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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Perfunctory, rushed novel of Mary Tudor, December 10, 2009
This review is from: Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor (Paperback)
I admit that my opinion of this novel was shaped in part by the rather bizarre preface, in which a group of modern day schoolgirls at a slumber party try to conjure up the spirit of "Bloody Mary" in an old mirror without really knowing what they're doing or who Mary Tudor (daughter of Henry VIII, half sister to Elizabeth) may have been. Of course, once all the girls are asleep in their sleeping bags, Mary materializes and studies the sleeping girls, almost tearfully. "Wretched, undeserved name," she says of her nickname. "Would that I could tell you and you would listen." And that's the device that Julianne Lee uses to launch this novel, one that rushes over or omits Mary's reaction to major life events (her separation from her mother, Catherine of Aragon; her mother's death; the execution of Anne Boleyn) in favor of 'insights' from characters like a pickpocket and a Catholic Londoner. The narrative doesn't flow smoothly, but bumps along - I kept wondering if I was misreading something when in the space of a page or two we moved from Mary at age 11 to Mary age 17. Even more distracting was the interruption to the story itself when Mary addresses the reader (presumably her school girl audience?), as if recounting a history lesson. ("My father's final years were the most pleasant of my adult life" and "I knew my purpose was to save my people from those who would destroy their very souls" are examples of this ponderous device at work.) Leaving aside the fact that the book is littered with small errors that multiply over time (Lee has Bishop John Fisher being hung; in fact, his sentence was commuted to beheading) and elements that simply don't ring true (would she really have addressed Anne Boleyn as "stepmother" to the latter's face, since Mary rejected the idea that the marriage was valid), this simply is a tedious book. After struggling through the first half, which failed to capture my interest at all, I skimmed over the second half, seeing no sign of any improvement. It's a shame, because Mary Tudor is, as Lee clumsily notes in the introduction, a monarch who struggles to shake off the reputation earned in the last years of her life and a woman who was known during her life before taking the crown for her generosity and wide-ranging friendships (she was a close friend of Anne of Cleves, for instance) as for her piety and oppression of her sister Elizabeth. She's also one of the only members of the Tudor dynasty who hasn't been written about from several dozen different angles. (I'm convinced that there's nothing fresh at all to say about either Anne Boleyn or her daughter, Elizabeth, by this point.) There have been a few other ham-handed efforts to humanize Mary, such as the rather bad book by Suzannah Dunn, The Queen's Sorrow (Lee's book makes this one seem much stronger in retrospect...) Perhaps this will appeal to die-hard Tudor historical fiction afficionados, at least those who don't have a knowledge of the character or the period and who thus are less likely to find the frequent interruptions by Mary's first-person summaries of historical events to be deeply irritating. But I'd suggest avoiding this book, and turning instead to the excellent books about Mary by Hilda Lewis. Originally published in (I believe) the 1960s/1970s, they are lively reads, accurate and gripping. Yes, they are out of print (although some of Lewis's other books are being republished, so at least there is hope...) but they are extraordinarily affordable on Amazon's British site. The trilogy begins with I Am Mary Tudor, continues with Mary the Queen and ends with Bloody Mary. Those are excellent four-star books; this I've rated 1.5 stars and rounded up only because I suppose it will appeal as a first step toward understanding a complex character and a turbulent period of history. As far as I'm concerned, unfortunately, it's a purchase that I regret having made.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Begins with a twist, but rights itself eventually, December 16, 2009
This review is from: Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor (Paperback)
Julianne Lee attempts to bring to modern day readers the sympathetic view of Mary Tudor, the misunderstood queen of the sixteenth century. Queen Mary did not have an easy life, and the author immediately sets off to show her readers the myriad of different situations that she was placed in due to the fact that she was the daughter of King Henry VIII. Most Tudor era fans know the story of this Mary Tudor, who was otherwise known as Bloody Mary due to her excessive execution of heretics. She was the only surviving issue of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII; at first treated as a princess should be until Henry divorced her mother. Yet, it is her younger half-sister, Elizabeth I, who gets the credit for being a strong female monarch in the sixteenth century. The author shows how Mary may have felt when she was told by her mother that her father was divorcing her, which jeopardized Mary's own status. She was stripped of her princess title, and simply became "Lady Mary." We see how Mary was indeed her mother's daughter, embracing the Catholic religion with zeal, as this was the only constant in her life. The story the author tells focuses on Mary's life and the major events that occurred around her, although we very quickly advance in the author's telling to Henry marrying Anne Boleyn, beheading her and taking Jane Seymour as a wife. Throughout this period we are privy to Mary's personal thoughts as she despises Anne, yet yearns for her place at her father's side. Henry is portrayed as unfeeling and callous towards his daughter Mary, but as doting on Elizabeth when she was a baby. Obviously for the sake of the story itself this works well in the author's favor for attempting to achieve sympathy for Mary. How much of this is factual is for another book. We blink, and Henry is dead and his only sickly son, Edward is on the throne at age 9. I don't even recall the sixth wife being mentioned. With the bulk of the book being told in third person, we are privy to the council meetings and the thoughts that the council members had about Mary, being a Catholic twenty-four year old potential claimant to the throne, never mind the fact that she was a woman. Mary is shown as very insecure, very pious and of ill health. Whenever she was stressed, it put her in a dangerous state of illness. Mary had feared poison from the heretic Protestant factions, and was beginning to lose faith in her own father's loyalty and regard for family ties. She always felt he would never execute her because of the fact that she was his daughter, but Henry was a ruthless man and did not like being refused his requests. This request in question (which spanned the first half of the book) that Henry demanded of her was going against the very grain of Mary's Catholic faith, for Henry wanted Mary to recognize him as having authority over the church and the pope. Mary finally felt that she could no longer trust in her faith to keep her alive. It seems Mary's only friend was her imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys. He advised her in most things and she is shown as relying on him at critical times, just as he advised her to accept the Act of Supremacy, although with a helpful caveat. Upon doing so, Mary was finally allowed some peace, and was welcome at her father's court after this long battle. She failed in the very things she lived for, such as having children and restoring England to the Catholic faith, and perhaps it was this failure that distressed her so much that caused her illnesses. But even through these failures, she unknowingly taught Elizabeth what to do or not do once Elizabeth ruled. What makes this novel unique is the way it opened up, with a modern day setting; and then the rest of the story is being told in an almost flashback fashion as Mary periodically appears as she explains what happens next. The chapter would open up with an italicized paragraph of Mary speaking her mind, and that chapter would tie itself into that foreshadowing opening paragraph. Also unique, are the "extras" to the novel. There are commoners, from thieves to family men that have their chance to their story in this novel as well. Through their eyes we get a broad scope of what the political and religious turmoils that the people in England were subject to, and this also helped keep the novel intriguing. As a Tudor junkie, I enjoyed it. As a historical fiction reader, I loved it. There is nothing that I can say in hindsight that I think the author should have done differently. The writing flowed simply and I was entertained by the clever outline of the novel with the diary style entries by Mary and the outlooks from the commoners. This was a unique approach towards a story that has been told many times before, but truly gives a realistic touch towards the humanity of Bloody Mary. The author successfully portrayed Mary in a more favorable light as we begin to understand the depth of Mary's faith and the mechanisms behind it. As the story progresses, we are more empathetic towards Mary as we witness the accounts of the relationships that Mary had with her family and her controversial husband, Philip of Spain. For the many readers who like to focus on the Tudor era, this is a read that must be added to your library, both for its original storytelling and the unique approach with which the author utilizes to tell this compelling story of Mary Tudor. I enjoyed this new novel by Julianne Lee so much so that I will be looking for her previous historical fiction read A Question of Guilt: A Novel of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Death of Henry Darnley (Oct 7, 2008) which focuses on another Queen Mary that I have not had a lot of sympathy for either. After reading Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Mary Tudor by Julianne Lee, I am definitely much more sympathetic to the views of Bloody Mary and more understanding of why she seemed a bit over the top. I recommend this one to those interested in the Tudor era and for historical fiction fans in general.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth the time to read it!, January 30, 2010
This review is from: Her Mother's Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor (Paperback)
I had this book on my shelf for several weeks before I finally got time to read it. Once I started it, I cleared my weekend so I wouldn't have to put it down. The book is well written, moves along quickly and allows Mary to explain herself during the various story intervals.
One of the things I was most impressed with was Lee's ability to convey the mindset of royalty. Through modern day media, society has learned that members of royalty (Prince Charles, Lady Di etc) must remain stoic and strong no matter what happens in their lives. Mary's ability to carry on as the princess she was born to be when she refuses to appear weak in front of others at all times is an example of Lee's grasp on the realities of Mary's world and society's expectations of Mary throughout her life. Whether it was the death of her mother, her father's betrayal or something else, Mary continued to conduct herself as someone of her station would be expected to do.
If you are a fan of Tudor era novels, you will enjoy this book because it presents a wonderful in-depth examination of Mary's life, heart and thoughts. If you are a beginning Tudor reader you will also love it for it's clear and concise explanations of many historic facts.
I highly recommend this book!
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