This enjoyable work is about Robert Dudley and the love shared between him and Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley descended from a family of ambitious men, and their ambition had been their undoing. However, Robert found himself attracted to the Queen of England, for ambition's sake but also for the passion she felt towards him. This story is Jean Plaidy's look at the life of Dudley, through the scandal of the death of his wife Amy Robsart, which has left historians puzzling over the cause. Her detailed and tedious research brought her to the conclusions that she has set forth in this novel. She covers all bases including Robert's involvement with Douglass Sheffield and his secret marriage to Lettice Knolleys, all the while trying to maintain his place in the heart of the Queen, as well as his position at court.Plaidy is a master historical novelist and tells this story by switching between the views of many; Robert, Elizabeth, her handmaid Kat, a young boy who evoked their mutual love in the Tower, even Amy and her maid Pinto! I believe that this is one of Jean's better written novels.
