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Royal Sagas #2
The Other Elizabeth
What was Elizabeth the 1st really like? Beneath the veneer of cold calculation and emotional aloofness she displayed to the world lived a flesh and blood woman not unaffected by the horrors of her childhood or the emotional disappointments of her adult life. One woman knew her sorrows and shared her innermost thoughts, her closest, most trusted confidant and secret kinswoman, Bess, the other Elizabeth. Like her father before her, Elizabeth finds sanctuary at the isolated estate of Coudenoure, as the epic saga of the de Grey clan – ever fiercely loyal to the crown – continues, charting their loves and loses, their triumphs and tragedies, lived out in parallel to those of the royal family with whom their blood is forever intermingled.
- GenresHistorical FictionEbooks
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 21, 2016
146 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 14, 2019
Different view...
This story weaves a fictionalized portrait of a beloved monarch that humanizes Elizabeth I. Strong character development and interesting plot twists. A bit too melancholy for a five though. Even if those tragedies do accurately reflect life in the period.
This story weaves a fictionalized portrait of a beloved monarch that humanizes Elizabeth I. Strong character development and interesting plot twists. A bit too melancholy for a five though. Even if those tragedies do accurately reflect life in the period.
July 23, 2016
Great storytelling
This book along with the first in this series is great storytelling. Lovers of Tudor history will appreciate seeing Elizabeth from a new direction. Enjoy these books!
This book along with the first in this series is great storytelling. Lovers of Tudor history will appreciate seeing Elizabeth from a new direction. Enjoy these books!
August 6, 2016
Second book in series: Just as Captivating!
I was intrigued with the "First book" so I had to check out the second!! It was just as good and had me wishing for more!!! Any chance there will be a trilogy?
I was intrigued with the "First book" so I had to check out the second!! It was just as good and had me wishing for more!!! Any chance there will be a trilogy?
October 1, 2018
Great book
Good book with a new perspective on the Tudors. Believable plot and fascinating characters make the book an easy read.
Good book with a new perspective on the Tudors. Believable plot and fascinating characters make the book an easy read.
July 8, 2019
I’m really enjoying this series!
March 13, 2024
It was ok. Like all of her books, this hits heavily on some very fragmented history and quite a huge amount of implied connection.
I found the entire series, (8 or 9?) so similar in the telling that oftentimes I wasn't quite sure of the actual book I was reading. The same family is at the heart of the entire series, and the estate once passed to a young, heroic Baron DeGray after the battle of Bosworth in gratitude is named Coudenoure. Apparently once saving the life of a young Henry 7, DeGray is handed the estate as tribute to his services to the crown. That's about all anyone needs to know. In perpetuity, the estate is handed on to successive son and daughters as the right of inheritance. It's interesting to note there is neither a gender nor a tribute, but there is mention of a young and possibly only son's early demise from plague, so daughters have apparently inherited as well. Against tradition, but ok. It works, I guess.
Where I finally drew the line is the sheer number of pay-to-read volumes, because after a bit, the names and dates blur together and the story line becomes trite and boring. I read about the same meadow being planted and groomed into eternity, the tapestries, furnishings, books, library, even the horses never changed. I kept reading each book convinced it would sooner or later actually have some small bit of meaningful content, but if that happened, I must have missed it.
By the time I finished the third installment, I felt I could possibly find better things to do with my time. The story stopped being of interest to me because the implied "history" avoided mentioning any actual history that might have given the telling some real appeal. If you can place the characters within an actual time frame, with real live events placed here and there to give it some authenticity, that frame of reference gives credibility to what conversations, real or imagined, might have occurred. Without those crucial references, there's just page after page of wandering drivel and pointless exclamations of incredulity.
This is a squeaky clean story. The most jarring expletive I read was a softly muttered, "damn". Real hair curling stuff.
I have read fortune cookies 110 character offerings with more plot and twists. I am choosing not to continue but that doesn't mean this might not appeal to others. It's just not for me. As a side note, the only installment I did enjoy in this series was "The Other Elizabeth" or the second part of the series. At least that had some interesting interlude between the characters Dudley and Essex, stepfather and stepson, and their peculiar references to Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen of England. The rest is uninteresting and mundane. These stories are common and almost all the same from the Elizabethan era.
I found the entire series, (8 or 9?) so similar in the telling that oftentimes I wasn't quite sure of the actual book I was reading. The same family is at the heart of the entire series, and the estate once passed to a young, heroic Baron DeGray after the battle of Bosworth in gratitude is named Coudenoure. Apparently once saving the life of a young Henry 7, DeGray is handed the estate as tribute to his services to the crown. That's about all anyone needs to know. In perpetuity, the estate is handed on to successive son and daughters as the right of inheritance. It's interesting to note there is neither a gender nor a tribute, but there is mention of a young and possibly only son's early demise from plague, so daughters have apparently inherited as well. Against tradition, but ok. It works, I guess.
Where I finally drew the line is the sheer number of pay-to-read volumes, because after a bit, the names and dates blur together and the story line becomes trite and boring. I read about the same meadow being planted and groomed into eternity, the tapestries, furnishings, books, library, even the horses never changed. I kept reading each book convinced it would sooner or later actually have some small bit of meaningful content, but if that happened, I must have missed it.
By the time I finished the third installment, I felt I could possibly find better things to do with my time. The story stopped being of interest to me because the implied "history" avoided mentioning any actual history that might have given the telling some real appeal. If you can place the characters within an actual time frame, with real live events placed here and there to give it some authenticity, that frame of reference gives credibility to what conversations, real or imagined, might have occurred. Without those crucial references, there's just page after page of wandering drivel and pointless exclamations of incredulity.
This is a squeaky clean story. The most jarring expletive I read was a softly muttered, "damn". Real hair curling stuff.
I have read fortune cookies 110 character offerings with more plot and twists. I am choosing not to continue but that doesn't mean this might not appeal to others. It's just not for me. As a side note, the only installment I did enjoy in this series was "The Other Elizabeth" or the second part of the series. At least that had some interesting interlude between the characters Dudley and Essex, stepfather and stepson, and their peculiar references to Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen of England. The rest is uninteresting and mundane. These stories are common and almost all the same from the Elizabethan era.
November 11, 2020
Clever title here
I was torn between giving this a three star or a four. Decided on the four because it was so much better written than the first book in the series.
I actually learned a lot of new words in this one which was really cool! I haven’t read the dictionary so there’s a lot more words I don’t know obviously. However I read A Lot, so I pride myself in recognizing most larger words that I come across.
The reason I wanted to give this a three star is because I’m pretty sure this author and G.R.R. Martin went to the same writing seminar. Aka, don’t get attached to any of the characters. I know this was both spanning many years and biased on historical people, so Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Dudley were bound to pass. But the way some of our main characters passed were so abrupt and almost thoughtless. I know ‘real life’ happened to a lot of families in regards to different battles and childbirths. But I wasn’t expecting to lose them all in the way we did.
I read to get away from the real world. I’m dealing with four family deaths in three months so it’s still fresh and raw on my mind. That’s probably what’s swayed my dislike of the character deaths in this series that I got attached to.
I was torn between giving this a three star or a four. Decided on the four because it was so much better written than the first book in the series.
I actually learned a lot of new words in this one which was really cool! I haven’t read the dictionary so there’s a lot more words I don’t know obviously. However I read A Lot, so I pride myself in recognizing most larger words that I come across.
The reason I wanted to give this a three star is because I’m pretty sure this author and G.R.R. Martin went to the same writing seminar. Aka, don’t get attached to any of the characters. I know this was both spanning many years and biased on historical people, so Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Dudley were bound to pass. But the way some of our main characters passed were so abrupt and almost thoughtless. I know ‘real life’ happened to a lot of families in regards to different battles and childbirths. But I wasn’t expecting to lose them all in the way we did.
I read to get away from the real world. I’m dealing with four family deaths in three months so it’s still fresh and raw on my mind. That’s probably what’s swayed my dislike of the character deaths in this series that I got attached to.
October 11, 2017
I just cannot get to a point of writing down how I felt about this book.
The writing felt very predictable, the narration soppy to the point of nausea.
I enjoyed the first book in the series, but on completing this one just could not envision reading the next one.
The writing felt very predictable, the narration soppy to the point of nausea.
I enjoyed the first book in the series, but on completing this one just could not envision reading the next one.
February 26, 2020
enjoyed this book , just wish the abrupt ending didn't require reading the next book, it is good enough that I would regardless but dislike this style
did-not-finish
May 28, 2019Too many Tudor books in a row. Will try to read at a later time.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews