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hilaryjsc's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting view on the women who surrounded Elizabeth - especially the latter half, focusing on her ladies-in-waiting and the women who held claims to the crown during her reign. Many new things, and I've read a fair amount about the period.
libraryofdreaming's review against another edition
2.0
I'm genuinely struggling with what to rate this book. Parts of the book were totally fascinating and well-written. Other parts were based on such shoddy conclusions and tired stereotypes that I had to force myself to keep reading.
The entire book is filled with an undercurrent of venom that I find hard to explain. Anne Boleyn gets the worst treatment, in my opinion. Tracy Borman portrays her as a conniving, seductive, and cruel bitch. I was especially unnerved by the suggestion that Anne hated Mary Tudor and even had her beaten. I don't deny that Anne must have felt threatened, but Borman gives her too much credit with regards to Mary and does not provide any kind of reliable evidence. I felt like she was just rehashing the same stereotype of Anne that has existed over the centuries without bringing anything new to the table.
Many of the other women in Elizabeth's life are given the same questionable treatment. Mary is a "born martyr". Katherine Howard is a sexually experienced airhead with no possible claim to innocence. Elizabeth herself is alternately lauded and criticized. Borman is not afraid to paint her with a broad brush. I agree that Elizabeth must have been extremely intelligent, but Borman's portrayal of her even at the tender age of six defies even the description "precocious".
I rolled my eyes a lot while reading this book. I was downright uncomfortable at times, especially during Borman's description of the 14 year old Elizabeth's sexual maturity. Considering she immediately started discussing the Seymour affair, I felt decidedly creeped out. I really don't know much about it, but I think Thomas Seymour's actions can certainly be considered child abuse. I think a more nuanced appreciation of Elizabeth's feelings and the situation itself would definitely be worthy to explore, but I don't particularly trust anything Borman has to say on the subject.
I guess that could summarize my main problem with this book: I just don't trust Tracy Borman. She makes claims without backing them up, broadly assigns emotions and inferences, and uses biased sources without any kind of qualification. I found her depictions of Elizabeth, her confidents, and her ladies-in-waiting really fascinating, but I don't know if I can really trust her conclusions. I know enough about Anne Boleyn to know for sure that Borman is basing her claims on extremely shaky ground, but I don't know enough about the Elizabethan era to be able to judge for sure.
If anything, this book has inspired me to look elsewhere to learn about the women in Elizabeth's life. I just don't have enough faith that Borman is giving us the real story...
The entire book is filled with an undercurrent of venom that I find hard to explain. Anne Boleyn gets the worst treatment, in my opinion. Tracy Borman portrays her as a conniving, seductive, and cruel bitch. I was especially unnerved by the suggestion that Anne hated Mary Tudor and even had her beaten. I don't deny that Anne must have felt threatened, but Borman gives her too much credit with regards to Mary and does not provide any kind of reliable evidence. I felt like she was just rehashing the same stereotype of Anne that has existed over the centuries without bringing anything new to the table.
Many of the other women in Elizabeth's life are given the same questionable treatment. Mary is a "born martyr". Katherine Howard is a sexually experienced airhead with no possible claim to innocence. Elizabeth herself is alternately lauded and criticized. Borman is not afraid to paint her with a broad brush. I agree that Elizabeth must have been extremely intelligent, but Borman's portrayal of her even at the tender age of six defies even the description "precocious".
I rolled my eyes a lot while reading this book. I was downright uncomfortable at times, especially during Borman's description of the 14 year old Elizabeth's sexual maturity. Considering she immediately started discussing the Seymour affair, I felt decidedly creeped out. I really don't know much about it, but I think Thomas Seymour's actions can certainly be considered child abuse. I think a more nuanced appreciation of Elizabeth's feelings and the situation itself would definitely be worthy to explore, but I don't particularly trust anything Borman has to say on the subject.
I guess that could summarize my main problem with this book: I just don't trust Tracy Borman. She makes claims without backing them up, broadly assigns emotions and inferences, and uses biased sources without any kind of qualification. I found her depictions of Elizabeth, her confidents, and her ladies-in-waiting really fascinating, but I don't know if I can really trust her conclusions. I know enough about Anne Boleyn to know for sure that Borman is basing her claims on extremely shaky ground, but I don't know enough about the Elizabethan era to be able to judge for sure.
If anything, this book has inspired me to look elsewhere to learn about the women in Elizabeth's life. I just don't have enough faith that Borman is giving us the real story...
chrissireads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. I like Tracy's writing style. Not much was new information to me, but nevertheless I still enjoyed it.
karingforbooks's review
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
Truly excellent look at many of the central women in Elizabeth’s life. I would have liked a bit more clarity at times but even that’s a minor quibble. I loved learning more about the rumors and the affairs and scandals in Elizabeth’s reign, as well as Elizabeth’s relationships with these women and her own personality. Well written and clearly well researched. Well done
sidewalk_pirate's review against another edition
2.0
I was so excited to finally get to this book. I was intrigued by the prospect to learn a bit more about the women in Elizabeth I's life and their role in shaping the Monarch, as well as the woman.
I was aware that there would be some re-hashing of things I knew, since I am an avid "Tudor" reader. I was just not prepared to find the promised new angles and insights entirely missing. :(
Now, I don't want to sound all gruff and mean about this. There were some good things about this book!
If you have never read anything about Elizabeth or the other Tudors, this book is for you! Loads of info and it is easy to follow and well written. The jumping between time-lines as it often is done in other historical books can be quite jarring at times for a beginning reader of history. This book eases you quite nicely into that! (No danger of whiplash here LOL) I think this book struck a great medium about giving information without being too dry to make you loose interest, IF you are new to the subject. All in all it is not a bad book for someone that wants to get into reading about history.
Sadly I have to admit that most of what is written in this book can be gathered from any other Tudor history. (The ones written about Elizabeth's Mother, or her Father, that have little to do with Elizabeth herself give you about as much insight as this book did).
I did have a little problem about the way some of Henry's wives were portrait in this book. I could not agree with some of the summations about these women. The author relied entirely too much on gossip to paint a picture of the wives. Especially Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Anne of Cleves, if you ask me.
I will give this book two stars. I sincerely think it was an OK book.. not bad, but it did not knock my socks off either. That, however, is not the Authors fault.
I was aware that there would be some re-hashing of things I knew, since I am an avid "Tudor" reader. I was just not prepared to find the promised new angles and insights entirely missing. :(
Now, I don't want to sound all gruff and mean about this. There were some good things about this book!
If you have never read anything about Elizabeth or the other Tudors, this book is for you! Loads of info and it is easy to follow and well written. The jumping between time-lines as it often is done in other historical books can be quite jarring at times for a beginning reader of history. This book eases you quite nicely into that! (No danger of whiplash here LOL) I think this book struck a great medium about giving information without being too dry to make you loose interest, IF you are new to the subject. All in all it is not a bad book for someone that wants to get into reading about history.
Sadly I have to admit that most of what is written in this book can be gathered from any other Tudor history. (The ones written about Elizabeth's Mother, or her Father, that have little to do with Elizabeth herself give you about as much insight as this book did).
I did have a little problem about the way some of Henry's wives were portrait in this book. I could not agree with some of the summations about these women. The author relied entirely too much on gossip to paint a picture of the wives. Especially Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Anne of Cleves, if you ask me.
I will give this book two stars. I sincerely think it was an OK book.. not bad, but it did not knock my socks off either. That, however, is not the Authors fault.
ashappee89's review against another edition
3.0
It was informative, but it dragged a bit, and by the fortieth, "Elizabeth was furious," it was like, really? Again? Overall, the historical value is there, but I got bored.