MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES [Hardcover]

Margaret George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1987

This is a novel about Mary Queen of Scotland.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (1987)
• ASIN: B002AYXVCS
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,387,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret George specializes in epic fictional biographies of historical figures, taking pains to make them as factually accurate as possible without compromising the drama. Her THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HENRY VIII will have its 25th anniversary this September, and continues to be popular. ABC-TV based its 1999 Emmy-nominated "Cleopatra" miniseries on her THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA. All of her books have been bestsellers, with twenty-one foreign translations.

Margaret's father was in the Foreign Service and so she lived overseas for her early life, in such different places as tropical Taiwan, desert Israel, and cold war Berlin, all of which were great training for a novelist to be. She started writing 'books' about the same time as she could write at all, mainly for her own entertainment. It was a diversion she never outgrew. Her published works are: THE AUTOBIOGAPHY OF HENRY VIII, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES, THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA, MARY CALLED MAGDALENE, HELEN OF TROY, ELIZABETH I, and an illustrated children's book, LUCILLE LOST.

Margaret lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and Washington DC, and has a sextagenarian tortoise as a pet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A slightly disappointing effort., November 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles: A Novel (Paperback)

The life of Mary Queen of Scots is perhaps history's greatest soap opera. It is impossible to make her story dull, although, when reading this novel, I sometimes had the feeling that George was trying her hardest to disprove that fact. True, Mary was a prisoner for twenty years, but did George have to spend what felt like twenty years describing it? I wish the author had spent less time on the latter half of Mary's life, and more on her years in Scotland, particularly where her relationship with the Earl of Bothwell is concerned. Bothwell, to me, is one of history's more fascinating personalities, and I felt that, even though he is the book's hero, George rather gave him short shrift. I also felt she made numerous factual errors, that, though mostly minor, were distracting. For instance, while I agree with her that Darnley himself was responsible for mining his house at Kirk o'field with gunpowder, her overall scenario for his murder is unconvincing. Also, it is annoying that she seems to dither about the authorship of the Casket Letters. Before she wrote the book, she should have made up her mind on the subject, one way or another. All this aside, however, George is not untalented as a writer, and as a look at Mary's life and times, it is still an improvement over Antonia Fraser's book, which is one of the stupidest biographies I have ever read.

48 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The poor doomed queen, April 2, 2001

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles: A Novel (Paperback)

I chanced upon this book in a used bookstore in a little Ohio town and thought of my best friend who expressed she wanted to read it. Only, I read it first and couldn't put it down. Then it passed onto two more friends ~~ only they couldn't put it down. It is probably one of the best impulse buys I have ever made.

Margaret George wrote an intensive book on the queen of Scotland, who was also related to Elizabeth I somewhat distantly. George did a great job of telling Mary's story ~~ a story of a rash, flighty woman who didn't stop to think before acting. Who thought with her emotions (such a different queen than her English cousin!) ~~ defied the normal conventions and rules set upon her by her advisors and did whatever she thought she wanted to do. Naturally, we all know how the story turns out in the end ~~ but George does a wonderful job of epicting "what might have happened" throughout this novel. And she does a wonderful job combining facts within the novel ~~ so you might pick up a few things here and there about Scottish history.

For those of you who want to read about the royalty but are too intimidated to read the historical tomes, I suggest you read this one. It's long ~~ but the writing itself will keep you interested and propells you onto the way to learning more about history. When you finish the last page, you rest in confidence that you tackled such a hefty book ~~ and you walk away just a little smarter about history. If a book can get you to do that, then the praises should rest on George's head.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!, April 14, 2000

By 

esagman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles: A Novel (Paperback)

The Editorial Review does a magnificent job at describing this book, so I need not duplicate.

My comments are limited to how much I truly enjoyed reading this book and learning of the details of the life of Mary, Queen of Scotland. After reading the book, it was weeks before I could put her day-to-day life, and death, out of my mind.

If you enjoy history, written in novel format, you will love this book. I read it in one week and am just about to delve into Margaret George's "Henry VIII" book...and then her book on "Cleopatra". I LOVE THIS AUTHOR'S STYLE!