The Queen's Bastard: A Novel [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

I have about fifty more pages until I am done with this book; it's taken me more than a month to get to this place! I love historical fiction and devour anything about English history, so after reading "The Secret Dairy of Anne Boleyn" I couldn't wait to get my hands on this sequel (the possibility of an illegitimate royal heir is intriguing). I'm having a hard time finding the desire to read on to the ending; at this point it has dragged on so long that I just don't care. I have to agree with other reviews when they state that the chapters devoted to Arthur Dudley's dairy entries are boring. The endless descriptions of war, spying and fighting (approximately the last quarter of the book)are monotonous and just plain uninteresting. I so eagerly look forward to the chapters devoted to Elizabeth, but there are few towards the end and they almost all have to do with war. And one chapter had something to do with a weird supernatural pagan ceremony encouraging Elizabeth and Robin Dudley to have "relations" for the sake of saving England in the war-bizarre and unnecessary!! It started out well enough, but has turned into a slow-moving war epic - not my cup of tea. On a positive note, as inaccurate as many say this story is, I have learned a great deal about English history during this time. And for good measure, I probably will finish those last 50 pages...and then sell the book to a secondhand bookstore!

Tudor England is fascinating, and Elizabeth a worthy heroine. Whether Elizabeth was indeed the Virgin Queen is open for debate, but almost 500 years of speculation about her supposed affair with her horseman, Robin Dudley, lends a plausible air to this novel. Maxwell has done a deft job rendering Elizabeth as both majestic and at times ridiculous. Reading her interactions with her court, her relatives, and her supposed lover are an exercise in devouring truly brilliant prose. Maxwell has done well capturing Elizabeth's reign, including bits of Philip II's hatred and lust for the Virgin Queen, the troubles in the Netherlands, and the damnable Mary Queen of Scots.

The only false note here comes from the passages of Elizabeth's supposed son by Dudley, Arthur. There has been exploration and speculation regarding any illegitimate children the Queen may have had, so the idea of Arthur as her son allows a suspension of disbelief. However, the passages with Arthur as narrator are extremely dull and quite pointless. After the first few, I skipped over them entirely, and found that they were recapped almost in their entirety in the following chapters.

While "The Queen's Bastard" is a great read, and the subject has a distinct air of possibility, it is too long by almost 100 pages. Those pages from Arthur's journal are just unnecessary. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading this novel, and am currently reading the concluding book in Maxwell's trilogy "Virgin." I heartily recommend this novel, but do take it with a grain of salt.

This book is probably, no, definitely, Historically inaccurate, but so what? It's the sequel to Maxwell's Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, in which the newly crowned Queen reads her mother's diary and learns of the threachery of men, in particular her royal father, Henry VIII. Having decided to rule without ever marrying, but telling no one of her decision, the headstrong and lusty young queen continues her affair with her equally lusty and power hungry favorite, Robin Dudley. The two have a passionate relationship, and other courtiers are either trying to drive a wedge between them or simply don't trust Dudley. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Robin manage some degree of real domestic intimacy as they progress through England with Dudley's sister, Mary, her husband Henry Sidney and their son, Sir Phillip, the future poet, and visit their old teacher, the scholar/wizard John Dee. In between debating the relative virtues of Mathematics and Astrology, translating Greek texts, and discussing the future of the Americas, Dee divines that a life grows in Elizabeth's belly. Elizabeth is shocked and angry. She does "not bleed like other women." It can not be possible. But it is. The determined Queen decides to give birth secretly and keep the child hidden until it is safe to make him heir to her throne. But her devoted gentlewoman, Kat Ashley, and advisor, William Cecil, have other ideas. It will never be safe for the Queen's bastard to come to light, they reason. So little Arthur, Robin and Elizabeth's son, is switched with a stillborn baby, and is raised by Robert Southern, an old beau of Kat's, who, unfortunately for Arthur, has a nasty and crazy wife who additionally can't stand what she thinks is her husband's illegitimate son. Thus, the tale really begins. The lives of Robin and Elizabeth at court are intertwined with Arthur's upbringing and striking out on his own to fight in the Netherlands, as recorded in his diary. There is, of course, a poignant misunderstood meeting, as well as a fabulous crescendo in the battle against the Armada which contains some pagan rites between Robin and Elizabeth (!), while Arthur is busy spying for his country in Spain and on the Armada fleet itself. It all fits remarkably well together. Maxwell is brilliant in that she only takes advantage of the room for speculation and never alters the facts themselves which she presents with seemless accuracy. This makes for a convincingly crafted work of fiction. Leicester's love of Mathematics and Horses is very well drawn making him the most interesting character of the book, but Elizabeth and Arthur are also well-rendered as are other characters like the devoted Kat Ashley, the loyal Lord Sussex, the flirtatious Scottish ambassador, James Melville, Dudley's silly mistress Lady Douglas Sheffield, and the noble Dutch leader, William of Orange. If one or two of the author's devices are decidedly picaresque, so much the better for the entertainment value and essential romance of the narrative atmosphere. A very engaging story that enthusiastically suggests the possibility that Elizabeth and Dudley just might have had more of a marriage than Henry VIII ever did.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

3.0 out of 5 stars An OK Read
This book is what I would classify as an OK read. The parts dealing with Elizabeth and Robert Dudley were much more enjoyable than the diary of their "son". Read more

Published on Oct 2 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars A Whole New Light
I realize this book is fiction, but that it MAY have some basis in fact (due to some slight mentionings of Arthur Dudley in other biographical information). Read more

Published on Aug 3 2001 by J. Peterson

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read!!!!
The sequel to "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn" is wonderful!!! I couldn't put it down! I love the way Maxwell took a tiny, barely mentioned historical... Read more

Published on Jun 30 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars Shameful, boring and bad sequel to "The Secret Diary of AB"
I enjoyed Robin Maxwell's first book "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn" and I was excited to learn that a sequel was in the works. Read more

Published on Jun 30 2001 by Margaret P Harvey

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Accurate
After reading Alison Weir's reliable book, The Life of Elizabeth I, it makes me angry when I read things that say Elizabeth wasn't a virgin. Read more

Published on Mar 29 2001 by Rodney Burton

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very good historical novel that uses 'holes in history'
Many "serious" biographies would make you believe that only they tell the truth and that there are no holes in history. Read more

Published on Mar 3 2001 by K. Maxwell

4.0 out of 5 stars Yummy History
October 8, 2000

What yummy history! I've just experienced the wildest, yet most tender & telling romp trough Tudor England. Read more

Published on Oct 8 2000 by Karen Tracy

1.0 out of 5 stars Coudn't put it down, but...
True, I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it. But. I found it brimming with typical chichés, the beautiful intelligent English versus the evil Spanish... Read more

Published on Sep 1 2000 by Elsa T. Dennis

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!
It was so interesting. The romance and drama were well written. It filled my heart with sadness, hope, joy, and it made me think about the love that Elizabeth and Robin shared and... Read more

Published on Jun 13 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading
It was an excellent book. It combined fiction with very accurate historical references. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is fascinated in England's "Virgin Queen".

Published on Sep 30 1999

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!