books I've read

Anne Hawn's books

Who Moved My Cheese?
If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans
Scientific Secrets for Self-Control
Just One Damned Thing After Another
The Vanishing
Exercises in Knitting
The Good Dream
The Very Best of Edgar Allan Poe
The Chosen
BT-Kids' Knits
Talking God
The Professor
The Christmas Files
The Finisher
Home Decor for 18-Inch Dolls: Create 10 Room Settings with Furniture and 15 Outfits with Accessories
Dracula and Other Stories
A New Song
Christy
All Quiet on the Western Front
File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents


Anne Hawn Smith's favorite books »

I'm reading 150 Books

2019 Reading Challenge
2019 Reading Challenge 19614 members
<b>Are you ready to set your 2019 reading goal?</b> This is a supportive, fun group of people looking for people just like you. Track your annual reading goal here with us, and we have challenges, group reads, and other fun ways to help keep you on pace. There will never be a specific number of books to read here or pressure to read more than you can commit to. Your goal is five? Great! You think you want to read 200? Very cool! We won't kick you out for not participating regularly, but we'll love it if you do. Join us!

Books we've read

The Help
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
The Night Circus
The Golden Compass
11/22/63
The Little Lady Agency
Catch-22
The Good Father
A Discovery of Witches
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Fahrenheit 451
Frankenstein
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
A Christmas Carol
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
The Color Purple
Matched
Cloud Atlas
The Princess Bride
The Catcher in the Rye


View this group on Goodreads »

Sunday, March 09, 2008

A Bit about Queen Elizabeth I

I have read two books recently about a possible child of the very young Elizabeth Tudor, soon to become Queen Elizabeth I. The first is The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir.



Ms. Weir has done considerable research on Henry VIII and his children, but this is a book of fiction concerning the life of the young Elizabeth. The major focus of the book is the fine line the young heir walks between obscurity and being the heir to the British Throne. Central to the book is the possibility the she bore a child when she was about 14, courtesy of Thomas Seymour.

What is amazing about this story is the shrewdness of the young Elizabeth and her uncanny understanding of politics. Much is because of her outstanding intelligence and composure. While the subject of Elizabeth I has been covered innumerable times, this book has found a way to be fresh and interesting.

The second is The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase.




Continuing on the idea that the young Lady Elizabeth did have a child when she was barely 14, the story is written through the eyes of that daughter. Her position is fraught with danger and intrigue. Despite her mother's protests, Elinor de Lacey schemes to get summoned to court where she finds out that she is the daughter of the queen. At first Elizabeth is enchanted by her, but as time goes on, she begins to suspect that there may be more to Elinor, and that she could be a threat to her reign. The court intrigues are fascinating and the story is well written.

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