A review by booksandbea
The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory

4.0

Few eras in history were as rife with the stress that comes with reigning in your own right as a woman. Combined with just a border of separation, the political sphere of men plotting and scheming for the downfall of the rival is a brilliant window into the expectations of women by men. God's own anointed but yet a weak and feeble woman. Wrong. Mary Stuart- Queen of Scots has been tarred with the age old brush, but a mistreated woman does not mean a push over. Elizabeth Tudor is shown through the lens of favourites, paranoia and the weight of succession, the hallmark of her 45 year reign but it is Mary who's tenacity shines through. Martyrdom securing her as a tragic figure all these many years later, its nice to see a version of Mary who cannot escape her present, but takes small controls back in every which way she can. That is the true mark of 'I shall not be curtailed'.