Mary, Queen of France

Tudor Saga #9

by Jean Plaidy

Legendary historical novelist Jean Plaidy brings to life the story of Princess Mary Tudor, a celebrated beauty and born rebel who would defy the most powerful king in Europe—her older brother. Princess Mary Rose is the youngest sister of Henry VIII, and one of the few people whom he adores unconditionally. Known throughout Europe for her charm and good looks, Mary is the golden child of the Tudor family and is granted her every wish. Except when it comes to marriage. Henry VIII, locked in a political showdown with France, decides to offer up his pampered baby sister to secure peace between the two mighty kingdoms. Innocent, teenage Mary must become the wife of the elderly King Louis, a toothless, ailing man in his sixties. Horrified and furious, Mary has no choice but to sail for France. There she hones her political skills, bides her time, and remains secretly in love with Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk. When King Louis dies after only two years of marriage, Mary is determined not to be sold into another unhappy union. She must act quickly; if she wants to be with the man she truly loves, she must defy the laws of church and state by marrying without her brother’s permission. Together, Mary and Charles devise a scheme to outwit the most ruthless king in Europe and gain their hearts’ desire, not knowing if it will lead to marital bliss or certain death.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Tudor Period, Fiction, British Literature, France, Romance

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Mary Tudor, youngest sister of King Henry viii. It begins with Mary’s childhood and her betrothal to prince Charles which ended after many years.
The author described very nicely the relationship between siblings- Mary & Henry - that more than likely was close to the truth.

It was interesting to see how in a time when princess and princesses were married for political purposes, Mary has the courage to defy even her own brother to keep his promise. It is known that he had promised her that if she married King Louis from France - who was 30 years older than her- and widowed she’d marry whom she wanted afterwards. Three months later after her marriage she becomes a widow and marries in secrecy to Charles Brandon. The author also takes us onto the life of King Louis’ successor Francois and the big influence his mother and sister had over him.

I have to address the fact that this cover is quite misleading. The cover from the book I read was not like this one in GR. This is a good story, sticks mostly to history facts known and gives a good idea on what could’ve shaped and influenced these interesting historical characters.

[Mirah W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting. About half the book was dedicated to King Loius of France and the events that led up to the eventual betrothal of Mary to Louis. I found this section to be a bit boring and, at times, confusing because a lot of characters were introduced briefly while detailing the French line of succession. I felt that part of the story could have been omitted and more time devoted to Mary's time in the French Court and her time after returning to England...a lot of things seemed to be just skimmed over. The other Plaidy novels I have read seemed to have been more devoted to the title character and better executed. This book did make me wonder more about Charles Brandon...in other works I've read he's been portrayed as the rake who was happy to be with whomever he was with in the moment, but Plaidy paints him as a devoted suitor and husband to Mary and a devoted father. I think this is a decent novel of Mary and her love for Henry and Charles.

[LibraryCin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Mary Tudor was Henry VIII’s younger sister. She was originally betrothed to Charles of Castile when they were both young (Charles much younger than Mary). In the meantime, at home in England, she fell madly in love with Henry’s best friend, Charles Brandon (and he with her). She thought she was free when the betrothal was broken, but, even worse, she was instead promised to Louis XII of France, an old man. She fought for a chance to wed Brandon instead, though she was still required to go to France and marry Louis.

This was quite good. There were a couple of dryer parts, most notably the history of the succession in France. I don’t know much about French royalty, so it was new to me, but not knowing any of the names, my mind tended to wander. That was only a brief part in the middle, though, just to introduce Louis and his court and rival for the throne.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Jean Plaidy novel, and while i plan to read more, I am a little disappointed in the story telling in this particular novel. Perhaps it is because this has been written before my generation (( am 24 and an avid historical fiction reader), but i found the writing a little bland. The story is so sensational and scandalous but she writes it too quickly, obviously conforming to a publisher's limit of pages. I found this book to read out this way... "Mary falls in love, Mary gets married away from lover to King of France, Mary marries her real love after King dies." I just wanted more drama. I understand that this isn't a Danielle Steel novel but I just wanted more juiciness.

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Jean Plaidy book and I liked it very much. I'm a fan of historical fiction, especially royal histories. Princess Mary Tudor was the younger sister of Henry VIII, one of the lesser known characters of the Tudor dynasty. Jean Plaidy made her story interesting and compelling and kept me entertained to the end. It seemed a very quick read indeed and I look forward to reading more of Jean Plaidy's work.

[Juliew. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book but I felt the chapters were a little long.I was a bit confused when it went into the background of the young king of france, Francois.I don't think I realized until half way into the chapter
that they were speaking of the Dauphin not the current king.
But those were my only issues.I think I have become more interested in Mary Tudor than I was before reading it
and the book just made me want to find out more about her relationship with Charles Brandon and her brother Henry VIII.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised more HF has not been written about the romance between Mary Tudor (Henry VIII's sister) and Charles Brandon (the Duke of Suffolk, elevated from humble origins because of his friendship with Henry). It's a compelling story that often gets glossed over. In this novel, Jean Plaidy does a great job of developing Mary Tudor's character, as well as showing why her marriage to the French king Louis was such a big deal (hence, the entire section that focused on the French court and Francois I's childhood). I first read this several years ago and have read it multiple times since.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

A wonderfully written historical novel. I am very pleased with it. Great love story. Highly recommend. Caught me by surprise Mary is not one of my favorite Tudors but felt obligated to leave review.....I felt book was THAT good!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this one but after that it became very sappy.

[Redfox5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the start, I wasn't to keen on this book. Mary was acting in a way that didn't make sense considering she must have been brought up as a Princess and groomed her entire life for a marriage with an overseas Prince. She also kept banging on about how amazing her brother was and how much she wished she could have someone like him to the point it was getting a little weird. I always wasn't keen on how it was written, would have preferred Mary's POV, however I understood the choice not to do this when I started reading section two.

Then the book changed completely and took us to France with the family of Francois. I then got very confused as the book explained the family ties to the French Royal family but the more I read, the more it became clear and I started to really enjoy the book.

Although Mary was only the Queen of France for 3 months and then was free to marry Charles Brandon, it seems she then spent the rest of her life worried about what Henry might do to them. I googled Mary halfway through reading this because I had thought she was Queen for a few years but no it was months. She also died at 37 which is so young.

I've never really given much thought to Henry VIII sisters before but I would now like to find out more about Margret and her life. This is also the first time I've come across a historical fiction book that focused on Mary's life. I would like to read more.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plaidy does such a good job getting the facts straight but also making them enjoyable and interesting.

[Lucy Lightning · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️’s

would love to have known what my auntie thought of this book.

happy birthday auntie Jenny.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quite interesting read about Mary Tudor whose lifelong love of Charles Brandon eclipsed all other parts of her life. His reputation as a womanizer and his two earlier marriages did not faze this determined woman who was infatuated with him at a very young age. As the story unfolds and her French husband dies, she turns to Brandon who discovers that he, too, loves her.

This is a tale of two individuals who are certainly destined to spend their lives together. Never mind that Mary's royal background makes her a political pawn. With her French marriage she had extracted a promise from her brother that her next husband will be of her choosing. So it is even as her brother plans another political marriage. Brandon and Mary marry and give whatever they can to her brother.

Also enjoyed the delightful, flowing writing of this talented author. While this novel is short and could possibly have been extended by including more detail, I totally enjoyed the read.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way too short and written in a very distant long-ago-story fashion. I wish Charles Brandon's first two marriages and his entire personality were explained more. I wanted to know his motivations. I wish more was done with Mary's fear of Henry, and her non-fear of the French royal family. I never felt like I got in the character's heads. I never felt the fear, the joy, pain or love. I didn't feel like I was there. It was more of a historical re-telling of the facts.

As I was reading, this story seemed like it could have been so epic. If Mary was as power-hungry as the rest of the royal families (both England and France), she could have changed the world; produced an heir for France, etc. It's really interesting how she left everything to be with Brandon, who seemed only to marry her for her connections and his personal gain of power.

But overall this is a good synopsis of Mary, and good to add to your Tudor collection. I just wish more could have been done with it.

[Merredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of super long historical fiction lately, so it was a relief to read something very short for a change. I was thinking this was super short, then checked and it has 304 pages still, so you see my mind frame from those really long ones LOL. Besides the shortness, i wasn't a big fan of this book. It's about Mary, Henry VIII's little sister, and her marriages, and how she fell in love. We start off with Mary's story, then midway through, switch to an entirely different story about France, then bring Mary back in. It felt very choppy. Also, this seemed kind of frivolous, more of a romance than of any historical importance. It was just missing something, it was missing most things. I still read it, it wasn't THAT bad that I couldn't read it, but it seemed more chick lit to me, without the fun chick lit way of writing.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent book. I did not read it in order, I had already read about Henry the 8th and all his wives, This story focused on Henry's youngest sister Mary Tudor and her rise to become queen of France. I though Jean Plaidy did an excellent job of portraying the frustration and insecurities even a princess must face being shipped off to a strange land with strange people. A young woman being married to man with gout in his 50's. The people she takes with her being her comfort. Women were political bargaining chips. The book accurately reflects other character traits I've read about for Henry the 8th. Period wise it's spot on. An excellent portrayal. Even a snippet in the book about the Borgia, which are a fascinating study in themselves. I'll look for more books by Jean Plaidy.

[Donna Pingry · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I picked up this book, I thought it referred to Mary, Queen of Scots who was also Queen of France while her husband, Francis, lived. Mary Tudor was such a tiny blip on the screen of the history of France. The author truly surprised me with her take on this "blip". Mary, headstrong, persuasive, beautiful fell deeply in love with her brothers friend who was beneath her in rank. Basically, it was an impossible hope. Mary bargained with her brother, Henry VIII, and Francis I of France to marry the man she loved. The cost was enormous financially but Mary found it well worth it personally. She withdrew from court as much as possible and enjoyed her children and life with her husband. As she watched the brother she loved begin to turn into the tyrant history confirmed him to be, she had no regrets. Loved this book and could hardly put it down.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and is one of my favorites of the series. Told the story of Princess Mary (soon to briefly be Queen of France) the younger sister of Henry VIII. Mary fell in love with Henry's best friend Charles Brandon when she was a young girl but Henry had plans to wed her to the very aged Louis, King of France. Mary, who was as strong a personality as Henry, fought him on this made Henry promise that when Louis died - Mary would be free to marry whom she wished. Mary's relationship with the Dauphin of France, King Louis, the Dauphin's sister and mother are very engaging and at times very humorous. Again, like the previous book it goes at a great pace and then just rushes at the end.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting novel that focuses on a mainly forgotten figure Mary, Henry VIII's younger sister.

I like the idea that you get to see an older Margret Beaufant and Henry VII. It also shows a rare vision of a younger Henry VIII, when he was the young vibrant prince. There is some nice forshadowing, including seeing a young Anne Boleyn.

The writing style takes some getting into, but is good once you are used to it. The novel also veers away from the original story line in order to introduce one of the characters and give him a backstory. This was rather long and could have been made shorter.

[Penelope · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Jean Plaidy book and my last. The plot is interesting: Henry VIII's headstrong younger sister, Mary, falls in love with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and although she marries the aging King of France, her heart remains with her love. The research is magnificent - perhaps too much so. I got tired of her beautiful locks of hair and minute descriptions of her garments. The words "gay" and "gaiety", constantly repeated, reminded me that this book was written decades ago. Also, the style was from another era when telling was used more often. Overall, I struggled with this book, often jumping over whole pages, and was glad when it ended.

[Chris Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is, I think, a less rich take on these people than what I've read previously. I did like the look into the context of France but I'm less sure about the tendency to write particularly women in this period as practically obsessive over one person most of their lives, whether that's love interest or son. Maybe it's accurate, I don't know, but especially when it's a love interest it rings false to me, maybe not when one or two do it, but on a large scale? I don't know. Anyway, I'd have liked more nuance in all the characters.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is there to say ?

I have read and reread novels by this author under all three of her pen names . I can only express praise for the enjoyment she has invariably given though her splendid writing.
Her novels are recognised classics in their class , so what more is there to say.about Mary Queen of France ?
Certainly another five star , worthy member of the extensive library from her pen.

[Sera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from a good friend of mine. Mary is such a sweetheart. I became so caught up in this story that I was upset by the ending, but then I had to knock myself in the head, because the ending was what really happened in life.

Plaidy is great, as usual, but for those readers of the Katherine trilogy, they will find the first half of the book to be slightly repetitive.

[Kevin Archard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Mary Queen of Scots embellished and illuminated by the imagination of Plaidy. A very good read as are most of her history based books and I find that it is her portrayal of events that remains in my mind when I think of these times.

[Angel Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look into the life of a fascinating woman who is often overlooked because of the sensational life of her brother. Jean Plaidy really brings Mary to life again.

[Paula Newham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jean Plaidy infuriates me with her excessively long paragraphs and chapters, however in this book I really enjoyed her interpretation of the relationship between Henry VIII and his sister, Mary.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect cinematic escape.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't expect Jean Plaidy books to be full of precise historic analysis or fascinating literary elements, but I do expect them to be solid, reliable, reasonably-accurate, and fun.

This book was mostly historically accurate. I'll give it that at least. But it had several big issues. First of all, the structure of the book was just confusing. About halfway through a chronological tale of Mary Tudor's life, the book pauses, goes back in time 20 years, and spends several chapters following the life of the mother of a dude Mary talks to like five times.

My other big issue is that Mary was just such a boring protagonist. The whole book can be summed up as: "Mary walked in a room, where she was the prettiest woman there, and the most powerful man found her to be witty and charming. Then she went to another palace, where she was also the prettiest, wittiest, funniest girl, beloved by the most powerful man. Etc."

It was just endless, repetitive scenes of how pretty Mary is and how much all powerful men adore her and how she always gets what she wants. And it could be interesting to explore Mary Tudor's seemingly charmed life, if the author had tried to consider all the turmoil and manipulation going on behind the scenes. But according to Plaidy, all of Mary's thoughts were basically: "I'm so pretty and fun and all these men love me."

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took awhile to sink into because Plaidy jumps between POVs without any warning. We'd switch between Katherine to Mary to Henry to Mary even within the same paragraph. Once I figured this out, it wasn't so bad.

Aside from the narration style, this was pretty average. The story was fascinating, and Mary really grew as a character, as did the other characters around her, but half the book was taken up by the Dauphin Mary almost displaced as the next King of France. While it was interesting, it wasn't needed, not at the expense of fleshing out Mary's character more. Her mind was a one lane track of Charles Brandon. I would've preferred to read about her life in France or a more nuanced opinion of her various suitors. Why does she love Charles Brandon besides the fact he's the tallest, handsomest, and best sportsman in England? Who knows? But we do know about the bitter rival between the Dauphin's mother and Anne of Brittany. Because that's relevant for some reason.

Plaidy had her own charm, and this is a decent introduction into the Tudor world featuring lesser known players, which is cool. However, it leaves the reader wanting because this could've been so engrossing. Don't come in with high expectations, and then you'll enjoy this.

[Arielle Masters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this while on the exercise bike, over a few days. Started the 14th; don't recall now which day I finished.

Have read many books in the past on Henry VIII, his wives, etc. but somehow couldn't remember anything whatsoever about Henry's sister Mary (the subject of this book). So even though I donated most of my "Tudor-ish" books to our local library book sale earlier this month (I still like reading about/watching shows about them, but no longer felt the need to have a "collection"), I held on to this one and read it right away.

It was a quick, easy, pleasant read. A bit flighty, but overall fine. Rather melodramatic ending - which would be OK for a completely fictional novel, but as this was based on historical people I wanted to know what happened afterward with Charles and the kids. And now I want to read something else about Mary, to know whether this depiction was on the nose or overly embellished or somewhere in between.