The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn)
by Philippa Gregory
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Book Reviews of The Virgin's Lover (Boleyn)
Book Review: Just not the same..
Summary: 2 Stars
As my yearly renaissance festival rolls closer I decided to embroil myself for a little bit into the time period by reading The Virgins Lover by Phillipa Gregory. I have been a big fan of her stories, and am always happy to read a tale as told by her. I was however a little disappointed in this book. The same enamoring story just was not there for me with The Virgins Lover.
The prose itself was not the problem for as far as writing style it is the same style I have come to appreciate with Phillipa Gregory, but the story itself was lacking. Listening to Amy whine was just one of the barbs that annoyed me beyond measure. Now I can understand her pain, and believe me I do. But when one married a man in such a time you had to expect some of the things that would be happening. Her husband was almost killed, she should have been happy he was not. Though on the flip side, he should have been a better husband without a doubt.
The story of Robert Dudley and Elizabeth is not a new one, but I had hoped for some excitement from one of my favorite historical authors. But I was a bit disappointed. The Virgins Lover was to me the same rehashing of one of the best known assumed romances. It was a dragging read for me. So as much as I love Phillipa to me this is one to skip. But it won't stop me from continuing to read her works. They can't all be winners after all.
Book Review: Wonderful novel, interesting bias
Summary: 5 Stars
It is interesting to see from reading the books chronologically (The Constant Princess, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover) that Ms. Gregory is, contrary to most of the historical fiction novels or movies I have seen, a sympathizer of the "rightful" Tudor Queens and not much a fan of Anne Boleyn or her daughter, Elizabeth I. Though, through reading her novels, I came to be a huge fan of each of the queens in their own right, I find that this novel trivializes Elizabeth somewhat more than I expected (in the same manner that The Other Boleyn Girl paints Anne in such a distasteful and desperate light). I am not upset or saddened to be reading from this perspective, however. On the contrary, taken together with other movies and writings about Elizabeth (and Anne, for that matter), I am glad to have seen the (perceived) weaknesses of each of these women. So many historical works focus on the strengths and the great things they did. This novels makes Elizabeth appear to be "just another girl in love" in the first year of her reign, with all of the lack of judgement that goes along with such an emotional state. Although, to soothe the critics, in the end she becomes the triumphant and strong monarch we all know her to have been.Book Review: This books holds you at arm's length
Summary: 3 Stars
I absolutely loved THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, it really gave insight into the inner thoughts and motivations of the characters. But THE VIRGIN'S LOVER, although lush and entertaining to begin with, was, in the end, extraordinarily frustrating.
By the time the book was over, I had no sympathy for any of the characters. Elizabeth was a completely unlikable brat, Dudley was an insensitive and self-centered jerk, and Amy was a whining self-loathing child.
Philippa Gregory has such great talent, I was doubly disappointed by how annoyed I was by the way the characters came across in this novel. It was a very different view of these historical figures with whom I am very familiar. I admire her for taking some great risks in the telling of the machinations between Elizabeth, Dudley, and Amy, but I don't think it came out as well as it could have.
I never felt that I could "get into" any of the characters, they seemed unfamiliar, distant, and unreachable. Her overall style and steady use of phrasing was strong and made the book generally enjoyable. But whereas I have read THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL twice now and keep a lending copy on-hand, I have already sold my copy of this novel to a used bookstore. But I did trade it for another Philippa Gregory book. ^_~
Book Review: I expected better...
Summary: 3 Stars
I came to this book by way of two previous Gregory novels, "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "The Queen's Fool". I mistakenly assumed that this book naturally followed these other novels in a successive trilogy. I was wrong. If you've read the previous two novels mentioned, please don't feel as if you have to read, "The Virgin's Lover", to complete the series, you'll be disappointed as I was.
The characterization of Liz and Bobby in, "The Queen's Fool" was rich and complex and it left you wanting more. In this novel, I think it simply falls flat. And those characters that she tempts you with are gone. This is the queen that is said to have ushered in a golden age for England. Her portrait of Liz is flat and contains none of the sparkle that it contained previously. She's weak, submissive, needy, paranoid and subject to hysterics. There is no depth to her, whatsoever. And Bobby is a completely self-centered, grasping, idiotic image of a man. This book is completely filled with unsympathetic characters, Amy Dudley fares no better. And it's a wonder Will Cecil got anything done.
By the time, I finished reading this book, I was left with the feeling that maybe Ms. Gregory just wrote this book because it was expected and not because she wanted to.
Book Review: Not The Other Boleyn Girl
Summary: 3 Stars
The story of Queen Elizabeth should be as much if not more compelling than the Boleyn sister's story but I felt that The Virgin's Lover was lacking in it's depth of emotion. The book had its fair share of true facts as well as greatly elaborated ideas of what may have been fact. I'm not sure if it was that the events of this time were simply not interesting enough or if it was Gregory's choice to write in third person in this novel but I personally was not drawn in like I was in The Other Boleyn Girl and The Queen's Fool. It was most likely the later since I fell in love with Mary and Hannah of the other books and not so much Elizabeth in this book. Not to be entirely negative, I must say that the great task the author clearly took on in her deeply involved research was impressive since information of all facets were included from fashion to politics to war strategy. I can't say it's worth reading but if you are the type of person who can read 500 pages in 2 days then maybe it would be. In my personal opinion I feel that I benefited from reading this novel in only that it increased my knowledge of one former queen but I did not take an incredible amount of pleasure in its characters and the soap opera that was their life.