I wrestled with whether or not to finish this for a while. I found it mildly interesting. When I realized the parts I liked the most were the historical details thrown in here and there, I decided that I'd rather read a history of her life instead.

So I've read two other books by the author, Helen of Troy, and Memoirs of Cleopatra, and really enjoyed them, and hoped that I would also feel the same way about Elizabeth. However, this wasn't at all what I had been expecting.

The book focuses entirely on the late years of Elizabeth's reign, rather than the earlier years, which while certainly different than most approaches, it wasn't nearly as engaging or interesting. The blurb on the back of the book is also incredibly misleading, as the implications are that the story is about Elizabeth and the war of affection between her and her cousin Lettice for Robert Dudley. The book actually opens some time after this battle took place, and though the POV rotates between Lettice and Elizabeth, the two don't cross paths and don't speak until near the very end of the book.

What we're actually dealing with is the attempt by Lettice's son, the Lord Essex, to usurp Elizabeth. Which isn't nearly half exciting as it sounds as it's spaced over a very long period of time, and Elizabeth gives the young idiot far more chances than he deserves because of sentimentality.

The plot drags, and while it's somewhat interesting to get inside the head of an older Elizabeth who is trying to avoid the fact that she's aging and her popularity is not what it once was, it's wearisome. There's more actual talk about doing things than actually doing them.

I couldn't quite bear to give this one star because there are some good bits in the book and the author has a good attention to detail and facts, but it was an overwhelming struggle to get through, and I was quite disappointed overall.

Elizabeth I lived a perilous life until she became queen at the age of 25; her mother beheaded, she herself alternately declared a bastard and heir to the throne of England; imprisoned in The Tower and one hiccup away from execution. THEN she reigned as Queen for 45 years. So most biographies and historical novels focus on the "exciting" early years of Elizabeth's life and reign, when the issue of "would she or wouldn't she?" marry Robert Dudley was a HUGE burning question. Then when they get to the end of her reign and life, the rest of her life and reign kind of gets rushed through, because, well, at this point, people are TIRED, and she's an old lady, what more is there to say?

As it turns out, a lot. In this novel, it's the early life that gets rushed through and glossed over, the novel starting with the advance of the Spanish Armada (which generally gets contracted into THE Spanish Armada, but in fact the threat from the Spanish did not evaporate with the defeat (mostly by nature) of the Armada in 1588. Two more Armadas were sent in 1596 and 1597.

This novel explores (fictitiously) the strange emotional connection between Elizabeth and Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex (and son of Elizabeth's cousin and rival, Lettice Knollys). Historically, it seems that sometimes Elizabeth regarded Essex at times as a romantic suitor, and at other times almost as a surrogate son. While some of the actions here (and all the internal thoughts) are fictitious, the actions correspond to what I've read elsewhere of Elizabeth.

I enjoyed the portrayal of Elizabeth as a woman as well as Queen, trying to hide her hot flashes and to discern, who loved HER, and who professed to love her for what she could give him (or her). Alternate chapters were written from the POV of Lettice Knollys - I am not sure her (fictional) affair with William Shakespeare was necessary, though it was a novel way to work him into the plot.

All in all, a wonderfully textured and unique look at the period of Elizabeth's life and reign that is normally skimmed over.

Elizabeth is one of those people who captures my imagination. Argued by some to be the greatest English monarch in history, she has been variously described as politically canny, indecisive, intelligent, capricious, careful, hot-tempered, insightful, self-centred, having the popular common touch, being too aloof, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, flirty, a survivor, vain, possessing a grandeur that some think too haughty and others heart-swellingly magnificent. She is Good Queen Bess, the Faerie Queen, Gloriana, and the Virgin Queen. Personally, I think the truth is that she was a little bit of all of those things – in other words, that strange and contradictory mix of complex and competing traits and emotions that define what it is to be human. Enigmatic might be the best single word to describe all of that. Can any novel truly capture the essence of Elizabeth? Truthfully, the answer is probably not, no more than any person, past, present or future, can be fully rendered by the written word. But in the case of a figure as well known as Elizabeth, many have tried. Elizabeth I by Margaret George is one of the latest to attempt the epic task.

Unlike George’s previous novels, and indeed most novels about Elizabeth, Elizabeth I does not open at our eponymous protagonist’s birth, or even during her childhood, but begins with the pope’s denunciation of Elizabeth and call to arms to the Catholic states, in 1588 CE. By this stage Elizabeth had reigned for almost thirty years already, and was approaching her 55th birthday. The novel follows through until her death on 24th March 1603 CE, but whilst Elizabeth is the main focus, the story is also told from the perspective of Lettice Knollys, daughter of Elizabeth’s first cousin Catherine Carey, who secretly married Robert Dudley without the queen’s knowledge or permission, a man it was strongly rumoured the queen intended to marry herself. Needless to say, their relationship was frosty afterwards, and George captures this rather chilly atmosphere between the two women wonderfully. Lettice, as a woman of passion and rather more hot-headedness than Elizabeth, dislikes her cousin’s stubbornness and cool detachment, but realises she has to make the first overtures otherwise the queen could ruin her family, especially if her impetuous son, the Earl of Essex, keeps stirring up dissent. Unfortunately for her, Lettice is rather self-centred and doesn’t seem to realise just how much she personally hurt Elizabeth, and combined with Elizabeth’s iron will and stubborn refusal to forgive, it’s potentially a long road to reconciliation.

I must admit I was rooting for Elizabeth throughout. It’s remarkable how alike the two women are. Both have the capacity to be self-centred, vain, hot-headed, and capricious, but these traits are magnified in Lettice. She’s much more impulsive, and whereas her anger flares hot, Elizabeth’s burns icy cold. I couldn’t like Lettice, but she was a fascinating character to get to know and spend time around, and I definitely feel the story benefited from having such an opposing viewpoint on what was going on. Lettice is one of those characters you initially don’t like, along the way she does some nasty things, but then she starts to question herself, and shows some humanity, and by the end you find yourself, if not exactly liking the character, recognising that they’ve been on a journey and grown as a person, and understanding where they’re coming from. They make for some of the best characters in stories. Elizabeth though I empathised with from start to finish. George captures the subtle contradictions in her characters, and her complexities, all the while acknowledging that Elizabeth remains ultimately unknowable and inscrutable.

I loved Elizabeth I. It may be a long book, but for me the pages went by all too quickly. The creative flair of the writing was engaging and imaginative, the flow of the story always ran smoothly, and Margaret George’s skill as a writer shines through. The characters are three-dimensional, fully-formed and wonderfully human, and for all that still retain the air of compelling mystery that keeps driving me back to history and historical fiction again and again. The book covers Elizabeth’s autumn and winter years, and George tells it so well that I’m almost a tiny bit disappointed that that’s all it covers, but George would have an epic task on her hands were she to write about Elizabeth’s spring and summer too, and I applaud her for writing such a tour de force of the autumn of Elizabeth’s life, a period of her life which tends to be overlooked in favour of the “more exciting” spring and summer years.

p. 27: “From my palace window I could see the river, its ripples showing the ebbing tide current. The waxing moon played on its surface, making bright patches that broke and rearranged themselves as the water rolled past. On the opposite bank the reeds and willows were painted silver by the moonlight, the swans resting among them standing out as stark white. A night for lovers.”

10 out of 10

I haven't read historical fiction in a minute and I will admit that I was first daunted by the size of this book. However I was quickly captivated and this book and it was all I could think about. I had to know more! I vaguely remember learning about Queen Elizabeth I in history class, but what did I really know about her? So much was a mystery about her. This 600+ page novel, doesn't start during her childhood or even her early reign. It starts when the Queen is in her fifties and follows her through the end of her rule. It was FASCINATING! The plot is told through the Queen's perspective and through her cousin, Lettice. Together they know an impressive cast of character, Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Grace O'Malley and more. I learned soo much and was kept utterly charmed. I couldn't believe how wonderfully this was written and how much research the author put in to flesh out the queen's life. I can't wait to read more by this author.

I really enjoyed the book. Very long, and incredibly detailed, it covered Elizabeth I's life from about year 40 until her death when she was in her 70s. That sound terribly boring, but it was told from her point of view, and the point of view of her cousin. This truly was a tour de force. The research that must have gone into writing this novel, and the juggling act between detail, narrative, and description. I feel as if I learned a lot, as well as feeling enriched by the characters and stories. It flowed very well, I never felt lost, even if I set it down for weeks at a time.

I haven't read as much of Elizabeth in later years or about her cousin Lettice who stole her "lover" Robert Dudley from her, so was an interesting read. Especially interested how intricate Lettice's son and Elizabeth were - at times I wish she had less patience with him! A very impressive woman and monarch; only wish that her father could have seen all that she accomplished.