Young Bess - Margaret Irwin -- Spoiler Free Review

Title - Young Bess
Author - Margaret Irwin
Series - The Elizabeth Trilogy/Good Queen Bess
ISBN - 9780749012427
Page Count - 393 Pages
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Paperback
Where You Can Find It? - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Young Bess centres around Elizabeth  I (Tudor) from a young age and growing up in court and out, falling in love and dealing with the repercussions of that act. She must navigate a world where everyone thinks her mother a witch and a whore, and is commonly known as the Little Bastard and her strained relationship with her father makes sense for who she falls in love with for the rest of her life. Bess is one of those characters you will either hate to love or love to hate she is such a rotten, jealous, evil child at some points and she will have you somewhat hating the main character of this book, Irwin's writing is a perfect example of well written Historical Fiction Novel. 

So Young Bess was one of those books that i literally didn't get into to start with but then about 50 pages in i was hooked it creeps up on you slowly but sometimes that is an amazing thing because before you know it you have finished it and you want to read the next book as soon as possible i love books that have a timeless feel to them books that you cannot tell when they have been written by the dialogue used or the way the author writes i knew when reading this book that it was published in 1939 but you cant tell and that is the sign of a truly good author and book. 

Young Bess was told in the 3rd person so it was a little different than most books i have read about Bess but it was actually a really good way of telling the story that way even thought we mainly saw Elizabeth we did occasionally get some other characters on their own. I really didn't like Bess' character at all i feel like she will grow up in the next books but in this one she was acting like a jealous 3 year old at 15 and she was such a bitchy bully to Jane Grey and many other characters. 

All i am going to say about Thomas Seymour is he was a complete and utter idiot (No spoilers, but c'mon its history) and he would have been considered a paedophile in today's society because he was not forced to marry her like so many others have been but he chose to do what he did. (or didn't do, historical people don't kill me). 

Not much was mentioned about Mary Tudor or Anne Boleyn apart from whispers of Nan Bullen (i had to google that one) but personally i think she was very much influenced by her mother and i think she would have been more curious about her and she was hardly mentioned. Also Mary we didn't get much of her either but i think we will be getting a lot more of her in the next two books so I'm not to worried about that but that was my only qualm was i really wanted a more curious Elizabeth about her mother and whether she was really guilty. 

I finished this book so quickly it was unreal once i started i couldn't stop it had so many elements, as i have said before that make this a brilliant historical fiction novel and it has become one of my favourites and i cannot wait to read the next book next month (FEB 2016) and also review it. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

The Lady Elizabeth - Alison Weir - Spoiler Free / Spoilers

Title - The Lady Elizabeth
Author - Alison Weir
ISBN - 978-0-09-179672-3
My Copy - Purchased
My Rating - 4 /5
Where You Can Find It -  Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction

Alison Weir is known for her non-fiction about the Tudor period and this book is her second fiction book. It follows The Lady Elizabeth who becomes Queen Elizabeth I. This book follows Elizabeth from a Young Girl into a Young Woman and her relationship with her father all of her step mothers, her sister and her first love and the consequences of that love. This is a different take on why Elizabeth become known later in life as The Virgin Queen.

This book starts off with Elizabeth at two years old being told her mother has been executed for treason, then she goes to court and meets her new step mother Jane Seymour and then it goes very quickly throughout the next couple of wives until Henry marries Katherine Parr and dies four years later. Then the story really gets into the good stuff. We have love, anger, jealousy, pain, torment all in one relationship.The events that changed the course of her life and the decisions she makes.

Then you have the struggle with her sister and her right to her place in the line of succession. Elizabeth goes through so much from the age of Two till Twenty-Five. If you love historical fiction i suggest you give this book a read it was an entertaining and a roller coaster of a book.

 

 SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK DON'T READ ANY FURTHER.

I mean where do i even start with this book it had me on the edge of my seat and trying to figure out where it would go next, I loved Henry and Elizabeth's relationship albeit they didn't have much of one but what we did see warmed my heart except for the flashbacks where she remembered him calling Anne a witch and a whore. then when Elizabeth goes and lives with Katherine Parr and Thomas Seymour, i started to feel like i knew where this was going when Elizabeth fell pregnant but i didn't know what route she would go down i was trying to think if we knew anyone it could be then when she had the miscarriage i knew that would be a huge factor in her life and that she wouldn't want to go through that ever again and watching Jane die. 

I definitely had mixed feeling towards Katherine in this book on the one hand she was duped by Thomas as well but then she was telling Elizabeth to just let him tickle her and joining in by holding her down. So for me i personally didn't like her very much but then again you are more inclined to back the heroine than anyone else if we had the same book in Katherine's POV it might be different.

Thomas on the other hand having sex with your wife's step daughter, your nephews sister and the old kings daughter is sick and its Treason to plot it let alone act upon it no wonder he was executed. 

Then when that part of her life is over and Thomas is Executed, then her brother dies and she has to fight for her right to the succession. There is a quote that i loved when Mary was deciding if she should marry him or not her adviser refrains from telling her "Great men married for Duty and bedded their mistresses for pleasure" and for me that just about summed up pretty much every single Medieval king baring a couple so i don't know why she would be shocked.

Mary is a Catholic and is trying to put England back to the true faith and Elizabeth is a threat to that so when she locks her in the Tower when she sees Anne's ghost it really hit me in the feels in one of the most terrifying times in her life her mother is there to comfort her and protect her. Then when Mary gives the OK to have Elizabeth found guilty and have her executed i never thought she would do that. To me that is far from the truth but we will never know.

When she is released from The Tower she is under house arrest with her closest friend taken away. Elizabeth gets more and more agitated with only one maid not allowed the reading material she desires. 

Mary quickly becomes Bloody Mary when the burnings of the Protestants start.

When Elizabeth and Phillip meet for the first time and Elizabeth dresses to her advantage and wore her hair loose like an unmarried virgin. (royal married women were not allowed to have a bare head they had to wear a hood) and when Elizabeth felt that shock of lust my brain was screaming don't do it, don't do it and luckily she didn't but she knows she must have him on her side if she if to never be sent to the tower again.

When Mary becomes pregnant you know everything is coming to an end then when she goes into confinement and no baby is there then Philip leaves and goes back to Spain, she tries to help him by sending troops into France then loose Calais that had been held by England for over 100 years all for a Spanish Catholic who wanted her sister more than her. 

Mary finally had to concede and finally name Elizabeth as her Heir but only if she promised to rule England as a Catholic Nation. Elizabeth agreed obviously. Then sitting under a tree in Hatfield Grounds Elizabeth Finally becomes Queen Of England. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading