If you follow my Goodreads widget, you’ll see that I’ve been in an Elizabethan sort of mood. I adore historical fiction so I was pleasantly surprised to see these paperbacks at the thrift store where I usually buy my books.
I just finished Mary Queen of Scotland & The Isles by Margaret George. At a whopping 870 pages, it was an engrossing novel telling the tragic story of Mary, Queen of Scots, from life to death. While I enjoyed this book immensely, I found the character of Mary very frustrating. As I read, Amy Winehouse lyrics kept playing through my head:
The author made the character of Mary so real that I as a reader became emotionally involved with her! I just wanted to shake her and tell her to get her shizz together and leave off with the ill-advised love affairs.
On the other hand, the odds were stacked against her when she arrived in Scotland – as a Frenchified Catholic woman, the lairds were never going to give her a chance. If she’d made other choices, would her brother James still have turned against her? Probably, but his treachery would have been harder to justify.
I recommend this book if you like historical fiction like I do! The personalization of the otherwise dry historical figures never fails to draw me in and this novel superbly depicts the drama and intrigue behind the facts and dates in history books.
Adding this to my TBR list. I’ve read the Antonia Fraser one but not this one. Thanks!
I hope you enjoy it! It’s long but it will really reel you in