The Other Queen is my least favorite Phillipa Gregory book so far. I've also read The Virgin's Lover and The Other Boleyn girl. I was a bit disappointed in this one. It was just too dull. It seemed to drag on and on...
With that said, there were many very interesting characters in this story. This is a story about the imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots in England by Queen Elizabeth. The most interesting character to me was Bess. She was the wife of the man entrusted with "keeping" Queen Mary. Bess was a woman born to a poor widow. Bess was able to improve her place in the world by making good marriages and working very hard. She was able to become a countess with large amounts of money and land in her own name. Her children married well and became successful people in their own right. I was so amazed at what Bess was able to accomplish during a time when women didn't have rights and were expected to be graceful - not businesslike. I would recommend reading this story not to learn about Queen Mary, but to learn about Bess. What can we women all accomplish now if Bess was able to do so much was back in Tudor England?
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