mary queen of scots antonia fraser review

I think what shocked me, which shouldn’t because I knew the TV show Reign got it completely wrong, was Francis II. Why she needed, at such a young age, to escape her homeland of Scotland for France. We don’t just learn about Mary, but what it was like during that time period. It was a bit slow to begin with, I think it was mainly due to the fact that I wanted to only hear about Mary and no one else, but I began to start appreciating Antonia Fraser setting the scene. All I wanted to do was find out more on Mary and the people around her. To say that I couldn’t put this book down, would be an understatement.

Here is her story, a queen who lost a throne for love, a monarch pampered and adored even as she was led to her beheading, the unforgettable woman who became a legend for all time”. Betrayed by those she most trusted, she would be lured into a deadly game of power, only to lose to her envious and unforgiving cousin, Elizabeth I. Instead, Mary Stuart became the victim of her own impulsive heart, scandalizing her world with a foolish passion that would lead to abduction, rape and even murder. Her royal birth gave her claim to the thrones of two nations her marriage to the young French dauphin promised to place a third glorious crown on her noble head. “She was the quintessential queen: statuesque, regal, dazzlingly beautiful.

Mary queen of scots antonia fraser review