THE MEMOIRS OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

by Carolly Erickson



"Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. Many believed that she, and not her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, was the rightful Queen of England, but this only fueled their bitter rivalry, ending in Mary's execution at age forty-four." (From the back of the St. Martin's Press Advance Readers' Edition.)

For a woman who spent a good chunk of her adult life in the custody of England's Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary of Scotland sure got around! The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots gives a whirlwind tour of Mary's life from her marriage to Francis, Dauphin of France, to her death, minus the intricate details. It makes for a fabulous light read, but leaves a more curious reader not already familiar with her story wondering who some of the other players are. Important people pop into and out of Mary's life with alarming speed and we never really get to know them or the motives for their actions, nor are Mary's always clear. A reader looking for more entertainment than history will be very pleased with Carolly Erickson's newest fiction offering. If you're looking for something meatier but still fiction, I would recommend Margaret George's Mary Queen of Scotland & The Isles.



Other Carolly Erickson books on Books 'N Border Collies:

The Last Wife of Henry VIII
The Tsarina's Daughter

THE TSARINA'S DAUGHTER

by Carolly Erickson
(To be released Sept. 30)



Grand Duchess Tatiana, the second eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra, escapes the cruel fate of the last of the Romanovs, and lives to tell her story of the Russian Revolution, World War I, and the fall of the last Tsar.

In contrast to The Romanov Bride, which I read and reviewed earlier this year, The Tsarina's Daughter, shows the struggles of Russia from the inside out. Tatiana's life was very insulated, and you feel her disconnection from the real world. Even when she starts venturing out delivering baskets of food to poverty-stricken workers and then later working in the hospital, you know, as does she, that so much more is going on than she ever hears about, sees, or experiences. This disconnect blunts some of the emotional impact that this story could have had. However, for a reader as unfamiliar with the history of Russia as I am, it was still an affecting glimpse into a world that is gone forever and allowed a comforting, if not happy, ending to a sad event.

THE LAST WIFE OF HENRY VIII

by Carolly Erickson



The Last Wife of Henry VIII is the story of Catherine Parr, from girlhood to her death. There is a lot of time covered, but the book is just a bit more than 300 pages and goes quickly as only the "highlights" are told in any detail, and fairly large chunks of time are skipped over between them.

This book had the bad, bad luck of being read right on the heels of Innocent Traitor. There are some of the same characters and events, but they are not as deeply or convincingly explored in Erickson's book. After Innocent Traitor, this was like "Tudor Cliff Notes". You get the general idea, but you know there's more to the story. I had the same feeling when I read The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. I liked the book, but I had a lot of questions about parts of the story that were skimmed over or not told at all. All in all, The Last Wife of Henry VIII is a good, light read, but if you're looking for something meatier, I'd stick with Philippa Gregory or Alison Weir.

The covers of Erickson's books are gorgeous though, aren't they? I'd almost buy them just for that! :-)

Lezlie


Other fiction by Carolly Erickson:



The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
The Secret Life of Josephine: Napoleon's Bird of Paradise