Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Mary, Bloody Mary
by Carolyn Meyer
When I picked this book, the next in line for my daughter's school reading, I groaned inwardly. "Not another renaissance book! I'm getting sick of the renaissance! The renaissance is overrated!" he said, swiping a line from Terry Jones. But dutiful homeschooling dad that I am, I read it anyway, bracing myself for another tedious account of betrayals and beheadings and other such royal shenanigans. I was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Meyer did an excellent job of drawing me into the story of young Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII and heir to the throne... until ol' Henry decided that he really needed a son and tried to divorce Mary's mother. By viewing the court intrigues through Mary's eyes--the viewpoint of one getting screwed over by all this royal b.s.--the historical story is given an emotional punch that made me want to finish the tale and root for the young princess. (It's only in the afterword when I was pulled back to reality and discovered that poor Mary had her own bloodthirsty streak.) Anyway, this is a somewhat strong tale for the young'uns, but one that makes the reader care about the people involved. Check it out.
LibraryThing link
When I picked this book, the next in line for my daughter's school reading, I groaned inwardly. "Not another renaissance book! I'm getting sick of the renaissance! The renaissance is overrated!" he said, swiping a line from Terry Jones. But dutiful homeschooling dad that I am, I read it anyway, bracing myself for another tedious account of betrayals and beheadings and other such royal shenanigans. I was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Meyer did an excellent job of drawing me into the story of young Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII and heir to the throne... until ol' Henry decided that he really needed a son and tried to divorce Mary's mother. By viewing the court intrigues through Mary's eyes--the viewpoint of one getting screwed over by all this royal b.s.--the historical story is given an emotional punch that made me want to finish the tale and root for the young princess. (It's only in the afterword when I was pulled back to reality and discovered that poor Mary had her own bloodthirsty streak.) Anyway, this is a somewhat strong tale for the young'uns, but one that makes the reader care about the people involved. Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
// posted by John @ 7:05 AM 
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