Elizabeth, Captive Princess (Good Queen Bess 2) [Paperback]

Margaret Irwin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Good Queen Bess 2 | Publication Date: January 18, 2008

A brother dead; a cousin executed; imprisonment in the Tower--in the aftermath of Edward VI's demise England is in turmoil and young Elizabeth s position is precarious. But while she is prey to the Queen's jealous suspicions, Queen Mary is fading; while Elizabeth is twenty and healthy. The country looks to the young princess for its future. Imperious, high spirited, fighting for her life, Elizabeth already shows the diplomacy, the baffling changes of mood, and the power to win men's devotion for which she would be famous as Queen. This is the second book in the series started in Queen Bess

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Irwin took the same tack with these volumes as Shakespeare did centuries before her: namely, using real events in her country's history as the basis for her fiction. Both titles, published in 1953 and 1948, respectively, follow young Elizabeth; her half-sister Queen Mary; Mary's fianc?, Philip of Spain; and a cast of courtly players, most of whom are Royal pains.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Vivid and psychologically brilliant." --Times Literary Supplement

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (January 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749080566
• ISBN-13: 978-0749080563
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,083,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Highly Entertaining Book Based on Accurate Facts, January 1, 2004

By 

"orionaldeberan" (STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elizabeth, Captive Princess (Paperback)

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Elizabeth I. Although it is written in a storybook fashion with the characters "speaking" to one another, it is factually accurate and puts you in the center of the action. I think the author has done a marvellous job of interweaving actual historical facts with her character's dialog and actions. Its' writing style makes the characters seem vividly real and gets the reader emotionally involved. As a schoolboy in England, I had studied text books about Elizabeth, but this book gave me a whole new level of respect for someone who I had already held in high esteem. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth, Captive Princess is a book fit for a Princess or Queen., October 11, 2010

By 

Cheryl Koch (CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elizabeth, Captive Princess (Good Queen Bess 2) (Paperback)

King Henry VIII is dead. King Edward is lying in his bed about to die as well. Who will reign next? It was thought that Lady Jane Grey would but she has been executed. Now, it is between Mary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth knows she will be a better Queen than Mary. Unfortunately because Mary is the older of the two, it makes sense that Mary would be the next Queen. Of course, Mary does becomes Queen. Though not a lot of people are happy about it. There is a plot to get Mary out of the throne. Mary is stubborn and won't give up the throne easily. Elizabeth is conniving and is trying to find a way to overthrow Mary. Will she succeed?

Elizabeth, Captive Princess is book two in the Elizabeth I trilogy. I read the first book, Young Bess because I was interested in getting to know Elizabeth better. A lot of the books about the Tudors is about King Henry VIII, his wife Anne, his daughter Mary and his son, Edward but there are not a lot of books about Elizabeth. I think she is overlooked. She is very intelligent and knows what her goals are and hold to achieve them. On the flip side, while I am liking this trilogy, I found this book to be a bit slow. I didn't find the characters that interesting and at times the story moved really slowly. Though, there were some hit and misses with this book for me; I still can't wait to finish this trilogy. Elizabeth, Captive Princess is a book fit for a Princess or Queen.

4.0 out of 5 stars realistic prose, November 16, 2010

By 

Melissa A. Halliday "book lover" (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elizabeth, Captive Princess (Good Queen Bess 2) (Paperback)

this is a fabulous book. it is a fictional story of the relationship between
princess elizabeth and queen mary. they were half sisters and their relationship
was extremely complicated. they seemed to have a cat/mouse...love(?)/hate...
up/down history with eachother. i think few of us would want to trade places with
either of these women! the dialog is exactly how i believe they would have
spoke to eachother. the author has written a classic. this is very enjoyable
for fans of elizabeth.
***as a side note,there is no "described" terror/gore in this book,only that,
"so and so was executed" and it is left to the imagination.***