Mary Queen Of Scots - Immortal Queen

Mary, Queen of Scots, became a queen when she was six days old, which left very little time for childhood and rather too much time for other people to form plans on her behalf. Before she could walk, she was already a valuable piece in the diplomatic game of European monarchy; by the age at which most children are learning not to draw on walls, ambassadors were discussing whom she ought to marry and which country should control her.

Elizabeth Byrd’s Immortal Queen follows Mary Stuart from her childhood in France through splendour, romance, rebellion, imprisonment and finally the executioner’s block at Fotheringhay. It is a sweeping historical novel rather than a brisk list of dates, bringing the courts, castles, marriages, intrigues and religious hostilities of the sixteenth century to noisy and frequently dangerous life.

Raised at the elegant French court, Mary grows into a beautiful, accomplished and thoroughly Catholic queen. Her marriage to the young Francis briefly makes her Queen of France as well as Queen of Scotland, but widowhood sends her back to a Scottish kingdom she scarcely knows. Unfortunately, Scotland is not waiting to greet her with universal affection, agreeable weather and a carefully prepared programme of constitutional stability.

Instead, she encounters Protestant reformers, suspicious nobles and John Knox, a preacher whose idea of a cordial welcome does not extend to attractive Catholic queens. Mary attempts to govern a country divided by religion, ambition and the traditional aristocratic conviction that loyalty is admirable provided it does not conflict with personal advantage. Every nobleman appears to have a grievance, a private army or an inconvenient relative, and several have all three.

Her marriages do little to simplify matters. Lord Darnley offers royal blood, vanity and an impressive capacity to become unbearable; the Earl of Bothwell provides strength, danger and enough controversy to occupy historians for centuries. Around Mary, murders are committed, alliances reverse themselves and documents appear whose authenticity remains a matter of dispute. It is the sort of political environment in which choosing the wrong husband can become not merely regrettable but a matter of national security.

Across the border stands Elizabeth I, Mary’s cousin, rival and fellow queen. The two women never meet, yet each shadows the life of the other. Mary possesses a dangerous claim to the English throne; Elizabeth possesses England, an intelligence network and a strong preference for remaining alive. Their relationship develops through letters, envoys, delays and exquisitely courteous suspicion until Mary’s flight into England transforms a possible ally into a royal prisoner who is much too important to release and much too dangerous to ignore.

Elizabeth Byrd was fascinated by Mary Stuart from childhood and researched her life extensively before writing this novel. The result is rich in pageantry and atmosphere, but its principal strength lies in presenting Mary as a living woman rather than merely the romantic figure in black velvet who eventually kneels before an axe. She is courageous, impulsive, politically vulnerable and capable of inspiring extraordinary devotion alongside equally extraordinary alarm.

This is historical fiction on a generous scale: royal weddings, torchlit chambers, secret correspondence, armed rebellion, doomed affection and more Scottish lords changing sides than any sensible reader should attempt to trust. Those approaching Mary’s story for the first time will find it vivid and accessible, while readers already familiar with the history can once again consider the central unresolved question: was Mary principally the victim of other people’s treachery, or did she possess a rare gift for stepping directly into catastrophe while looking magnificent?

This 1971 paperback edition is in Good condition, with the ordinary signs of age and previous ownership but remaining sound, complete and perfectly readable. It has survived more than half a century with considerably less damage than its subject sustained during nineteen years in English captivity.

Ideal for readers of historical fiction, Tudor and Stuart history, royal tragedy, ill-advised marriages and magnificently prolonged political disaster. Mary’s reign may have been brief, her freedom curtailed and her final appeal rejected, but her story has proved every bit as immortal as the title promised.

A Good vintage copy sold by Crappy Old Books—containing three crowns, several husbands, innumerable betrayals and one queen who should probably never have accepted Elizabeth’s offer of English hospitality.

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