Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals Book (Hardcover)

by Carolyn Meyer (Author) "Inherited King Henry's fiery temper-no one would deny that!..." (more)
Key Phrases: sweating sickness, privy chamber, King Henry, Lady Susan, Lady Anne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Teen fans of the movie Elizabeth will be fascinated with the pomp and sinister intrigue of Mary, Bloody Mary, an engrossing story about the teen years of Mary Tudor, half sister to Queen Elizabeth and daughter to Henry VIII. As a baby, Mary was adored by her father, who carried her around on his shoulder and displayed her for the court to admire. But as his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, waned for lack of a male heir, Henry began an affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Mary was convinced that Anne was a witch. Didn't everyone know she had a sixth finger? And wasn't it Anne who persuaded Henry to declare his first marriage invalid (rendering Mary a bastard)? As the king grows ever colder, Mary is banished to a distant house, forbidden from seeing her mother, left to wear rags, and finally--at Anne's bidding--summoned back to court to be a servant to her baby half sister Elizabeth. Once there, Mary lives in constant dread that she will be poisoned or sent to the executioner's block in one of her father's rages. By the time Anne Boleyn herself is beheaded, Henry's first daughter has become the bitter and angry woman who was to be known as Bloody Queen Mary for her savage religious genocide. Carolyn Meyer, long acclaimed for her teen fiction (Drummers of Jericho), accurately captures the glitter and grandeur as well as the brutality of this fascinating period in history. (Ages 10 to 16) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly
This riveting slice of fictional royal history paints a sympathetic portrait of Henry VIII's oldest daughter, before she earns the title Bloody Mary. Trained not to weep in public, the young princess puts on a steely front but lives in constant fear of her father's tyranny. The novel begins in 1527 when 11-year-old Mary learns that she has been betrothed to the middle-aged king of France. The accessible first-person narrative chronicles Mary's dramatic change in status from riches to rags when her father attempts to annul his marriage to Catherine, Mary's mother, and conveys how Mary's (and the nation's) fate is affected by her father's obsession with "bewitching" Anne Boleyn, his excessive spending and his execution sprees. The novel ends in 1536, just after Henry VIII takes his third wife, Jane Seymour, and things begin to look a bit more optimistic for Mary. While the pacing is at times uneven, Meyer's (Gideon's People) account convincingly sets the stage for Mary's own sprees of persecution (mentioned in a thorough afterword) and provides an excellent introduction to pre-Renaissance customs, fashions and morals. The author's characterization of the Catholic queen demonstrates there was much more to Mary than the deeds that earned her a sanguinary nickname. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Gulliver Books; 1st edition (August 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152019065
• ISBN-13: 978-0152019068
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #833,468 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #14 in	Books > Teens > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > Meyer, Carolyn
  #77 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > European
  #93 in	Books > Teens > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly reccomended!, September 13, 1999

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I highly reccomend this excellant novel. Young Mary Tudor narrates the story of her difficult childhood. The first few years of her life were filled with every privilage imaginable - until her father had an affair with the bewitching Anne Boleyn and tossed aside his first wife, Mary's mother, forbidding her to ever see her again. When at last Mary is allowed to live in the palace again, it is as her infant half-sister Elizabeth's servant. This is a powerful moving novel about a young girl who faces so much loss and tragedy in her life - seperated from her mother, stripped of her title, turned into a servant - that it's no wonder she grew up to become the person she became.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts from a history teacher, January 10, 2000

By A Customer

Mary, Bloody Mary is a wonderful find for a history teacher. It is historical fiction that is exciting and full of vivid detail. Kids will not have to be nagged to read this riveting story of Henry VIII's eldest daughter whose life was a rags-to-riches story in reverse. From being her father's precious jewel to living in worn-out clothes, forbidden to see her mother, and pressured to sign documents stating that her own birth and birthright were illegitimate, Mary's story is told in a compelling and sympathetic manner by author Carolyn Meyer. This meticulously researched book adds detail that brings the era to life. We are pulled into Mary's universe: her studies, her daily life, her friendships, and, of course, the intrigue of court life under Henry VIII all are vividly recounted in this book. Mary emerges as a complex character who kids will find fascinating and relatable. I'm so pleased to see such high quality writing targetted for young adults. I plan to use it in my seventh grade history classes and know the kids will love reading and discussing it.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary - Bloody Mary?, August 20, 2000

A Kid's Review

This book was an excellent hisorical fiction novel. It tells about Mary Tudor from when she was about 10 - 20, when her life as a princess is awful. Her father, Henry the eighth, takes a mistress, Anne, and she pretty much ruins Mary's life. When Henry marries Anne, Mary becomes illegitimate, and she becomes a servant to their child, after being banished for years.

Once you read this book you can tell why Mary became who she did in her later life. Plus this book made this bit of history very interesting!

This was a great book, and I'd recommend it for ages 12 and up. If you liked this, you'd probably like to read "Elizabeth, Red Rose of the House of Tudor" a Royal Diary that tells about Mary's half sister.