The Queen's Fool : A Novel [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Philippa Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2004

A stunning novel set in the Tudor court, as the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth is played out against a background of betrayal, conflict and passion. The savage rivalry of the daughters of Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth, mirrors that of their mothers, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Each will fight by any available means for the crown and future of the kingdom. Elizabeth's bitter struggle to claim the throne she believes is hers by right, and the man she desires almost more than her crown, is watched by her 'fool': a girl who has been forced to leave her homeland of Spain, as a Jew fleeing the Inquisition. In a court where truth is wittily denied and lies are mere games, it is the fool who can speak plainly: in these dangerous times, a woman must choose between ambition and love. Elizabeth will not make the same mistakes as her mother.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the hardback edition: 'Philippa Gregory! is a mesmerizing storyteller.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'An atmospheric read for anyone who loves to wallow in Tudor intrigue.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'After serving up the highly delicious The Other Boleyn Girl!Gregory has concocted yet another treat from the Tudor court!.I loved The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool is even better!.The pleasure to be found in this kind of historical fiction!.is a chair-by-the-fireside-on-a-cold-winter's-night kind of pleasure!it is the kind of pleasure only a born storyteller can offer.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'A rich brew of passion and intrigue.' DAILY MAIL 'Potent historical romance!a thrilling plot.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Fascinating!engrossing!.memerising!riveting!.compelling!.a pacey narrative that is just begging to be read in one sitting. Most impressively of all, she has taken a story in which we all know the protagonists and the hand history dealt them and has infused it with an extraordinary sense of suspense, drama and surprise.' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'A splendid tale of passionate liaisons. Gregory exuberantly depicts the struggle between Mary and Elizabeth' WOMAN & HOME 'A hugely satisfying plot-twist-a-page story.' TIME OUT 'Burns with passion.' INDEPENDENT 'A gripping page-turner; this follow-up to The Other Boleyn Girl confirms Gregory as our best writer of historical fiction.' CHOICE Praise for THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (HB): 'It is a credit to Gregory that she is able to sustain interest in an epic-length tale when the ending is one of the most well-known moments in English history. The very believable dialogue and detail take you all the way into the claustrophobic privy chambers of the royal palaces!Gregory has launched herself into a popular period and produced something with that most underrated of virtues: readability.' THE TIMES 'This is an intelligent variation on a familiar tale [with] witty use of metaphor' TLS 'This compulsively readable novel is a wonderful account of the tudor court!This is the finest historical novel of this year' DAILY MAIL Further acclaim for THE QUEEN'S FOOL (HB): 'With her excellent eye for detail, [Gregory] moves The Queen's Fool along at a great pace' MARIE CLAIRE AUSTRALIA 'Gregory offers a subtle examination of the tension between profound personal faith and the dangers of imposing that faith on others.' JEWISH QUARTERLY 'Gregory weaves a brilliant and complex fictional web around historical fact. Hugely enjoyable' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE 'Historical fiction at its most masterly. Meticulously researched and realised and with an engaging and totally convincing heroine, The Queen's Fool invites readers to rethink their opinions of both 'Bloody' Mary and the 'Virgin' Queen. Superbly plotted, exquisitely written with the enviable capacity to simultaneously thrill and provoke thought, this novel is even more 'unputdownable' than The Other Boleyn Girl' HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW 'Gregory serves up some more deliciously sombre moments from a factious Tudor court' INDEPENDENT

About the Author

Philippa Gregory is an internationally renowned author of historical novels. She holds a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. Works that have been adapted for television include A Respectable Trade, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. The Other Boleyn Girl is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• ISBN-10: 0743269829
• ASIN: B000CC49NU
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (252 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Kenya in 1954, Philippa Gregory moved to England with her family and was educated in Bristol and at the National Council for the Training of Journalists course in Cardiff. She worked as a senior reporter on the Portsmouth News, and as a journalist and producer for BBC radio.

Philippa obtained a BA degree in history at the University of Sussex in Brighton and a PhD at Edinburgh University in 18th-century literature. Her first novel, Wideacre, was written as she completed her PhD and became an instant world wide bestseller. On its publication, she became a full-time writer, and now lives with her family on a small farm in the North of England.

Her knowledge of gothic 18th century novels led to Philippa writing Wideacre, which was followed by a haunting sequel, The Favoured Child, and the delightful happy ending of the trilogy: Meridon. This novel was listed in Feminist Book Fortnight and for the Romantic Novel of the Year at the same time - one of the many instances of Philippa's work appealing to very different readers.

The trilogy was followed by The Wise Woman, a dazzling, disturbing novel of dark powers and desires set against the rich tapestry of the Reformation, and by Fallen Skies, an evocative realistic story set after the First World War. Her novel A Respectable Trade took her back to the 18th century where her knowledge of the slave trade and her home town of Bristol produced a haunting novel of slave trading and its terrible human cost. This is the only modern novel to explore the tragedies of slavery in England itself, and features a group of kidnapped African people trying to find their freedom in the elegant houses of 18th century Clifton. Gregory adapted her book for a highly acclaimed BBC television production which won the prize for drama from the Commission for Racial Equality and was shortlisted for a BAFTA for the screenplay.

Next came two of Gregory's best-loved novels, Earthly Joys and Virgin Earth, based on the true-life story of father and son John Tradescant working in the upheaval of the English Civil War. In these works Gregory pioneered the genre which has become her own: fictional biography, the true story of a real person brought to life with painstaking research and passionate verve.

The flowering of this new style was undoubtedly The Other Boleyn Girl, a runaway best-seller which stormed the US market and then went worldwide telling the story of the little-known sister to Anne Boleyn. Now published in 26 countries with more than a million copies in print in the US alone, this is becoming a classic historical novel, winning the Parker Pen Novel of the Year award 2002, and the Romantic Times fictional biography award. The Other Boleyn Girl was adapted for the BBC as a single television drama and a film is now in production starring Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn, Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Eric Bana as Henry VIII.

A regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, with short stories, features and reviews, Philippa is also a frequent broadcaster and a regular contestant on Round Britain Quiz for BBC Radio 4 and the Tudor expert for Channel 4's Time Team.

She lives in the North of England with her husband and two children and in addition to interests that include riding, walking, skiing and gardening (an interest born from research into the Tradescant family for her novel, Virgin Earth), she also runs a small charity building wells in school gardens in The Gambia. Fifty-six wells have been built by UK donors to date.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

197 of 210 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THERE IS NO FOOL LIKE THE QUEEN'S FOOL..., June 8, 2004

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Queen's Fool: A Novel (Boleyn) (Paperback)

This best selling English author of historical fiction has written yet another interesting work. This novel takes place during the reign of Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. She would leave a legacy that would cause her to be known as "Bloody Mary" for her burning of heretics.

The narrator is a girl named Hannah Green, a young teenager who has fled Spain and its Inquisition with her father, following the death of her mother. She had been burned alive at the stake as a heretic, when it was discovered that she was a "Marrano", a false Christian, that is, a Jew who has converted to Christianity but who follows the Jewish faith in secret.

Landing in London, where her father opens a book store, Hannah makes the acquaintance of a handsome rake, Sir Robert Dudley, who discovers that Hannah has the gift of sight. She develops a personal relationship with him that eventually sees her enter into Queen Mary's service as her fool. Hannah serves Queen Mary, but at the same time, is sent by the Queen to serve her half-sister the Princess Elizabeth and spy upon her.

Meanwhile, Sir Robert Dudley also uses Hannah in his treasonous plot to see the Princess Elizabeth on the throne of England. So, Hannah finds herself walking a dangerous tightrope and is fearful of discovery of her role in the political intrigues that are welling around her, as well as discovery of her own background, which would be grounds for death. Her worst fears are nearly realized when the Queen marries Prince Phillip of Spain.

In the midst of all this political intriguing that appears to be going on all around her, Hannah has her own immediate future to think about, as she becomes betrothed to another Marrano such as herself. Infatuated with Lord Dudley, loyal to both Queen Mary and the clever and manipulative Princess Elizabeth, Hannah finds herself putting her own future happiness at risk amidst the political and religious turmoil of the time.

This is a fast paced, breezy read about an independent, young woman who finds herself at a crossroad in her life and begins a voyage of self-discovery that will ultimately change her life. The story takes place in sixteenth century England, amidst all the political strife and religious upheaval of the time. The author weaves an intriguing tapestry of historical events and personages together with the intrigues that were rife in the Tudor court of the Queen who would become known as Bloody Mary.

93 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excitingly revisionist, February 20, 2004

By 

K. McDermott (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Queen's Fool: A Novel (Boleyn) (Paperback)

Philippa Gregory is one of the best historical novelists writing today, and she's at the top of her game with this book. As in the Meridon trilogy and "Wise Woman," she infuses her historical romance with a touch of mysticism. She takes the daring approach here of making Mary the sympathetic Tudor and Elizabeth the nasty one, and creates a most likeable heroine in Hannah Green, a Jewish clairvoyant in boy's garb who is a nice mixture of audacity and empathy. It sounds far-fetched, but Gregory pulls you in with believable (though not exactly period) dialogue, discreet sex, and fast-paced adventure. Hannah's emotions and reactions are always realistic, and neatly woven into the fantastically convoluted events of 1552-58. She lets "Bloody Mary" off a bit too easily regarding the burning of Protestant heretics (though of course, real life punished Mary badly enough), and makes Robert Dudley seem more of a matinee idol and less the calculating courtier that he was, but then this story is told from the point of view of an adolescent girl, so it's not really a flaw. There are many hints of a sequel in the novel, so I'm looking forward to her next revisionist take on the legendary Tudor women. I just hope we'll see more of Hannah Green, too.

79 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Strange & Disappointing, March 22, 2004

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lisebouvier "lisebouvier" (Midwestern US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Queen's Fool: A Novel (Boleyn) (Paperback)

Phillipa Gregory does a wonderful job of recreating a historical period, and I did enjoy her other Tudor work, The Other Boleyn Girl. I expected to enjoy this one as much, but couldn't.

I found the indiscriminately sympathetic portrayal of Mary (known to history as Bloody Mary) troubling. The author seemed to think that because Mary was a wronged wife, her excesses were excusable. Even more disturbing, and harder to swallow, is that the main character, Hannah, a secret Jew who lives in fear of being burned as heretic, remains loyal and uncritical of Mary until the end.

Either Hannah is an insensitive hypocrite, indifferent to the suffering of others because of her own safety as a royal favorite, or she is a poorly drawn character. It is hard to believe someone whose own mother was burned at the stake could remain loyal to a woman who sent so many to be burned alive.

Gregory blames Mary's ministers, pretending Mary was largely unaware of what was being done. A ruler with Mary's absolute power "unaware"? That makes her either a disconnected, incompetent ruler (not Gregory's view), or one so weak she was completely dominated by her ministers, which there is no reason to believe.

Gregory did succeed in showing how sad Mary's life was in many ways: Early separation from her mother due to her father's selfish whims, loss of her position, a youth spent in a kind of exile, an unfaithful husband.

However, I also saw her parents' flaws in her: obsessive attachment to a indifferent man, fanaticism and sense of absolute truth which both parents possessed, and worse, a ruthlessness and cruelty in enforcing her will inherited from her father.

"Bloody Mary" traumatized her country and was, ironically, probably one of the reasons England turned staunchly Protestant. If you happened to catch the recent cable movie "Charles II, The Last King" you can see how strongly the hatred/fear of Catholics persisted over a century later.

The other strange thing about "The Queen's Fool" is the unsympathetic portrayal of Elizabeth, the ruler who would prove the most tolerant of religous practices. What is worse is that Gregory's and Hannah's condemnation of Elizabeth is largely based on qualities, actions or feelings that Hannah also exhibits.

For example, Hannah's (and our) first view of Elizabeth is of a 14 year old girl flirting and kissing a married man (Thomas Seymour, a notorious womanizer). Yet, for much of the novel, Hannah is in love with a married man. She even spies on and betrays a trusting mistress (Mary) for love of him. Still, Elizabeth is considered a "whore" by Hannah (a word greatly overused by Gregory, used for any sexually active woman, though there were kinder words in use at the time).

Hannah also condemns Elizabeth for her secret Protestantism, stange considering she herself is a secret Jew. Why does she feel such loyalty to Catholicism anyway? It is the Catholics of Spain who have particularly persecuted her people, and Mary's husband is the Spanish King. English Protestants were benign by contrast.

The historical information about 16th century European Jews was interesting, and the most worthwhile part of "The Queen's Fool." Otherwise, not recommended.