NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A masterful novel exploring the early life of
young Elizabeth Tudor, who would become England's most intriguing and
powerful queen, from acclaimed historian Alison Weir
"Engrossing . . . Weir marries conjecture with what is known about the
life of Elizabeth I from childhood to coronation, and it makes for
ripping good reading."--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Even at age two, Elizabeth is keenly aware that people in the court of
her father, King Henry VIII, have stopped referring to her as "Lady
Princess" and now call her "the Lady Elizabeth." Before she is three,
she learns of the tragic fate that has befallen her mother, the
enigmatic and seductive Anne Boleyn, and that she herself has been
declared illegitimate, an injustice that will haunt her.
What comes next is a succession of stepmothers, bringing with them
glimpses of love, fleeting security, tempestuous conflict, and tragedy.
The death of her father puts the teenage Elizabeth in greater peril,
leaving her at the mercy of ambitious and unscrupulous men. Like her
mother two decades earlier she is imprisoned in the Tower of London--and
fears she will also meet her mother's grisly end. Power-driven politics,
private scandal and public gossip, a disputed succession, and the
grievous example of her sister, "Bloody" Queen Mary, all cement
Elizabeth's resolve in matters of statecraft and love, and set the stage
for her transformation into the iconic Virgin Queen.
Alison Weir uses her deft talents as historian and novelist to
exquisitely and suspensefully play out the conflicts between family,
politics, religion, and conscience that came to define an age. Sweeping
in scope, The Lady Elizabeth is a fascinating portrayal of a woman far
ahead of her time--an orphaned girl haunted by the shadow of the axe, an
independent spirit who must use her cunning and wits for her very
survival, and a future queen whose dangerous and dramatic path to the
throne shapes her future greatness.
