Friday, September 10, 2010

Gay Lord Robert

A Favorite of the Queen by Jean Plaidy
I blogged about how much I love Jean Plaidy's book here and here, and so it seems a little silly to be doing so again, but even so I really do love her book. A Favorite of the Queen (originally published as Gay Lord Robert in the 1950s) is the last book in her Tudor series. As you can see from just the cover the book tells the story of Queen Elizabeth I's and Robert Dudley's romance.

From the cover image I was expected to have the book centered more of Elizabeth herself, but Dudley is clearly the star. The cover is definitely more of a marketing piece designed to fit with the others in the repackaged Tutor series. And while I understand why the changed the title (since gay has come to be used as something different now than in the 50s), I do think Gay Lord Robert suits the book as the far better title.

Honestly, the main thing I have against this book is that I read it at the beach. I had started it before and hoped to be finished before we left, but that didn't quite happen. And well, this isn't a good beach read. Like other of her other books I always wind up learning something new reading it. But laying out in the sun I had difficulty keeping all the names and historical figures straight. I would definitely recommend it as a great historical fiction read, but I would strongly advise you not to try to reading it while also trying to get a tan.

~Shoshanah

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