The Virgin's Lover (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels #13)
Philippa Gregory
3.72 · 32 ratings · Published: 16 Nov 2004
As a new queen, Elizabeth faces two great dangers: the French invasion of Scotland, which threatens to put Mary Queen of Scots on her throne, and her passion for the convicted traitor Robert Dudley.
But Dudley is already married, and his devoted wife Amy will never give him up, least of all to an upstart Protestant Princess. She refuses to set her beloved husband free to marry the queen; but she cannot prevent him from becoming the favorite and the focus of the feverishly plotting, pleasure seeking court.
Others too oppose the marriage, but for very different reasons. William Cecil, the queen's wisest counselor, knows she must marry for policy; her uncle hates Dudley and swears he will be murder him first. Behind the triangle of lovers, the factions take up their places: the Protestants, the priests, the assassins, the diplomats and the moneymakers. The very coin of England is shaved and clipped to nothing as Elizabeth uncertainly leads her bankrupt country into a war that no-one thinks can be won.
Then someone acts in secret, and for Elizabeth, Dudley and the emerging kingdom, nothing will be as planned.
Blending historical fact with contemporary rumor, Philippa Gregory has created a dark and tense novel of Tudor times, which casts Elizabeth I in a light no one has suggested before. Passionate, fearful, emotionally needy, this is a queen who will stop at nothing.
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The 'The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels' series
505 ratings 3.90 ·- The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory Book #1
- The White Queen by Philippa Gregory Book #2
- The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory Book #3
- The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory Book #4
- The White Princess by Philippa Gregory Book #5
- The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory Book #6
- The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory Book #7
- Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory Book #8
early-modern · royalty · book · medieval · female-author · drama · romance · fiction · audiobook · historical · historical-fiction · female-mc · womens-fiction · 21st-century · politics · literary-fiction · young-adult · war · violent-conflict · family
The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels reading order and complete book list ❯