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What are readers saying about The Other Queen: A Novel?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-05 07:23:03.
(Language: English)
  
History comes alive.. I could feel myself falling for Mary, Queen of Scot's character till i couldnt make myself read the last few chapters leading to her execution.. But it would have been also nice to hear Queen Elizabeth's point of view. Nevertheless, an excellent read for anyone interested in the Tudor Dynasty..
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-12 07:35:21.
(Language: English)
Of all her books that I've read, this took me the longest to really become involved in; however, it ultimately was the most rewarding, character-wise. With Mary, you see the absolute iron belief in divine queenship that, in her mind, justifies everything and anything she does. And Bess provides an interesting internal glimpse of a woman who refuses to be defined as merely her husband's chattel, a woman who uses her mind (and yes, occasionally questionable methods) and acumen to become known - in her own right - as the greatest female land owner in England (second only to the Queen)
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-15 06:05:24.
(Language: English)
thought i would like it more since i'm really into that time period, but i felt like it dragged quite a bit and was pretty repetitive. i'll give philippa gregory one more shot...
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-21 09:06:09.
(Language: English)
I just can't finish this book! Very rarely do I not finish a book, yet I just can not read another sentence. In an attempt to be fair, I have learned a few things about Mary, Queen of Scots that I had not known, such as the Northern Uprising that could have overthrown the country, disposed Elizabeth, putting Mary on the English throne and completely changing history--England would have turned Catholic, Mary's son James would have been raised Catholic, no King James Bible, no Puritans coming to North America and so on--and would have suceeded if the lords had just continued with the campaign a bit longer. However, that slice of interesting history does not make this readable. It is all passive voice, told in each character's head. It is as if it were the outline of a story not a completed manuscript. Not only is it all passive voice, the issues each person has is told, not shown or developed, just told over and over and over, until I say, enough all ready! I understand that Mary is bewitching, George Talbot is torn between duty and lust, and Bess is mostly concerned with money! It doesn't need repeated every single chapter! I just can't take it! And this is disappointing, as I enjoyed The Other Boleyn Sister.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-07 04:30:31.
(Language: English)
Amazing consistence with factual history! A non-academic book, yet not very far from the context of textbooks.;) Finally a fiction I can share with my students in the Social Sciences!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-19 09:42:40.
(Language: English)
[from my review in People magazine]The Other Queenby Philippa Gregory Fans of Gregory¹s Tudor novels (The Other Boleyn Girl) await a new one like a box of decadent, mouth-watering bonbons. Her latest features the mercurial, over-sexed Mary Queen of Scots. Set during Mary¹s imprisonment atan English estate under orders of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, the story roils with secretschemes, treasonous plots and coded messages stuffed in shoe heels. Mary¹s ambitious "hostess," Bess of Hardwick, is nearly ruined by the exile's narcissism -- including her insistence on 32-course meals and her seduction of Bess¹s husband. Mary¹s hell-bent assuredness and ability to turn men into pudding combine deliciously with brisk chapters and rich historical detail. Indulge.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-12 10:34:23.
(Language: English)
I don't think this was one of her better novels. She is definitely one of my favorite authors and I liked this book, but I absolutely loved her other ones. This book seemed to rehash a lot of stuff...most notably Bess' obsession with keeping her money/land/houses. The book trudged along. Some parts were painfully slow and uneventful, and I think the author could have wrapped it up 100 pages sooner. There just was no excitement, no sexiness, no thrills or plot twists. Although I must say I enjoyed learning about Mary Queen of Scots and I'm glad I read the book. It's just not at the top of my Must Read list.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-10 09:07:15.
(Language: English)
This was interesting, as usual, for the history and description of the time period - but not one of her best. No good romance and it was VERY REPETITIVE. Yes, we get that Bess values her rags to riches and her husband is all about loyalty, and Queen Mary needs to be free! Over and over these characters say the same thing - sometimes I'd wonder if the pages weren't printed correctly and I was reading the same chapters twice. But I still have mad love for most of her novels :)
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-08 12:52:41.
(Language: English)
A nice read for me. I love history, and I was very interested in Mary Queen of Scots. After seeing The Other Bolyn Girl, I saw this book at the library and grabbed it. I'm still not sure who I should've been rooting for. But I admire Mary's passion to live and be free. Can't blame Elizabeth for protecting her crown, but how do you kill your own cousin? I liked how you got so many other's point of view, I love that in a book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-06 07:00:12.
(Language: English)
If you're a fan on the Tudor dynasty you might enjoy this. Even though I'm NOT a fan of Philippa Gregory, she did a pretty good job with this one. Each chapter is told from the perspective of Mary, Queen of Scots, George, the Earl of Shewsburry, or Bess, the Countess of Shewsburry- the Earl and Countess were the keepers of Mary during her time in captivity until her execution for treason. Mary almost bankrupted the Earl while her became enraptured by her for 17 years in his care. He eventually separated with Bess, who never forgave Elizabeth I or George for the financial stress of this most ungrateful queen.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-18 06:55:21.
(Language: English)
Good book! Love pretty much anything this author has to offer... At times this one was a little over the top, hard to respect or like most of the characters in this one... By the time you get halfway through it, you find yourself cheering, not on either queen, but the people having the misforturne to be in the middle....
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-04 10:00:29.
(Language: English)
An insightful look at Mary, Queen of Scots, during her years as Elizabeth I's captive. Mary's relationship with, and impact on, her designated jailors - George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury & his wife Bess - is explored in 1st-person chapters alternating amongst each of the 3 principals. Gregory laces the text with documented facts but lets the reader determine the villians in this strange threesome. An enjoyable read that won't take forever or bog down the reader with too much Elizabethan life detail.
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Carolyn Joy posted a review at 2009-11-26 07:27:43.
(Language: English)
This was the first Philippa Gregory book I've read and I had to adjust to her writing style. She told the story through the three perspectives of this book. I found the sentiments redundant especially 1) Mary: I'm a queen like no other, I am sacred, I cannot be touched by mere commoners, even without a kingdom I'll always be queen; 2) George: I love the other queen, but my loyalty is to Elizabeth; 3) Bess: I came from nothing and now I have everything, and I would do anything to keep all my wealth for myself, my children, and my grandchildren. This author was highly recommended by a friend due to her expertise in royal fiction, I was also made aware that she wrote "The Other Boleyn Girl", which was turned into a movie. I was looking for something new to read and this was just up my alley. I have very little knowledge about Mary, Queen of Scots because I wasn't paying attention to my history class. After I read this, it inspired me to do my own reading so I can separate fact from fiction. This author has an imagination and effectively wrote in the first person point of view that made me feel triumph, excitement, and anxiety. I've read from the other reviews that this wasn't one of her best works but at least I got a grasp of her writing. It's very descriptive, assertive, and convincing. Her version of Mary's life was very romantic and tragic at the same time, and this book was remarkably filled with detail and extensive research.
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Rachel posted a review at 2009-03-24 07:44:14.
(Language: English)
TOQ was ok. Just ok. Gregory definitely has a knack for historical fiction in a way that so many others don't, and she can really flesh out distant, incidental players in history and give them a voice.The problem here was the timeline, and handling the endless years Mary, Queen of Scots was in captivity without turning the story into an endless epic would stymie most writers. Thus the ending feels abrupt and hastily wrapped up. It was a bold move to make The Queen of Scots so incredibly selfish and unlikable, given how she's been canonized in literature, history and theater. The character that reaches out to the reader is Bess Hardwicke, who has to put up with the usurper in her household, and watch her fortune and reputation slowly go to ruins because of her guest's shenanigans. Despite her stubborness and greed, one can relate to her pluck and sense of survival, two qualities that define success for most women, especially today.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-28 09:55:39.
(Language: English)
I just didn't find this one as compelling as The Other Boleyn Girl. I don't find Mary Queen of Scots to be all that sympathetic of a figure, so that may have had something to do with it. I felt that Shrewsbury was something of an easily manipulated fool. Perhaps he was or perhaps this is a fault of the writing. Mary came across as very manipulative and I was constantly amazed at how easily people were fooled into doing stupid and dangerous things for her. Perhaps the book doesn't quite do justice to her charisma but, at any rate, I found her rather transparent and was amazed that no one else seemed to. The most interesting character in the book by far was Bess, the earl's wife. I really felt for her and found it maddening that a woman of such good business sense could be driven to the brink of ruin by her husband's foolishness--and there was precious little she could do about it. I don't envy the women of that particular period in history.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-06 07:12:03.
(Language: English)
This was an enjoyable read, but it smacked a bit of using the main characters to illustrate an allegory about the character of England. Maybe this is ok in itself, but it seemed a little obvious at times, and therefore annoyed me. That said, it was a fun read for the average historical novel junkie!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-12-06 04:52:33.
(Language: English)
This really brought the Tudor period to life
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-25 08:19:32.
(Language: English)
As a huge Philippa Gregory fan, I am sorry to say that I was slightly disappointed after finishing The Other Queen. Throughout the whole book I felt something was missing, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I just felt really detached from all the characters and wasn't on the edge of my seat like I was with all her other novels. I wouldn't say that I wouldn't recommend this book, but don't expect another The Other Boleyn Girl. I had my husband go out and buy this book for me the day it was released because I was so excited. Sorry to say it was a little bit of a letdown.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-10-29 01:01:29.
(Language: English)
This book follows in the footsteps of The Boleyn Inheritance in that the first-person, present tense point of view alternates between three different characters with individual motives and intertwined destinies. However, in The Boleyn Inheritance, I thought Gregory was on top of her game in getting each voice "right"--each character's voice was so distinct you could open any page at random and immediately know who the narrator was--whereas in this book, all of the voices seemed to blend together for me. Because of the way the story is told (and because the ending is a foregone conclusion), this weakness in voice/characterization makes what could be a riveting read a merely enjoyable one.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-21 04:05:56.
(Language: English)
I agreed with most of the reviews, very disappointed in it, compared to other Gregory novels!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-12-05 02:49:00.
(Language: English)
Enjoyed this book. Bought the audiobook version. Found it a bit slow at first, but still enjoyed it. Not as good as the Boleyn Inheritence though
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-30 09:15:43.
(Language: English)
Pretty good story about Mary, Queen of Scots told from the points of view of three people. Lots of emotional plot, but not much action, so it was a bit slow at parts. I would have liked to have had Queen Elizabeth's perspective perhaps. It would be interesting to hear her side and her struggles.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-11 12:56:23.
(Language: English)
absolutely loved it. I listen to audio books so I don't know what it is like to actually read it, but I have loved these books about the queens. I started with The Other Boelyn Girl, then listened to several others, then listened a second time with the books in sequence. They are amazing to read (listen to) as a series.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-21 11:37:45.
(Language: English)
This was another fantastic Gregory novel. I have always been intrigued by the tale of Mary Queen of Scots, but this story really draws you in with Gregory's typical multi-character viewpoints. You begin to truly understand Mary's tragic plight, while being amazed at the inspiration and devotion she could inspire.
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