Alison Weir, The Lady Elizabeth

The Lady Elizabeth

Alison Weir

Ballantine, Nov 4 2008, $15.00

ISBN: 9780345495365

'The King's Daughter'. Elizabeth Tudor is not quite three years old when her father King Henry beheads her mother his second wife Anne Boleyn. Thus with one stroke of the ax the child is demoted from Princess to lady. From that day until her sire dies, her life is in jeopardy.

'The King's Sister'. A teen when her father dies, Elizabeth's fortune and safety improves when her brother King Edward ascends to the throne. She tries to protect her virtue from royal retinue rats, but overall feels safer than when her father lived.

'The Queen's Sister'. In her early twenties when Edward dies, her sister devout Catholic Mary becomes the queen. Elizabeth being a protestant remains in more peril than when either of her male blood relatives ruled.

Alison Weir provides a refreshing biographical fiction; not an easy task as so much has been written and filmed re Queen Elizabeth I. The novel is broken into three parts all prior to Elizabeth sitting on the throne and based on her relationship to the monarch of the moment. Readers will obtain a deep look at the salad days of the ultimate survivor as the young Elizabeth navigates the political, religious, and regal shark infested waters. Ms. Weir's character opposite follow up to the ultimate victim 'Innocent Traitor' (Lady Jane Grey's tragic saga) is a terrific sixteenth century biographical fiction.

Harriet Klausner