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Maxwell, Robin The Queen's Bastard: A Novel
New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction Touchstone 15-Jun-00 068485760X / 9780684857602 Paperback
Maxwell's second novel (after The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn) breathes extraordinary life into the scandals, political intrigue and gut-wrenching battles that typified Queen Elizabeth's reignAas seen through the eyes of Arthur Dudley, the man who may have been the illegitimate progeny of the Virgin Queen and her beloved Master of the Horse, Robin Dudley. Arthur's first-person narration is cleverly juxtaposed with third-person dramatization of significant events in the queen's life, bringing an intricate authenticity to the possibility that Elizabeth gave birth to a bastard son. Maxwell's research examines the biographical gaps in, and documented facts about, the queen's life, making this incredible tale plausible, and the author aptly embellishes her story with rich period details and the epic dramas of the late 16th century. Switched at birth with a baby's corpse by a lady-in-waiting who foresaw the disastrous political consequences of a royal bastard, the infant is raised in the English countryside, where he is abused by his adoptive mother. Only his adoptive father, Robert Southern, knows his true background, and it is only when Southern lies dying that he reveals the secret to Arthur. The circumstances leading to Arthur's reunion with his father and finally his mother range from the young man's military training in Wales and encampment in the Netherlands to his post as a spy in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, all played out against the backdrop of England's defeat of the Spanish Armada. The novel falters only with an abundance of references to Anne Boleyn's diary (coy allusions to the author's first novel), but this minor affectation defuses none of the powerfully lascivious intersections of sexual and international politics that, combined with Maxwell's electrifying prose, here make for enthralling historical fiction. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Library Journal Maxwell's second novel is a sequel that, like The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn (LJ 3/15/97), posits a historically unlikely but interesting premise. The reader is asked to believe that Queen Elizabeth I gave birth secretly to a boy, Arthur, son of Robin Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and that loyal servants tricked these parents into thinking their baby was stillborn. To save the queen's honor, Arthur was spirited away and raised by a trusted country gentleman. The story moves effectively from the royal court, where Elizabeth continually thwarts Dudley's proposals of marriage, to the country, where Arthur, ignorant of his lineage, grows to be an excellent horseman and cavalry officer. Set against the historical backdrop of England's antipathy with Spain over its brutal war against the Dutch, the novel provides authentic details of hardships endured both by soldiers and towns under siege. Although created out of what if whimsy, the book is well-researched and laced with plausible dialog and absorbing narrative. The success of Maxwell's first book and a revived interest in the Elizabethan age make this novel highly recommended for fiction collections.ASheila M. Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, DC Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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11.17 USD
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Maxwell, Robin The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn
New York Touchstone 28-May-98 684849690 Paperback
From Library Journal This first novel supposes that Anne Boleyn, second wife to King Henry VIII of England, kept a secret diary that was delivered to her daughter, Elizabeth, upon her succession to the throne. Elizabeth was only three when Anne was renounced by Henry, tried for treason, and sentenced to death. Now, despite her queenly schedule, juggling affairs of state and heart, Elizabeth finds time to read her mother's story avidly and learns lessons that will secure her reign. It is an intriguing premise that knowledge of Anne's sad fate leads Elizabeth resolutely to defy the customs of her time and ignore her advisers' counsel and her suitors' pleas to marry. Remaining single and healthy, Elizabeth rules long and well. Filled with fascinating descriptions of court life and references to historical figures and events, this novel is highly recommended for fiction collections.?Sheila M. Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Kirkus Reviews An energetic, full-dress period novel, Maxwell's first, constructed from the adventures of Henry VIII's doomed second queen, mother of Elizabeth I of England. Here, a recently crowned Elizabeth finds her dead mother's diary, discovering not only a legacy of maternal love but the idea that Virgin Queens should stay that way. The story blasts off with a Tudorian ``God's death!'' roared by Elizabeth, but Maxwell doesn't generally weigh the narrative down with archaisms. The dutifully noted battles and political skirmishes of the great powers don't interfere with the upward strides (and missteps) of that peppery commoner, Anne Boleyn. Educated in a French court, and later in England, serving Henry's royal-born Queen Katherine, Anne, to her amazement (and greedy father's delight), is pursued by the King (``He loomed so large, those blue and laughing eyes so bright''). Having been separated from the man she really loved, Anne daringly keeps Henry in courtly pursuit--but out of bed--for six years. Meantime, Henry, determined to change queenly partners, uproots his allegiance to the Pope and creates an English church. The King and Anne marry, but now that the Unattainable has become a marital captive--and a queen unable to produce a son--Henry's frustrations (and desires) prod him to turn elsewhere. Death by execution in the Tower will cut short a life in which the stakes and odds were sky-high. Years later, Elizabeth finds in her mother's diary a pointed message: ``Never relinquish control to any man.'' Those fascinated by the Tudors--those magnificent, truly terrifying political animals--may find the characterizations and the language occasionally too modern. But Anne's straight-from-the- stomacher confessions, and Elizabeth's thundering about, should appeal to all fanciers of imagined portraits of Tudor-era heroines, like the late Eleanor Hibbert's (a.k.a. Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Jean Plaidy) gallery of royal queens. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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