'When history becomes alive.....'
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If you would love a toe-curling,spine tingling, electrifying look back into the life of one of Britian's most memorable monarch, then 'I, Elizabeth' by Rosalind Miles is the book for you.
YOu would never have the same view of history again even though I thought I had before I picked up the book out of sheer curiousity in a charity shop. I asked myself what could this author possibly tell me that I didnt know already about my most favourite queen and I was so delighted to be utterly proven wrong.
From the word go ' some are born bastards,some achieve bastardy,others have bastardy thrust upon them', I was spell bound, drawn in a past that was only made sweeter by the fact the events of murder, lies, love and betrayal were the actual records of someone's life and not simply the over active imagination of a zealous writer.
The emotions are real, the history is real, the scenes are vivid, you move as she moves ( the queen ) , feel as she feels, breathes as she breathes and life takes on a newer and more richer dimension.
It was the closest you could get to a person without inhabiting their skin.
Miles is simply flawless.
A master at her craft....giving me the best read of my life so far.
thank you..
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Good, but not all that special.
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I've always been interested in Elizabeth I, so when I saw this book in a charity shop I picked it up - and it's good. Elizabeth very clearly has her own voice, and the author is especially good at showing the relationship between Elizabeth and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth's childhood is also explored in detail, and this I found particularly interesting - most books about her tend to dwell on her life only after she was crowned.
On the other hand, the writing itself is uninspired at times, and the constant use of italics was wearing and confusing - you could never tell if she was speaking the thoughts she had at the time, or if she was just trying to emphasise a sentance. There were also a couple of Americanisms in my copy, which were incredibly jarring (the word 'daipers' is used, and Elizabeth at one point describes her mother's virginity as her 'cherry', which I found a particularly unsuitable word for the time), and tended to jerk me out of the idea that this really was Elizabeth's memoir.
A good portion of the book is taken up with Elizabeth's relationships with men - as if the author wants to make up for the Virgin Queen's lack of a husband by giving her lovers she may not have had - and although Robert Dudley was indeed very important to Elizabeth, it would be refreshing to find one novel which doesn't insist that she slept with him. This follows the old cliche, and has Elizabeth in bed with Dudley as soon as possible.
Mary I is also curiously portrayed - at times she comes across as a vengeful harpy, prone to violent mood swings and desperate to kill off any heretic she finds, and I felt that that was particularly unfair. All the mooning that Elizabeth does over the men in her life can also drag down the pace of the book.
I would reccomend this book as a good, easy-to-read and solid novel about one of history's most famous women - but it's nothing out of the ordinary, and quickly forgotten.
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There's plenty of better novels about Elizabeth ...
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The book has a different perspective on Elizabeth to previous books I've read. I enjoyed seeing the Spanish Armada invasion from a different point of view. Previously I had only read about how the English pounded the Spanish by their superior naval prowess. This book gave a more realistic appraisal of the threat. There was a lot more in the book about the worries which Elizabeth experienced and it made her character more human.
Although the perspective was good, the writing was disappointing and the story was ponderous. It took a long time for me to plough through the book and for that reason it was disappointing.
I have to agree with one of the reviewers below, Elizabeth's love life is made much of and there's too little of the strong woman she was - disappointing from a feminist of Rosalind Miles' capacity.
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For all Elizabeth I lovers
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Anyone who loves the Tudors, Elizabeth I or just historical novels should read this. The era is vividly brought to life, with wonderful descriptions of the food, the clothes and the court life. You get to enjoy every happy moment with her, like her coronation to the more poignant and downright dangerous events in her life. Her fear of being placed in the tower to her sadness as those who were her dearest friends and companions leave her.
You will never think of Elizabeth in the same light again once you read this book. And you may have to keep reminding yourself that she didn't write it.
And if you do like it may I recommend The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George.
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fact is better than fiction
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I'm afraid this book fell short of my expectations. I thought it flighty and the language quite weak. Elizabeth is portrayed as a woman who lacks determination and the only goal in her life is to find love. I think it is difficult in itself to write a detailed biography of such a strong character as Elizabeth I but with the multitude of events that happened in her life and reign, it is impossible to cover it all satifactorily. Rosalind Mile failed in this, in my opinion, and would have fared better if she had just focused on the loves in Elizabeth I's life. If you want to read about Elizabeth I, I would recommend fact rather than fiction - especially the book by Alison Weir.
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