Publishers Weekly
- Publisher's Weekly
Kay's prodigious research buttresses this robust historical romance, winner of Britain's Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize and the Betty Trask Prize for a first novel. England's greatest Queen is presented from an intriguing psychological viewpointElizabeth I's need for men and the bondage endured by those she chose. Freely mixing the verifiable with the imagined, Kay traces Elizabeth's rise from lonely childhood to lonely eminence. In the person of Robert Dudley, later Leicester, she creates a romantic fulcrum for Elizabeth's womanliness, delineating the childhood affection for Dudley that flowered in clandestine liaison and may be the closest Elizabeth came to a loving relationship. All of the Court's intriguing personnelfrom the ubiquitous, conniving Cecils to the presumptive upstart, Essexare drawn with care; the turbulence of the period, filled with violent deaths, challenges from abroad, pragmatic liaisons, is conveyed with verisimilitude; the rich tapesty of the Tudor ascendancy is woven with colorful threads. It is, however, the depiction of a woman of whom ``half the wives of England were jealous'' that lingers. Literary Guild main selection. (April)
Library Journal
Through shrewdness, intelligence, cunning, and not a little luck, Elizabeth I ruled England for more than 40 turbulent years. Author Kay has chosen this extraordinary life as the focus of her first novel. Although she has obviously done sufficient research to portray the basics of Elizabeth's story with accuracy, Kay's interpretation of events reads like a soap opera. Love, lust, and sexual passion dominate, sometimes at the expense of historical truth. Readers who value a serious view of history will pass this by, but romance fiction fans will enjoy it. Expect demand, since this is a selection of two book clubs. Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club alternate. Patricia Altner, Dept. of Defense Lib., Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
