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Search - The Virgin's Lover
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The Virgin's Lover Author: |
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Other Versions of this Book: Paperback, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged)
Book Description:
In the autumn of 1558, church bells across England ring out the joyous news that Elizabeth I is the new queen. One woman hears the tidings with utter dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert, and she knows that Elizabeth's ambitious leap to the throne will pull her husband back to the very center of the glamorous Tudor court, where he was born to be. Amy had hoped that the merciless ambitions of the Dudley family had died on Tower Green when Robert's father was beheaded and his sons shamed; but the peal of bells she hears is his summons once more to power, intrigue, and a passionate love affair with the young queen. Can Amy's steadfast faith in him, her constant love, and the home she wants to make for them in the heart of the English countryside compete with the allure of the new queen?
Elizabeth's excited triumph is short-lived. She has inherited a bankrupt country, riven by enmity, where treason is normal and foreign war a certainty. Her faithful advisor William Cecil warns her that she will survive only if she marries a strong prince to govern the rebellious country, but the one man Elizabeth desires is her childhood friend, the irresistible, ambitious Robert Dudley.
Robert revels in the opportunities of the new reign. The son of an aristocratic family brought up in palaces as the equal of his royal playmates, Robert knows he can reclaim his destiny at Elizabeth's side. Elizabeth cannot resist his courtship, and as the young couple slowly falls in love, Robert starts to think the impossible: can he set aside his wife and marry the young queen?
Philippa Gregory's The Virgin's Lover answers the question about an unsolved crime that has fascinated detectives and historians for centuries. Philippa Gregory uses documents and evidence from the Tudor era and, with almost magical insight into the desires of Robert Dudley and his lovers, paints a picture of a country on the brink of greatness, a young woman grasping at her power, a young man whose ambition is greater than his means, and the wife who cannot forgive them.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Linda S. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
While I loved The Other Boleyn Girl, and enjoyed The Queen’s Fool, this book was a bit of a disappointment. While I still enjoy the way Gregory makes historical figures real, I was very disappointed with her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in this book. Instead of the strong Queen, after which an entire era was named, we have a whiny, insecure, indecisive ninny. This I took great exception to. Although I am willing to accept a great deal of leeway in fiction, this seemed over the top to me. I did enjoy the rationalization of the ‘crime’, distasteful as it may be, but for the most part found the depiction of women in this book to be rather misogynistic. Not one of her better efforts.
Tracey M. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Well, I think this book was a bit over hyped and a let down to Philippa Gregory's prior works. Any fan of the Tutor age will love this book. The writing is sharp, clever and is written so colorfully that you really do have an idea of how people were back then. An enjoyable read full of lust, deception and plotting (not unlike our modern day politics). Go ahead and try it!
Marci G. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Another excellent Philippa gregory of life in the royal court, this time Elizabeth I. A good story involving Robert Dudley and the death of his wife, Amy. After years of reading only bios of historical figures, Phillipa Gregory has converted me to a fan of historical fiction.
Cherie (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
It's 1558, and Elizabeth, daughter to King Henry VIII and 2nd wife Anne Boleyn, has just been crowned Queen of England. After the brief but strict reign of her Catholic half-sister Mary, what is England to expect from the Protestant Princess who wants to abolish the Catholic ways? In a country full of turmoil, Sir Robert Dudley, longtime friend of Elizabeth since their days growing up at court together, seeks to better his position and maneuver himself into a position of power at Elizabeth's side.
But what of his wife: the forgotten Amy Dudley who doesn't come to court but instead remains back home in the country, forever waiting for her husband to put aside his ambitions and return home to her, for the love of a good woman. Unfortunately, the only love Dudley's seeking is the Queen's. But to what lengths will he go to achieve his means?
This was another great read in the Tudor series! Though the work itself is considered fiction, the author bases the stories themselves on fact. Of course, we cannot truly know everything that went through the minds of Elizabeth, Robert, William Cecil, and the others as not as much was recorded in the way of diaries and actual day-to-day events. But despite that, Ms. Gregory is able to take the facts from numerous sources and build a very real feeling story that draws you right in and makes you feel as if you were right there in the Renaissance period, experiencing everything firsthand along with the rest of the court. It's as if she's reconstructed history right before your very eyes!
I was never much for History in school; it was always one of my worst subjects and I could never garner enough interest to retain the facts that were constantly drilled into my head. However, the way these stories are composed by Ms. Gregory, I enjoy them so much that I actually find myself easily retaining all the information I so easily forgot before, even long after I finished the book. My high school history professor would be so proud! LOL
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I have read The Other Boleyn Girl and the Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory...which I absolutely loved, and Ms. Gregory again does not disappoint with The Virgin's Lover.
Jennie B. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
A gripping tale of intrigue in the context of Elizabeth I's struggle to seize power in England. Recommended!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I had a hard time getting into the book and finishing it. But it was a decent read.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
THis book was amazing. I am obsessed with all things that involve life in the Tudor courts. Gregory is able to make a villainous powerhungary social climber into someone I can actually sympathize with.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Historical fiction about Elizabeth I's reign.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
While I always enjoy a book set int eh Elizabethan period, I think I'm one of the few who found this book horrid. I had never thought that anyone would portray Queen Elizabeth as a weak, sniveling woman who can't function without her lover by her side.
Part of the Tudor series, this book focuses on a young Queen Elizabeth I, and capitalizes on the historical speculation that Elizabeth was sexually involved with her childhood friend, handsome and charming Robert Dudley. As if Elizabeth weren't an interesting enough woman on her own, this fun insight into what she might have been like as a young woman in her prime lends a delicious nuance to her.
Jenny J. (I loved this book! The author really brings the story of Queen Elizabeth & Robert Dudley to life. Very readable.
Bestseller Gregory captivates again with this expertly crafted historical about the beautiful young Virgin Queen, portrayed as a narcissistic, neurotic home-wrecker. As in her previous novels about Tudor England (The Queen's Fool, etc.), Gregory amasses a wealth of colorful period detail to depict the shaky first days of Elizabeth I's reign. The year is 1558, an especially dangerous time for the nation: no bishop will coronate Henry VIII's Protestant daughter, the treasury is bankrupt, the army is unpaid and demoralized. Meanwhile, the French are occupying Scotland and threatening to install "that woman"—Mary, Queen of Scots—on the throne. Ignoring the matrimonial advice of pragmatic Secretary of State William Cecil, the 25-year-old Elizabeth persists in stringing along Europe's most eligible bachelors, including King Philip of Spain and the Hapsburg archduke Ferdinand. It's no secret why: she's fallen for her "dark, saturnine" master of horse, Sir Robert Dudley, whose traitorous family history and marriage to the privately Catholic Amy make him an unsuitable consort. Gregory deftly depicts this love triangle as both larger than life and all too familiar; all three characters are sympathetic without being likable, particularly the arch-mistress Elizabeth, who pouts, throws tantrums, connives and betrays with queenly impunity. After a while the plot stagnates, as the lovers flaunt their emotions in the face of repetitious arguments from Amy, Cecil and various other scandalized members of the court. But readers addicted to Gregory's intelligent, well-researched tales of intrigue and romance will be enthralled, right down to the teasingly tragic ending.
This wonderful story imagines the love affair between Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth carefully researched using documents and evidence fromthe era. The jacket copy is the best description of the tale that I can offer....[An] almost magical insight into the desires of Robert Dudley and his lovers, paints a picture of a countryon the brink of greatness, a yuong woman grasping at her power, a young man whose ampition is greater than his means, and the wife who cannot forgive him. A great read.
This is another great book set in the court of Elizabeth I. It's an enticing story and really drew me in quickly!
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