Reviews

The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory

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lacernellarubra's review against another edition

4.0

This is the first book I read that is written by Philippa Gregory, and I can say it did not disappoint. I'm not a fan of books written in present time-first person, but this time I got used to it surprisingly quick.

As always with English historical fiction, sometimes it is hard to keep track with all the names. Which Mary is which, which Jane is which. But over all I think Gregory did a good Job on this.

I found this a very nice read and, I believe, Gregory did her research well.

robertposteschild's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

thisisgettingstupid999's review against another edition

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3.0

Imagine a teenage sex scene being narrated by the current 92-year-old British queen. Sexy huh? Because that it what the narrator of this audiobook sounds like. The way she says ‘orf’ ( for off) particularly makes me cringe.
I’m a Philippa Gregory fan and this is the first time I’ve listened, rather than read her books. She has the ability to make you feel transported to the Tudor period and see, smell, feel a time long ago.
In The Last Tudor, she tells the story (in three first-person parts) of the Grey sisters, the eldest of which was Jane – and anyone with any knowledge of 16th century England knows what happened to her.
It’s clear that the sisters – as it seems, all women in those times – were merely pawns in the power struggles of men. Even the most powerful women– the sister queens Mary and Elizabeth – had been victimised at some point in their lives.
The story of the teenage Jane Grey was difficult to listen to, simply because I knew her ending. Despite Jane’s confidence and piety, the narrator’s voice sounds far too old for a sixteen-year-old who, as she nears the inevitable seems more childlike, more stubborn, trusting , deluded, afraid. It was quite upsetting.
I’d never heard of Jane’s sisters and so didn’t know how their stories would pan out – at least, I didn’t know what had really happened to them, only what didn’t happen. (eg they never took the throne).
Katherine, who kept a monkey as a pet, was silly, vain and gullible.
The youngest sister, Mary, was so short that the court ‘dwarf’ saw her as a kindred spirit. She seems the most level-headed of the sisters and yet was stupid enough to repeat the same errors. What could she have imagined the outcome would be?
If, like me, you’ve read many of Gregory’s Tudor books, there is much repetition of court events. In particular, The Other Queen seemed to cover much of the same ground. I got a little bored by the frequent and extended musing on Queen Elizabeth’s motivation for imprisoning her courtiers.
But overall, Gregory once again delivers a believable fictional reconstruction of history. I just wish it hadn’t been narrated by Her Majesty.

helenreak1's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

jodigraham's review against another edition

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3.0

Philippa Gregory just doesn’t like Queen Elizabeth. I enjoyed the stories and personalities of the three sisters, but I’m still wondering why PG portrays Elizabeth as such a tyrant.