The Other Queen (The Tudor Court series)

Philippa Gregory's writings are among the best historical novels I have ever read. It is difficult to put the books down and sometimes I am still reading at 3 or 4 AM! That is saying a lot for a senior as I am.

I have always wanted to know more about Mary Queen of Scots. This novel explains a lot about her character as seen by different historical figures. It also outlines very realistically how life was for her during part of her years when in England living away from Scotland but wishing to return to her homeland.I now want to know and read more about her next years.

I have been reading Philippa Gregory over the past year as fast as I could, but this book did not meet my expectations. I read about 35 pages in and was just bored with it. I skipped around and read bits of pages to see if it would improve, which it did not seem to, so I just quit reading it. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was. Ms Gregory is an excellent storyteller. It just seems like her heart was not in writing this book.

After reading other reviews, I was able to pinpoint what didn't click with me. Using the voice of 3 main characters, it became a little redundant - Mary needed to be free, Bess needed to balance her books and George was honorable - even though he loved another than his wife.

Maybe there isn't a ton of information regarding Mary's imprisonment, but i found the storyline to be flat throughout minus a few "rebellions." I also think it's strange how people (Elizabeth, Cecil, Dudley) can change so vastly throughout the different novels. I loved Elizabeth as a character/queen, but here, she was portrayed as the complete opposite - a paranoid (well, she's always paranoid), old, spinster.

I love Gregory's books- always engaging... always a bit of flair.

Mary, Queen of Scots, should be a great subject matter. Ms Gregory tackling this part of Tudor history I was definitely anticipating but am disappointed. About 100 pages into the story, you start to get the impression that rest of the book will be repetitive--nothing to just catch your interest and make you want to fly through the remaining pages.

Ms Gregory has written better and I will be looking forward to her next book since this one was a so so dud.

I was disappointed by this book because I have read all of her books and expected something special with this one. The way the book is written from 3 characters' points of view made it hard for me to connect with any of them. The personal insight and character development were lost for me in this method.

A different style which was too disjointed for me. Frequently repetitive and easy to put down. As always the historical data was peerless an character painting immaculate however to me this was the least enjoyable of the Tudor series

I think this is another wonderful book by Phillipa Gregory. Although I knew about Mary Queen of Scots, I did not have any idea of the role that Bess of Hardwick played during those turbulent times. Like all of Gregory's books, this was a winner. I cannot wait to read her books about the War of the Roses.

And I got the best price on the store.com