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Mary, Queen of Scots

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Nefret
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Post by Nefret » Thu September 24th, 2009, 8:49 pm

Margaret Irwin has a novel about her too. Own it, but haven't read it yet.
Think I have seen a YA novel about her, but forget the name.
Last edited by Nefret on Thu September 24th, 2009, 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Fri September 25th, 2009, 10:37 am

[quote=""Nefret""]Margaret Irwin has a novel about her too. Own it, but haven't read it yet. [/quote]

Yes. "The Gay Galliard", reprinted as "The Galliard" last year. (Just like Plaidy's Gay Lord Robert was reprinted as Lord Robert.) Sense a theme here?

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Elizabeth
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Post by Elizabeth » Fri September 25th, 2009, 1:30 pm

[quote=""Carla""]Antonia Fraser's NF biography of Mary is well worth a read, if you haven't already read it. It's very long, but as readable as many a novel, and she maintains a reasonable balance between being sympathetic to Mary without entirely overlooking her (many) faults and poor decisions.[/quote]

I wholeheartedly second this. Fraser's biography of Mary is one of my favorite books.

For an interesting and different take on Mary and the people surrounding her you might try THE WHITE QUEEN (yes, another book titled THE WHITE QUEEN) by Frederic Fallon. It's Fallon's only book... he was killed in an automobile accident as a young man, I think even before the book was published.

The book I'm working on right now features both Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots as secondary characters, so I've been reading everything I can find on both women. Mary of Guise died relatively young (only 44). One has to wonder what Mary Queen of Scots' personal rule in Scotland would have been like if her mother had survived to advise her.

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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Fri September 25th, 2009, 2:46 pm

Some comprehensive lists you can browse here:
http://www.bitterwisdom.com/ladyjanegre ... ction.html

http://www.librarything.com/tag/Mary+Qu ... s,+fiction [despite the tagging, some of these are non-fiction]

http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/Scotland/M ... Scots.html [mostly non-fiction, but also a list of fiction]

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Post by Ash » Sat September 26th, 2009, 1:36 am

[quote=""Elizabeth""]I wholeheartedly second this. Fraser's biography of Mary is one of my favorite books.[/quote]

I'll third that. Really well done non-fiction. Her bios are usually interesting, tho I was disappointed with the one on Marie Antoinette a few years back - badly in need of an editor.

I'm also very interested in Mary's mother; looking forward to that book!

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Leyland
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Post by Leyland » Sat September 26th, 2009, 8:08 pm

[quote=""Elizabeth""]The book I'm working on right now features both Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots as secondary characters, so I've been reading everything I can find on both women. Mary of Guise died relatively young (only 44). One has to wonder what Mary Queen of Scots' personal rule in Scotland would have been like if her mother had survived to advise her.[/quote]

Most definitely! Mary of Guise seems more well suited than her daughter to rule, although I don't know much about her. I assume that since she was a Guise, she must have been crafty and politics-wise! Or court-wise, at least.
We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams ~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Ode

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Tanzanite
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Post by Tanzanite » Sun September 27th, 2009, 5:52 pm

[quote=""Elizabeth""]I wholeheartedly second this. Fraser's biography of Mary is one of my favorite books.

For an interesting and different take on Mary and the people surrounding her you might try THE WHITE QUEEN (yes, another book titled THE WHITE QUEEN) by Frederic Fallon. It's Fallon's only book... he was killed in an automobile accident as a young man, I think even before the book was published.

The book I'm working on right now features both Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots as secondary characters, so I've been reading everything I can find on both women. Mary of Guise died relatively young (only 44). One has to wonder what Mary Queen of Scots' personal rule in Scotland would have been like if her mother had survived to advise her.[/quote]

I recently acquired a copy of Fallon's book - glad to hear it is interesting. There is a book about Mary of Guise - The Sword and the Flame by Pamela Hill (I have it but haven't read it yet).

leelo
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Post by leelo » Mon January 28th, 2013, 12:45 am

[quote=""Ariadne""]I haven't read it yet myself, but several HF fans who normally share my taste in books have recommended Elizabeth Byrd's Immortal Queen. Also, I did a mini-survey on my blog last week, and two people said it was the book that got them started on reading historical fiction. For what it's worth![/quote]

I read Byrd's "Imortal Queen" in high school. It did get me started on my love for historical fiction. I go back and re read it every so often. It is a good choice for anyone interested in Mary Stuart.

annis
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Post by annis » Mon January 28th, 2013, 6:50 am

I second Byrd's book which I bought -last year?- after seeing it mentioned by the inimitable Madame Guillotine as an old favourite. Byrd was an American who spent much of her life in Scotland, including a spell in a haunted castle! I also grabbed a novel Byrd wrote about the Battle of Flodden Field, which resulted in a sorry end for yet another Stuart monarch - they were a consistently unfortunate lot. I enjoyed Tannahill's novel as well. Those early Tannahill novels were great stuff - The World, the Flesh and the Devil is on my keeper shelf somewhere.
Last edited by annis on Mon January 28th, 2013, 6:04 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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