Mary Queen Of Scotland And The Isles (1997) - Plot & Excerpts
Margaret George has rescued Mary from the history books and brought her to life as a vibrant, compelling, and astonishingly modern heroine. This Mary talks and thinks like a modern woman, yet her actions are absolutely true to the spirit of the times and the known facts about her life. Sometimes the language is a bit too modern, as when Mary describes her gorgeous husband Lord Darnley as "looking good enough to eat" during their wedding feast. And the sex scenes leave absolutely nothing to the imagination! Even after Darnley begins to drink too much and make trouble, Mary makes excuses for him, crying in secret and confiding to the reader, "even when I knew the truth -- to my shame and against my will -- I still wanted him. In truth I burned for him." Mary may never have said this, but her actions make it clear how hard it was for her to break with the cruel but very handsome Darnley. George reveals every detail of Mary's daily life, right down to the perfume she used and her lazy mornings in bed. It's very revealing when Bothwell -- Mary's next husband after Darnley -- comes into her room unannounced one morning and tells her she needs to "get off your backside and rule, lass. The people need a queen, not a sleeping statue!" Mary thinks she is through with love, but Bothwell insists on marrying her to protect her from the plots and treachery of the other nobles -- the ones who murdered Lord Darnley. Much to her own surprise, Mary goes from fearing Bothwell to enjoying his company, sharing his bed willingly and even crying in his arms when he is forced to leave her at the end. "Rough he was, plain talking and without grace -- but true to me, always. And in his own way, tender." Some reviewers complain that George spends too much time on the sad years of Mary's life -- when she was a prisoner in England, locked up at the command of her "dearest friend" Elizabeth. But the details of her captivity are interesting, and even glamorous -- secret visits from spies, messages written in code. The only good thing to say about Queen Elizabeth is that she never put Mary in a dungeon. Mary describes it as "the most luxurious time of my life -- and the hardest to bear." Given her comfortable apartments, you can see why she sleeps till noon on days when there's really nothing to do. You can also see why she mentions "the mineral baths, the soothing waters that helped me forget" since she really needed relaxation. Mary was quite modern in some ways. She believed in mineral baths, and also massage, as being good for her health. She loved exercise in the open air, and she mentions several times that "after an open air gallop on horseback, very exhilarating, and a good long dunking in the water, the firm hands of my maids would readily coax the soreness from my muscles. Indeed I often forgot my worries entirely, and slept like a babe." The final section is not that dull, really. Just more quiet. And Elizabeth, to her credit, seems to have wanted Mary to be as comfortable and well looked after as any prisoner could be. Until she decided to have her executed, that is. But in the end, what really makes this book so exciting and vibrant is Mary -- passionate, loving, full of warmth and always willing to believe in people. She should have had a much happier life than she did!
Mary Queen of Scots is a fantastically frustrating figure in history, and so she is in Margaret George's novel. Such a bad judge of character, so many poor decisions and squandered opportunities. It's no surprise that her cousin Elizabeth I was the more successful queen. I picked this up because George's Memoirs of Cleopatra is a long-time favorite, although I was less keen on Mary, Called Magdalene. MQoSatI (what an acronym!) falls somewhere between those two novels on the enjoyment continuum. The parts of this book that are most compelling are near the end, where first-person narration largely takes over to reflect Mary's burgeoning inner and spiritual life and not the whirlwind torrent of romances and politics and murders that came before; George's writing really shines when she lets the characters speak for themselves rather than just telling us about the stuff they do. The earlier sections of the book detailing Mary's marriages and the machinations of her seemingly endless array of political enemies drag. They drag quite a bit, which is unfortunate because if the reader could see what was going on inside Mary's head the way they're able to in the final section leading up to her execution, they would be totally compelled. The ending, while a foregone conclusion (and really, it's based on someone's actual life, so that's kind of par for the course), is written well enough that I gave this whole 870-page doorstop of a book 4 stars instead of 3. Flawed, but worth it. At least for someone who really enjoys florid prose and sumptuous historical extravaganzas.
What do You think about Mary Queen Of Scotland And The Isles (1997)?
First off, you need to be either in the mood for this book or be very interested in Mary Queen of Scots. If I'd picked this up a year ago, I would have skimmed to the end. I visited Scotland in January and hit pretty much every place that Mary had been. I've never been a fan of Mary, but after standing in the rooms where Riccio was murdered, James was born and where Darnley came to his demise, I was ready to read more on Mary. I first tried "Immortal Queen" but lost interest due to the fluff. I came across Margaret George's version and liked how it was a more mature/realistic version of Mary's life. I downloaded the audio version (due to reading time constraints) and I fully enjoyed it. The author's details of Holyrood, Sterling, Craigmillar and The city of Edinburgh (even John Knox's house) took me right back to my visit. I know that's why I enjoyed this book so much. I didn't learn anything new, nor change my opinion of Mary, but I looked forward to listening to this every day.
—Rio (Lynne)
After reading and viewing several biographical accounts of Queen Elizabeth I, I became intrigued by the life of Mary Queen of Scots who usually figured as a minor actor in the Virgin Queen's story. In this 870 page tome, Mary is the central figure with Elizabeth the minor, yet incredibly powerful, character who ultimately determines Mary's fate.Well-researched and well-written, Margaret George depicts in full but not exhausting detail the lifestyle, political and religious climates of not only Scotland, but France, Spain and England during the 1500's. The themes of tension between the isles and the continent, Protestants and Catholics, monarchs and political leaders are well developed. With a maiden name of Erskine, I followed with interest the initial support and later distancing of Lord Erskine from the Queen Mary. Another 200 real-life characters grace the pages and lend a sense of authenticity to the novel.In the Author's Afterward, George describes her approach to the four biggest historical unknowns in Queen Mary's life and why she chose the versions that she did. The story makes a good beach read and is particularly timely in the 2012 presidential election year. Hidden daggers, raising armies and escapes from castles make American politics quite tame in comparison, though leaders and politicians of any epoch have more in common than not.
—Kim Karpeles
I am a big fan of Margaret George and have enjoyed the books she has written immensely. Mary Queen of Scots however missed the mark with me. Too often this book degraded into Harlequin romancesque passages. There were times I closed the book to look at the front cover to be certain a shirtless Fabio wasn’t on it. I think I could have over looked that aspect of the book if the rest of it had kept me enraptured. However large amounts of the book outside the bosom heaving love making passages were quite frankly boring. That isn’t to say that I found myself obsessively page turning at some points to find out what happened next, but you can only read so many pages of hunting trips and travels between pieces of land before your eyes start to roll to the back of your head. Also the first few chapters about her childhood in France were a gigantic snoozer. Too many times I would gear up for a big scene, thinking this is going to be explosive only to have it fizzle out. The Queen’s meetings with John Knox in the first half of the book, the aftermath of the Riccio murder, the downfall of Henry Lord Darnley. All of these events turn into sneezes that work themselves up only to unsatisfyingly dissipate. I’ll admit that the last 10 pages I found myself near tears at the thought of her beheading but I certainly wasn’t worth the 860 pages to be moved emotionally.Too much of this book seemed to be filler. The more I thought about it the more I began to wonder why Mary Queen of Scots is such a popular monarch and not merely a footnote to history. All told, her time on the throne, actually ruling not in absentia, equaled barely six years. She passed no significant laws, made no significant changes to the state religion, nor did she greatly improved the standing or size of her empire. The bulk of her years in Scotland were marked by internal squabbles with the Protestants. Before her reign in Scotland her early and terribly uneventful childhood and teenage years were spent in France barely making a mark on history. After her reign she abdicated and spent the remainder of her life as a “prisoner” in England moving from castle to castle, praying and writing letters to a world that had mostly forgotten her existence. I don’t see why she warrants an 800 plus page book chronicling her life or any of the popularity she has culled over time.
—Jessica
