Not as good as Innocent Traitor - Rated 
Incredibly I picked this book out of my bookcase and couldn't remember whether I'd read it or not!!! I had to check the last few pages! Not good...
This book wasn't a patch on Innocent Traitor by the same author which was incredibly moving. Maybe it's just that there have been too many books written about the young Elizabeth, I don't know...
Wooden - Rated 
I was so disappointed by The Lady Elizabeth. Alison Weir is a reputed historian who has written a number of books about the Tudors. However this fictionalized story of the life of Elizabeth 1 before she became Queen is wooden, clunky and tedious. It's so wordy that it gets bogged down, rather than carrying the reader along. Here's an example: "As more worrisome days passed, ominous with a dearth of news, Elizabeth's condition did not improve; however, the malaise in her body was as nothing to the fever of anxiety in her heart". Weir's dialogue is written in what is probably a reasonably historically accurate idiom (unlike other historical novelists such as Philippa Gregory), but as a result it always keeps the reader at a distance.
There's a school of thought that a good writer will show the reader what characters are feeling rather than telling them, but Weir spells out every thought for us throughout.
I was also surprised and disappointed that she included a significant plot twist that she freely admits in the epilogue is something that as a biographer she doesn't believe ever took place. At this point I moved from being bored with the book to actively disliking it. There's non-fiction and there's good fiction. This book is clearly well researched (and some of the details about Elizabeth's life are very interesting), but ultimately it falls somewhere between the two, achieving neither.
Worth reading, not worth re-reading - Rated
I read "Innocent Traitor" and adored it, from the entertaining, engaging story-telling to the passion and beauty of an old tale told anew, in such a fresh way. I waited for "The Lady Elizabeth" with hot anticipation but was very disappointed to find my enthusiasm cooled within the first few chapters. Although it's worth a read, especially if (like me) you are a die-hard fan of tudor fiction and/or Alison Weir's tremendous non-fiction works. But it feels rather two dimensional. Not a single character sprang to life from the pages as in her previous fiction book and I was left feeling rather indifferent to most of the hardship and suffering of the principal players. This book is simply a rather clinical telling of the story which left me feeling I would rather tuck into a non-fiction book if the author was going to avoid stirring up a single emotion whilst telling the tale. Interesting but not at all engaging.
A fantastic read - Rated 
If you are interest in Elizabeth I in any capacity, then this is the book for you. I stumbled across Alison Weir's book on Lady Jane Grey, and was transfixed, so was delighted when The Lady Elizabeth came out. The book takes you through Elizabeth's childhood, her teenage years, until the moment that she becomes queen. It is both fascinating and compelling and I would recommend it to anyone who has any interest in this period, but more importantly for bringing to life Elizabeth I's amazing and intriguing personality. A fantastic, higly recommended read!
An entertaining read - Rated
I enjoy historical novels and am a reader of all things tudor both fact and fiction. Whilst this was an entertaining read, I completely agree with the previous reviewer who stated Alison Weir's dialogue could be quite nauseating at times. She writes with a simplicity which does not reflect the period or subject matter. At times it is almost, "he said", "she said", which did annoy after a while.
In addition, I believe this period of time and particularly the story of Elizabeth is interesting enough without having to incorporate myth, legend and the supernatural as fact. The author herself states in her epilogue that she does not believe some of the things on which she has elaborated.
See Phillipa Gregory for a superior example of how to write Tudor history.
|
