Virgin: Prelude To The Throne (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
If you're a follower of my blog, then surely you know that of all English monarchs, Elizabeth I is in No way my favourite...Sorry- but that's just the way it is. There's just something cold, calculating and non-feeling about her- for me..yet, I keep reading more and more books on her. There's something intriguing about her that's for sure. Or maybe, I just won't allow myself to believe that what you see is what you get-- and nothing so far has really moved me to change my opinion of her...Until... Virgin: Prelude to the Throne, by Maxwell. This is the story of Elizabeth from about the age of 13 to 15- don't kid yourself, this is not children's literature. Major things happen to Elizabeth and England within these two years to spur England into a series of dramatic turnabouts that it would be impossible to write-off this important time period.Elizabeth is being raised by her step-mother, the Dowager Queen Catherine and her husband, Thomas Seymour. With Kat as her guardian-lady-in waiting, you would think that Elizabeth had a dandy 'ole time with this wonderful mom and dashing dad...Poor Elizabeth, nothing could be farther from the truth.Elizabeth endures such traumatic episodes that no child of that age should ever go through. The abuse, betrayal, confusion and major incidents that happened to her would for sure leave a mark on her forever. For me, this book helped explain so many things. The poor child was torn between guilt, so-called love, shame, loss, confusion and almost treason- with the risk of death.I think I've never despised a character more than Thomas Seymour. And- what a change of heart for me to say that Elizabeth endeared me to no end! Her story literally broke my heart. I felt so much tenderness for this young girl who had her innocence cruelly taken away. What more could she experience aftet having lost her mother in the harshest of ways, her father rejecting her when she needed him most, and then this cruel man luring her heart and young blossoming passions in such a pedophilic way...all for his own glory. Poor, poor Elizabeth!She trusted and loved this slime ball and felt guilty for thinking that she may have been the one to lure him on! These are the typical feelings of youngsters who go through abuse of this sort. Yet, after all she went through, horrible damage to her soul and person, our beautiful young royal, came out standing tall, proud and more majestic than ever, and I rooted for her all the way!I must say that I am utterly surprised that after reading so much history, I've never read anything in such detail about this particular time in Elizabeth's life. There's always bits and pieces alluding to this horrid period- but never in such detail and never so real. Even Catherine Parr's death solved a few questions I had. this book is a must read.Virgin, is a must read for all Elizabethan fans and historians who feel there is a missing link in Elizabeth's life. Robin Maxwell has helped put the pieces together for me and now Elizabeth appears as a whole new different person. Her depth in character, her choices in life, her destiny and her ruling have roots from a far deeper place. I understand her so much better.I highly recommend this beautiful, heart-wrenching and enlightening read to all. Fantastic book- Thank you so much Robin Maxwell!
Usually it does not take me this long to read a 230-odd page book! I guess it was because it was a slow starter. (That and I was rereading "Breaking Dawn"!). But a lil over halfway through the pace picked up and boom done. This book takes us back to Elizabeth I as a teenager, after her father's death. Her 10 year old brother, Edward, is now King, his uncle Edward Seymour, his Protector. She lives with her stepmother, Catherine Parr, who shortly marries Thomas Seymour, King Edward's other uncle and his Protector's brother. Confused? But anyway, the book takes us through Elizabeth's alleged affair with Thomas and it's consequences. A lot of family feuding as with the Tudor times. Good book and it should be a quick read!
What do You think about Virgin: Prelude To The Throne (2002)?
A BIG disappointment after "The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn". This is the story of a 13-year-old Elizabeth, a queen to be that would someday lead England to its Golden Age. And yet, she was portrayed as a love-struck teenager, caught in having a crush with her stepmother's lover. There is much much much more to a young Elizabeth. What about her imprisonment in the Tower, her friendship with Robert Dudley, her yearn of love from her long lost parents? There are more better issues to be addressed than a teenager in a Tudor era, having a crush to a much older man. At one stage, the book even told a story of Elizabeth pretending to be a detective, stalking Thomas Seymour. To put it simply, we are not amused.
—Grace C
So, I borrowed this book from a friend a really long time ago. I've been feeling guilty from time to time, but it wasn't a big deal. However, a couple of days ago I felt like reading something Anne Boleyn relate, so I picked this up. I don't deny that it was very interesting and that I was hooked for that night, I read a hundred pages but after that I was only able to read while I was travelling. "Mademoiselle Boleyn" is my favourite Robin Maxwell book (and Anne Boleyn related as well), so after that this was only "all right". I'm not going to read this again.
—Anna
Set early in the life of Elizabeth, Daughter of the Great Henry VIII, this is a part fictionalised version of her life and the scheming that she gets involved in. She is still only 15 by the book's end, so we dont see the woman who eventually ascends the throne to rule in an almost manly fashion for over 40 years. She is in fact young and immature, and infatuated with her step mother's plotting new husband.[return][return]I did find the book a little too modern in some of the language that the characters used (wont pick out examples right now), and because this is a part fiction account, the second part of the book - where Maxwell admits in the post script to taking certain liberties because she is now working without public record - I do think the book was running the risk of become a little absurd.
—Sorcha
