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krista7 's review for:
The Lost Tudor Princess: The Life of Lady Margaret Douglas
by Alison Weir
"The Lost Tudor Princess" is a biography of Lady Margaret Douglas, who was Henry VIII's cousin. The book, like many Weir histories, is a dense, moment-by-moment retelling of the Great Matter and the Elizabeth/Queen of Scots showdown. The good is that Alison Weir is obviously fiercely dedicated to the subject matter and isn't afraid to go into fine details. The bad is that the book desperately needs an editor and more focus. For example, if we assume the book's focus is to be Margaret Douglas, the author didn't need tedious diversions into every Tudor scandal possible. In addition, the book swerves off from its typical style (moment by moment listings of actions) to speculative analysis of symbolism, house lay-outs, and poetry. This is certainly interesting, but it is tonally different from the rest of the text and doesn't seem to fit. Lastly, the author seems to struggle with sources that focus on her leading lady, which is why we receive many references as to how Margaret "probably" did something, or "might" have felt a certain way. Even when such speculation is pertinent (like Margaret's feelings toward Mary Queen of Scots after Darnley's death), the impact is watered down by the steady drum-beat of guessing earlier in the text.