Review of Phillippa Gregory's The Other Queen
Latest Tudor Series Novel Focuses On Mary, Queen of Scots
Best known for The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory tells the story of Mary’s 19-year long captivity through her eyes, and the eyes her jailers the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury.
Mary, Queen of Scots fled Scotland, and was taken in by her cousin, and fellow Queen Elizabeth I. Gregory’s portrays Mary as physically beautiful, captivating, and manipulative. She knows herself as the heir to the thrones of France, Scotland and England and will stop at nothing to pursue that destiny.
Elizabeth I is seen through the eyes of the Earl, and Countess of Shrewsbury as being a penny-pinching Queen who doesn’t pay her debts. She heavily relies on the advice of her chief minister William Cecil, who stops at nothing to catch Mary in her plots, and pursue his own agenda. Packed full of accurate period details, The Other Queen follows Mary through to her tragic end.
Gregory’s Countess of Shrewsbury a Woman With Modern Sensibilities
Phillippa Gregory has created a modern woman, who happens to live in the late 1500’s. Bess of Hardwick, known also as the Countess of Shrewsbury is concerned for her own indepence, and her own children. She married three other husbands, and in an unusual move for the age, was able to get two of them to leave her lands, and homes in her name.
Bess takes pride in hard work, and running her properties to a profit. In another rare thing for the age, she knows how to read, write and count. In the novel she comes dangerously close to losing her wealth thanks to her husband George. George is infatuated with Mary, and nearly loses his entire wealth while trying to pay her expenses. In the end Bess is able to reclaim her fortune and save her husband from ruin.
Bess’ constant worry over her money, and property speaks to worries held by women even today. What will happen if a husband risks it all on an iffy business deal? What will happen if a husband leaves a wife with no money? These are concerns for women of the 15th century just as they concern women today. Women have always fought for independence, and that’s what makes the Countess of Shrewsbury a woman with modern sensibilities.
Where Does it Fit With Gregory’s Other Novels?
The times of Henry VIII were rich with intrigue, passion and violence three things no author can resist. Philippa Gregory is no exception with this her sixth novel in the series of Tudor court novels. The Other Queen provides a different perspective on Mary Stuart, one of history’s more complex characters. It is sure to please long-time fans of her books, and make new ones.
The Other Queen was first published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers, 2008, and first published in paperback in 2009. ISBN: 978-000-179214-4
Cover for The Other Queen
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