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A review by thepaige_turner
Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy
4.0
To say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this is a bit of an understatement. I was a bit skeptical going into this biography, considering I didn't enjoy Guy's biography on Elizabeth I very much because I don't think he painted her in an exceptional light (mostly focusing on the men in her life). However, I do think he did Mary much better justice.
There is SO much information here, and every question seems to be answered, without the text becoming too dry or boring. I had watched the movie before reading this, and that was what had initially sparked my interest, and wow are the two different. They really gloss over (in the movie) how awful Darnley and Bothwell both were to her, along with her imprisonment in England for almost two decades. I didn't realize how old she had become at the time of her execution because the movie makes her look so young.
I do think Guy could have cited some more specifics in the footnotes, because there were so many instances where he states that Mary "burst into tears". How does he know that? Is it written somewhere? Is it just an account? For all Mary's strength and regality, which Guy emphasizes, it seems strange that she was constantly overcome with such emotion in public spaces.
And on a personal note, this was so much fun to be reading while I was on the train to and from Scotland/Edinburgh and while I was there! To be able to visit the places that Mary lived and see Edinburgh itself really enriched my reading of this!
There is SO much information here, and every question seems to be answered, without the text becoming too dry or boring. I had watched the movie before reading this, and that was what had initially sparked my interest, and wow are the two different. They really gloss over (in the movie) how awful Darnley and Bothwell both were to her, along with her imprisonment in England for almost two decades. I didn't realize how old she had become at the time of her execution because the movie makes her look so young.
I do think Guy could have cited some more specifics in the footnotes, because there were so many instances where he states that Mary "burst into tears". How does he know that? Is it written somewhere? Is it just an account? For all Mary's strength and regality, which Guy emphasizes, it seems strange that she was constantly overcome with such emotion in public spaces.
And on a personal note, this was so much fun to be reading while I was on the train to and from Scotland/Edinburgh and while I was there! To be able to visit the places that Mary lived and see Edinburgh itself really enriched my reading of this!