The Queen's Sorrow [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Suzannah Dunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2009

Plain, dutiful and a passionate Catholic, Mary Tudor was overwhelmed by joy when she became England's first ruling queen. After the misery of her childhood, when her father had rejected her mother, Catherine of Aragon and effectively disowned his daughter, Mary felt at last that she was achieving her destiny. And when she marries Philip of Spain, her happiness is complete. But Mary's delight quickly sours as she realises that her husband does not love her and in fact finds her devotion to him irritating. Desperate for a baby, she becomes caught up by the belief that she must appease her God by bringing England back to her faith. Her people are horrified at the severity of the measures she takes and begin to turn against their queen who is lonely, frightened - and desperate for love. Xavier, a member of Philip of Spain’s entourage, is a reluctant witness to the unfolding tragedy and as the once-fêted queen tightens her cruel hold on the nation, Xavier becomes closer to Mary and his life - and new-found love - will be caught up in the chaos.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dunn fails to deliver in her newest melodrama, a meandering historical that chronicles the expedition of Rafael, a Spanish retainer sent on what he is told will be a brief trip to construct a sundial for Mary Tudor. But once he arrives in xenophobic and unstable England, Rafael does little but whine about the weather and how much he misses his wife and son. Unfortunately for Rafael, his project is delayed, and while waiting to return home, he becomes infatuated with Cecily, a tender housekeeper who becomes his constant companion despite their language barrier. They fall in love (albeit excruciatingly slowly), but their affair is complicated by Rafael's conflicting feelings for his wife. Mary, meanwhile, plays a very secondary role until a late-book shift in which she becomes a paramount force in the narrative as it tumbles toward a surprising conclusion. Although Dunn nails Rafael's fascination with sex, and her eye for detail remains sharp, much of the prose feels stilted, and the interminably slow plot is hobbled by a wallowing narrator and facile treatments of isolation, religious tension and icy domestic life. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Praise for ‘The Sixth Wife’:‘My, what a story…delightfully vulgar and utterly compelling.’ The Times‘Suzannah Dunn…weaves…a love story that is both moving and believable…of second chances at love, and passion reawakened.’ Telegraph‘Mesmerising and beautifully written.’ Scotsman‘Suzannah Dunn…weaves a kind of love story that is both moving and believable. This is the Tudor world as seldom seen…The result is historical chick lit at its most charming.’ Telegraph‘Dunn [sheds] possible new light on Katharine’s marriage to Thomas Seymour and her final days are treated with sympathy and skill.’ The TabletPraise for ‘The Queen of Subtleties’:‘Suzannah Dunn is, as ever, a mistress at describing the material world through which her characters move.’ Guardian‘A boisterous historical recreation.’ Independent‘“The Queen of Subtleties” offers a stunningly refreshing way of retelling an old story. I often abandon historical novels nowadays, but I really could not put this one down. It brings Anne Boleyn to life as never before, and, probably for the first time ever in fiction, Henry VIII emerges as a truly credible character in an authentic setting.’ Alison Weir, author of ‘The Six Wives of Henry VIII’ --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Limited; Unabridged edition (August 12, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1846486866
• ISBN-13: 978-1846486869
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The reader is the sorrowful one... 1.5 stars -- maybe., December 30, 2008

By 

S. McGee (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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

I first encountered Suzannah Dunn's writing through the quirky but intriguing story of Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr and her bosom friend, Catherine Brandon, the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk, The Sixth Wife: A Novel. This is the second time I've sampled another of her novels hoping to find it the same combination of suspenseful plot and adequate writing - a good beach or airplane read, essentially. (I bought this at Heathrow on the way home for the plane ride, in fact.) This will be the last time, however.

The Queen's Sorrow has little to do with Mary Tudor and the unquestioned fact that her reign - after an initial period of euphoria - was a litany of disaster, from failed crops to religious dissension and the losses of England's final possessions on the continent. Instead, the story revolves around the improbable adventures of an unconvincing character, a Spaniard who has left behind his wife and son in order to craft a sundial for the English queen as a gift from her new husband, the Spanish Prince Phillip. I say "adventures", but that is far too strong a word for Rafael's experiences in England. He travels to and from the court, worries about whether he'll be able to complete his sundial (whether he'll be paid for the supplies, for instance), and, in his spare time, broods and wonders about the mysterious housekeeper who serves the family that reluctantly offers him bed and board. Ultimately, the mystery of Cecily and her young son become entangled in Rafael's acute homesickness for his own family and the Queen's yearning for a son of her own to inherit the kingdom and preserve it as a Catholic realm.

Alas and alack. The elements are all there for a good novel - despite the fact that the title is misleading. But none of the characters is convincing and the plot plods, ambles and meanders. By the time what should be a shocking denouement is reached, what is horrifying isn't the outcome, but the fact that the reader doesn't care that much because Dunn has failed to persuade them that these are "living" characters. (This time, the contemporary approach to dialogue, while still distracting and irritating, was the least of this reader's problems with the novel.)

I didn't have quite as visceral a degree of repulsion for The Queen of Subtleties: A Novel of Anne Boleyn, although I wouldn't recommend it to a friend and would award it only 2.5 stars, versus 3.5 for the far better (albeit implausible at times) Sixth Wife. Avoid this; if you're looking for historical fiction about Mary Tudor, turn to Hilda Lewis's excellent books (out of print but available)Mary the Queen, I Am Mary Tudor. Philippa Gregory tackles Mary's woes and the woes of England under her rule through the eyes of a member of her entourage (a similar approach and one I think works better) in The Queen's Fool: A Novel (Boleyn). Any of those books I would award 3.5 to 4 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Book Cover is Very Misleading, January 5, 2009

By 

J. Jamison (New Albany, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Queen's Sorrow (Paperback)

"A Love Denied For Which a Country Must Suffer". That's on the front. In reading the back cover, one could get the impression that it was Mary Tudor's story, and Rafael was a close friend, or lover. Nothing could be furthur from the way the book plays out. Rafael comes to England with Phillip of Spain, to work on a sundial. He expects to only be there 6 weeks, but ends up staying over a year, because Phillip is kept in England. There is almost no dialogue; it is mostly Rafael's impressions of England and the English people. The book is slow moving and very over-written. Pages go on and on, with no movement forward in the story. Rafael and Queen Mary meet a few times, briefly, and they are like ships in the night-- no friendship develops other than their interest in children. The "great love" in the story is Rafael's love for his 4 year old son back in Spain. He has a fling with Cecily, the housekeeper where he is staying, and in the end betrays her, unknowingly. I would have enjoyed the book more if I had not felt mislead-- if it had been called "Rafael Goes To London", I would not have kept expecting something to happen between him and Mary. But it was so dull and drawn out that by the end I just wanted to get it finished.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars who's sorry now....the reader, February 8, 2009

By 

bookloverFLA (south of Sarasota FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Queen's Sorrow (Paperback)

Other reviewers have said it first and better, this is not a novel about Mary Tudor and the book cover and description are absolutely misleading.

Every person in the novel is sad, unendingly sad and it goes from bad to worse.

Perhaps the author was having a bad time in her life but why inflict it upon us. I am sad I read it. Bummer.