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Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals Book by Carolyn Meyer
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Carolyn Meyer Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2001-04-01 ISBN: 0152164561 Number of pages: 240 Reading Level: Young Adult Publisher: Gulliver Books Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals BookBook Review: Hard to be Princess Summary: 4 StarsQueen Mary of England, often called "Bloody Mary" for some of the brutality exhibited while she reigned, had reasons for being the way she was. This book is the story of the things that happened while she was young, before she finally took the throne.
Mary was the daughter of Henry VIII, king of England in the fifteen-hundreds. As a child she adored her father, but he was never quite satisfied that she wasn't a son. He didn't think a woman could rule England. His wife Catherine, though, couldn't have any more children, so he was stuck with Mary as his single heir. Halfway through his life, Henry decides that isn't enough. He begins an affair with a coldhearted woman named Anne, and begins trying to get a divorce from Catherine. At that time England was largely governed by the Catholic church, which forbade divorce. Henry persists, though, and meanwhile exiles Mary to a remote palace where he separates her from her mother, reduces her allowances, and ignores her for most of her teenage years. If Henry is allowed his divorce, Mary will be humiliated, named illegitimate and unfit to take the throne.
When Anne finally gives birth to a daughter, things get even worse for Mary, who is brought back to the palace as a servant for her young half-sister. Anne does whatever she can to make Mary feel unsafe and unwanted, even as she tries to hold onto her tenuous position with Henry. As another wife who is unable to produce a son for him, she is just as useless as Catherine had been. And as Henry grows more and more crazy, her fate might be even worse than his first wife's.
I liked reading something about history that was presented in such an interesting way. I liked reading about the possible bad side of being a member of a royal family.
Summary of Mary, Bloody Mary: A Young Royals BookThe story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it's all true. Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageous affair with and marriage to the bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequences of that relationship for his firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear--and a girl's struggle with forces far beyond her control.
Teen fans of the movie Elizabeth will be fascinated with the pomp and sinister intrigue of Mary, Bloody Mary, an engrossing story about the teen years of Mary Tudor, half sister to Queen Elizabeth and daughter to Henry VIII. As a baby, Mary was adored by her father, who carried her around on his shoulder and displayed her for the court to admire. But as his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, waned for lack of a male heir, Henry began an affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Mary was convinced that Anne was a witch. Didn't everyone know she had a sixth finger? And wasn't it Anne who persuaded Henry to declare his first marriage invalid (rendering Mary a bastard)? As the king grows ever colder, Mary is banished to a distant house, forbidden from seeing her mother, left to wear rags, and finally--at Anne's bidding--summoned back to court to be a servant to her baby half sister Elizabeth. Once there, Mary lives in constant dread that she will be poisoned or sent to the executioner's block in one of her father's rages. By the time Anne Boleyn herself is beheaded, Henry's first daughter has become the bitter and angry woman who was to be known as Bloody Queen Mary for her savage religious genocide. Carolyn Meyer, long acclaimed for her teen fiction (Drummers of Jericho), accurately captures the glitter and grandeur as well as the brutality of this fascinating period in history. (Ages 10 to 16) --Patty Campbell
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