Courtney Z. reviewed Weir needs some work on 2/6/2009 + 25 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 7

Alison Weir is a new entrant into the world of historical fiction, having spent her time until recently writing REAL history books (she is one of the foremost historians on England's Tudor period, King Henry VIII and his wives). The good news is that her history is always spot on. The bad news is that her writing isn't. Her first foray into historical fiction was "Innocent Traitor" about the little known ascendancy to the throne of Lady Jane Grey (Elizabeth's cousin). Since that book is about a topic with which not many are familiar, it made for compelling reading and one was able to forgive the sometimes ham-handed prose. In this her second book, Weir does not acquit herself as well. There are certainly compelling paragraphs and some of the story flows, but for the most part Weir has a difficult time mustering any real suspense with Elizabeth's plight, as we all know she ended up Queen.

She does bring to light some interesting "true" anecdotes with which most will not be familiar, and imagines a truly shocking event that most will not believe, but the book really needed a bit more editing.

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