The Virgin's Lover (~)

I've finished another book. Not a Harry Potter book (I doubt Harry Potter would've taken me this long to finish). It's The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory. I bought this book when I was going on my trip to Europe (so waaaay back in 2006) and I only now decided to continue reading it. It's alright. I don't think I'd re-read it, but I am going to keep it only because it's by one of my favourite authors and I want to get a collection of her novels. I enjoyed learning more about Elizabethan times, seeing as most of Gregory's novels focus on the Tudors. It just seemed to long and tedious. Queen Elizabeth I was a real pain in the ass, very wishy-washy never sticking with a firm decision, and very dependent on others to make her decisions for her. I don't know if it's because of everyone's expectations of her as a ruler at the time (women were thought to be crappy rulers), or if she actually really was like that.

This book is about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and her finding a proper suitor and dealing with impending war with the French. She falls in love with Sir Robert Dudley who is a reformed traitor and a childhood friend. Dudley is married however, and so Dudley tries to convince Elizabeth to grant a divorce (she was the supreme governor of the church of England). She doesn't. Elizabeth's advisor William Cecil believes that Dudley is rising well above his ranks and that England will revolt against the queen if she does marry Dudley and so Cecil and Elizabeth plot the murder of Dudley's wife as a way of slandering Dudley so that he falls below his ranks and is able to never rise above them again due to the scandal.

I learned a lot more about the scandal surrounding Queen Elizabeth (surprise surprise, another royal with scandal). While reading this book however, I'm curious to know whether Elizabeth was actually in love with Dudley, and whether Dudley was in love with Elizabeth, or whether he just wanted to gain access to the throne regardless of Elizabeth. I am also curious as to what the country would've been like if Dudley and Elizabeth had married. Would England be the same as it is today, or would it have been different?

Funny how history plays out...

Anyway, I don't know what I will be reading next, but until next time, Happy Reading!