I, Elizabeth: A Novel (Paperback)

by Rosalind Miles (Author) "He will make a good death, they say..." (more)
Key Phrases: chamber gown, learned virgins, small pocks, King of Spain, Lord Protector, Queen of Scots (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Popular historian ( The Women's History of the World ) and novelist ( Return to Eden ) Miles brings deep research to this iconoclastic but only partially successful fictional life of England's "virgin queen," Elizabeth I. Miles traces, through the queen's own voice, Elizabeth's turbulent years as a princess in Henry VIII's court, her uneasy status during the brief reigns of her brother Edward and sister Mary and her decades on the throne. The author leaves no event unreported, describing in detail the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth's struggles with Mary, Queen of Scots, and the rise and fall of Essex. In a genre that often uses passionate love scenes to temper the drier affairs of history, a novel about the world's second most famous female virgin presents a challenge. There are love scenes aplenty, however, since Miles depicts the young Elizabeth as being as sexually obsessed as she is frustrated, her interest in men overshadowing affairs of state, religion and the succession to the throne. Miles is at her best in describing everyday Elizabethan life--religion, food, dress, illness. But her Elizabeth lacks the charisma to carry this lengthy chronicle, which is weakened by the device of having the queen, in italicized passages, comment from a pallid, distant hindsight on her past actions. As an entertaining look at Reformation England, this novel succeeds, but it fails at the more immediate task of creating memorable fictional characters from the leavings of history. Literary Guild and Double day Book Club selections; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Historian Miles, who has written books on Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and women's history, here gives a portrait of Elizabeth I that is rich in historical detail. More importantly, her Elizabeth has an authentic voice. Raised by turns as princess, bastard, and potential traitor, Elizabeth does anything she must do to keep her head from the block except renounce her faith (which makes it odd that we get no sense of her as a spiritual person). Having achieved power, she will do whatever it takes to retain it, including denying her powerful sexuality and executing traitors, even her beloved Earl of Essex. Forthright, salty, sensual, regal, and occasionally foolish, this is as real as a character created by words can be. For all historical fiction collections. [Doubleday and Literary Guild selections; previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/94.]-Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
--Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609809105
• ISBN-13: 978-0609809105
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132,580 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent insight on England's best queen, July 20, 2006

By	Jennifer Terry (Parker, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you enjoy learning about the British monarchy, especially the Tudors, you will love this novel. Although fiction, the novel gives excellent insight into the rule of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and, of course, Elizabeth I. It also is rich on detail about life at the time, from the use of cosmetics to palace life to fashion to food.

The novel also gives a voice to one of England's greatest and most fascinating monarchs. It is impossible to know how accurate Miles' portrayal is in terms of Elizabeth's emotions, motivations, etc., but she strictly follows historical events, even including small factual events, such as Elizabeth's inscription on Dudley's (Earl of Leicester) last letter and several important quotes ("This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes..."). The novel also includes handy family trees at the beginning and a list of "persons of my history" at the end for reference.

I agree with other reviewers who noted that much time was spent on Elizabeth's favorites, including Thomas Seymour, Robert Dudley, and the Earl of Essex, but it is true that these men were the queen's favorites, even if they may or may not have been lovers. The queen is portrayed as a silly, flirty thing at times, but mostly it appears as if she never loses sight of who she is. She is also portrayed, in turns, as vain, brilliant, jealous, clever, manipulative, etc., all attributes of a person, even a queen.

A few criticisms of mine include that the portrayal of Elizabeth's relationship with Seymour was only partly factual. That he invaded her bedroom regularly to tickle her and kiss her was true, but I have read that she was not besotted with him, but rather annoyed at his attentions, so much that she asked to be sent away. Also, I did get tired of the long tug of war with the Earl of Essex, since Elizabeth the narrator mentions multiple times that she had no feeling for him, he was dead to her, she felt nothing, she felt only coldness for him, she realized he was a traitor, etc. after each of his progressively more dangerous escapades, but it takes a truly drastic act to make her fully return to her role as queen with him rather than woman (which, as with everything, follows historical events, but the details of her emotions seem especially exaggerated for dramatic value at this point). The end of the relationship in the novel does bring a twist of her reasons for acting as she did, which imply that she knew what she was doing all along and somewhat redeem the repetition of her feeling nothing, then being in love, then feeling nothing again.

Overall, the reader cannot expect this novel to be the embodiment of the real Elizabeth's voice, thoughts, and feelings, but it is as good of a surmise as any, and it is pleasurable to imagine her voice in the novel as real. The novel's other great value comes in the form of the historical facts I detailed earlier, giving the reader a fascinating look at the Tudors and life at the time.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Was E R really a simpering, vapid woman?, August 5, 2004

By	belacane "Indolent, Insolent, Insouciant" (Sammamish, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Argh, as a reader of historical fiction I was really looking forward to this book and it is only about 30% actual history and the rest is Elizabeth's vapid moaning about (a) men she loves, (b) men who love her, (c) catty other women, (d) men she loves, and so on. By the end of the book (around age 60) she is showing herself as a ruler who is being led by her heart, not her mind, with consequences for England that were not the best.

Due to the excessive discussions of love and romance in this book I'd be more tempted to classify it as a romance novel than historical fiction.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, March 1, 2000

By	Natalie (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I, Elizabeth (Paperback)

I am a Briton and a history buff, especially of my country. Elizabeth is one of the most fascinating women of history, British or otherwise, and I loved this personal insight into the extreme pressure of being a queen. From her speeches about Robin Dudley, to her worries about her face and body as she gets older to the threat of the Armada, this is a wonderful book, all around. Vive la reine!