Didn’t particularly want to write of this, but since it’s about Elizabeth, I thought I should. (Come to that, I’ve reported worse things in my blog…)

The Virgin’s Lover is Philippa Gregory’s novel about the love triangle ‘the Queen - Robert Dudley - his wife Amy’. It covers the first two years of Elizabeth’s reign, and with more than 400 pages it’s ( Read more... )

I Am Mary Tudor is a novel by Hilda Lewis about Henry VIII’s eldest daughter. It tells us about her life from the moment of her birth to the year 1553 when she is crowned Queen of England. It is first-person narration. Instead of a traditional author’s foreword, here we have a foreword written as if by Mary herself. She promises to tell only the ( Read more... )

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‘His strength and passion overwhelmed her. In the next hours judgment, reason, and honor were swept aside as all the hidden wantonness in Mary’s nature was released…’

Not yet sick? The lines above are what you first see when you open John Hale’s Mary, Queen of Scots: one of those first-page ‘warming up’ paragraphs that are meant to seduce you into ( Read more... )

From the time I began watching films about Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth-related things literally started to fall into my hands! There are two new non-fiction books waiting for their turn - perhaps I’ll write about them later. As for now, I’d like to tell you that Good Queen Bess appears in musicals as well as in operas! :)

In Schönberg and ( Read more... )

After The Golden Age, I watched Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren. It is a TV film in two parts. Unfortunately, only part two was available for me, unfortunately. It is about the years 1589-1603 of her reign, and actually, another story of Elizabeth and Essex.

I wanted a historically accurate film - I got it. Every important event is here: the ( Read more... )

Finally, I have both Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age recorded, and I’ve watched them recently. I first saw Elizabeth some ten years ago, so it was interesting to watch it again. As for The Golden Age, I’ve discovered it only now.

Just a couple of words… (which means, there is a relatively big post under the cats; read at your own risk will ( Read more... )

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