming quite filthy, what with all the banqueting and people and gambling between Michaelmas Feast and the feast of All Saints’ Day. The roses bloom in our garden with such vigor, but the stench from the courtyard over the wall outside the kitchen is unbearable.
Kat is mumbling something about baths again. The woman is becoming a fanatic. I think we have had half a dozen baths since summer…
Queen Elizabeth I. Pretty much everyone knows she was a good queen and some people know what she accomplished during her reign (like outlawing wife-beating after 10:00pm, according to one of my Bathroom Readers), but not many really know much about her childhood and teenage years. In this installment of the Royal Diaries, Kathryn Lasky presents a Rated G version of Elizabeth’s teenage years for people ages 10-12.
This book really contains no new information for me, but readers who have yet to discover the wonders of historical fiction will love it. Elizabeth is a good main character and a very interesting narrator as she is strong even when she is betrayed and mistreated by her own father, King Henry VIII. We really see the woman she will become later on as she learns skills that were unusual for women of the time, like archery, falconry and languages like Greek and Latin. And we also see how she yearns for her father’s acknowledgement of her, how she treasures every smile or every bit of encouragement he gives her.
The plot isn’t what I would normally call fast-paced, but it is interesting enough. Young readers will sympathize with Elizabeth while learning a great deal about Tudor England. Really, what more could you ask for in historical fiction?
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer
(Cover picture courtesy of Historicalfictions Wiki.)
Elizabeth Tudor’s teenage years are hardly those of a fairy-tale rpincess.
Her father, Henry VIII, has beheaded her mother; her jealous half sister, Mary, has her locked away in the Tower of London; and her only love betrays her in his own quest for the throne.
Told in the voice of the young Elizabeth, this exciting novel reveals the deep-seated rivalry between a determined girl who became one of England’s most powerful monarchs and the sister who tried everything to stop her.
Queen Elizabeth I is famous for being one of England’s most powerful monarchs ever, even though she reigned in a man’s era. But what do you really know about her, especially about her formative teen years? Well, after reading Beware, Princess Elizabeth you’ll definitely know why Elizabeth became such a powerful, influential ruler.
Unlike her older sister Mary, Elizabeth does not really remember a time when she was the favourite at court. She is first overshadowed by her boy-king brother upon her father’s death, then imprisoned during the tumultuous reign of her older half sister. She spends much of her young adulthood as the forgotten, ill-favoured bastard daughter of King Henry VIII and his hated second wife Anne Boleyn. Readers will sympathize with her as she struggles through religious reforms, a jealous half sister and broken dreams of love.
Carolyn Meyer takes readers on a wonderful journey through Tudor England, being historically accurate and entertaining at the same time. With a relatively fast-paced plot and well developed characters, this is a fitting addition to the enormous volume of literature on Elizabeth I. You will be able to see the woman behind the legend and that is one of the best parts of historical fiction.
I give this book 4/5 stars.