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A review by elementarymydear
Mary I: Queen of Sorrows by Alison Weir
5.0
Mary I might be one of the most controversial figures that Alison Weir has depicted in her fiction books. With her nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ her reputation leaves much to be desired, yet at the start of her reign she was a beloved monarch rescuing her subjects from an attempted power grab.
As Weir herself acknowledges in the historical note (it’s always worth noting how good her historical notes are), the challenge in this book was reconciling these different extremes of Mary’s character, and she landed it exactly right. It would have been easy for the book to become some sort of villain-backstory, or the tale of a tragically misunderstood anti-hero, but Weir approaches Mary’s story with the nuance needed for a real person’s life.
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As with her previous book about Mary’s father, the infamous Henry VIII, Weir does an excellent job of providing the context and grounding for us to understand the person’s actions, without endorsing them. There was a sense, especially as tragedy played an ever-increasing role in Mary’s life, of delusion bordering on madness towards the end of the book. We became immersed in Mary’s world and shared in her tragedies. Even when she was far from sympathetic, I still felt like I understood her.
This book successfully takes on one of Britain’s most notorious monarchs, exploring her humanity and tragedy while still acknowledging that her reputation was not unfounded. It’s another excellent historical fiction from Alison Weir, who continues to deliver on every front.
I received a free copy for an honest review.
As Weir herself acknowledges in the historical note (it’s always worth noting how good her historical notes are), the challenge in this book was reconciling these different extremes of Mary’s character, and she landed it exactly right. It would have been easy for the book to become some sort of villain-backstory, or the tale of a tragically misunderstood anti-hero, but Weir approaches Mary’s story with the nuance needed for a real person’s life.
📚Blog📖YouTube📖Instagram📚
As with her previous book about Mary’s father, the infamous Henry VIII, Weir does an excellent job of providing the context and grounding for us to understand the person’s actions, without endorsing them. There was a sense, especially as tragedy played an ever-increasing role in Mary’s life, of delusion bordering on madness towards the end of the book. We became immersed in Mary’s world and shared in her tragedies. Even when she was far from sympathetic, I still felt like I understood her.
This book successfully takes on one of Britain’s most notorious monarchs, exploring her humanity and tragedy while still acknowledging that her reputation was not unfounded. It’s another excellent historical fiction from Alison Weir, who continues to deliver on every front.
I received a free copy for an honest review.