Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain
Margaret Irwin
Sourcebooks, Apr 1 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9781402229985

A religious zealot and totally dedicated to his nation Spain, Philip, King Consort knows he is to marry Princess Mary I. However, she mirrors him in terms of intelligence and beliefs. Instead he is attracted to his betrothed's dynamic sister, the Protestant Elizabeth. He loathes his desire for his future sister-in-law, as she brings out carnal feelings he knows are unholy. Neither is aware of what awaits them and their nations in three decades.

At the same time they do their careful two steps, Robert Dudley is in love with Elizabeth. Obsessed with restoring God's laws, Mary orders the Papal legate Reginald Pole, the great-nephew of Edward IV and Richard III to lead the reversal of the heresy her father Henry VIII caused. However, the brilliant Pole who knows overturning the Anglican heretical legacy would be a tribute to his late mom killed by the former monarch. However, he lacks the energy and ambition to take charge of the royal demand.

This is a reprint of the third young Elizabeth trilogy (see Young Bess: The Girl Who Would Be Queen and Elizabeth, Captive Princess: Two Sisters, One Throne) written in 1953. The story line has a historiographical feel to it as readers will see a different style and tone than in present day written Tudor novels. Still, fans of the era will appreciate the well written insightful look at three rivals competing for power at a time of intense turmoil.

Harriet Klausner