Skip to main content

The Queen's Caprice by Marjorie Bowen: A Book Review

The Queen’s Caprice
Author: Marjorie Bowen
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Release Date: 2015
Pages: 288
Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: There have been few more controversial figures in British history than Mary Queen of Scots. 

     In this thrilling novel she is bought vividly back to life. 

     She is a woman shrouded in secrecy and surrounded by violence who has learnt to use her desirability to intoxicate her subjects into carrying out her will. 

     Yet despite this natural authority she cannot escape the domineering men who not only sway the court but the opinion of the people. 

     Lord Moray, her bastard half-brother, adores her more than his familial position should allow and vows not to let her into another man’s clutches. 

     Which compels her to marry the handsome but naïve Henry Stewart in act of rebellion. 
But her husband’s disappointing nature drives her into the arms of the shrewd Italian servant David Rizzio. 

     And as acts of murder and treachery unfold, the Earl of Bothwell hovers as a tantalising presence on the outskirts, capturing the queen’s capricious attention. 

     ‘The Queen’s Caprice’ is an enthralling historical romance set during the reign of one of Scotland’s most captivating monarchs.


     My Review: The Queen’s Caprice tells of Mary, Queen of Scots, rule in Scotland. She is beautiful and loved by the men around her. However, with her marriage to Henry Stuart and favoring an Italian dwarf named David, she loses the nobles’ favor and treachery and danger abounds. Mary must fight to keep control of Scotland as the nobles try to take away her power.

     Mary is a tragic figure. She is a weak ruler. She chooses the wrong men, who want nothing but to have Scotland for themselves. She is easily influenced by her ambitious brother James Moray, who wants control. She has a turbulent marriage with Henry Stuart, who she is infatuated with and eventually shows his true colors as a jealous, ambitious, spoiled brat that doesn’t love her but wants her throne. She is also lonely, which is why she turns her attention and favours the Italian dwarf, because he is smart and humors her. When she finds that trouble is admist, and powerless, she fights to keep her right to the throne. Still she does not succeed.

     Overall, this is a fascinating story about the tragic events of Queen Mary’s rule in Scotland. While Queen Mary is not likeable, I still found her story interesting. She strives to find love and happiness but sadly does not find it. Yet this story is filled with political intrigue, drama, treachery, and betrayal. This book reads like a soap opera, and is filled with fast-paced action. The Queen’s Caprice will appeal to anyone interested in Mary, Queen of Scots, The Elizabethan Era, and The Tudors. It will also appeal to fans of Margaret George, Jean Plaidy, and Philippa Gregory.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


Comments

  1. Good review, Lauralee! She really had a doomed legacy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Dad. I think her doomed fate is what fascinates so many people over the centuries.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Potiphar's Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) by Mesu Andrews: A Book Review

  Potiphar’s Wife (The Egyptian Chronicles #1) Author: Mesu Andrews Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian, Biblical Fiction Publisher: WaterBrook Release Date: May 24, 2022 Pages: 453 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: One of the Bible’s most notorious women longs for a love she cannot have in this captivating novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah’s Legacy .       Before she is Potiphar’s wife, Zuleika is the daughter of a king and the wife of a prince. She rules the isle of Crete alongside her mother in the absence of their seafaring husbands. But when tragedy nearly destroys Crete, Zuleika must sacrifice her future to save the Minoan people she loves.       Zuleika’s father believes his robust trade with Egypt will ensure Pharaoh’s obligation to marry his daughter, including a bride price hefty enough to save Crete. But Pharaoh refuses and gives her instead to Potiphar, the captain...

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.        Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.       Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.       1947, London.        Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the roya...

A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. Watson: A Book Review

A Right Worthy Woman Author: Ruth P. Watson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Atria Books Release Date: 2023 Pages: 303 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: In the vein of The Personal Librarian and The House of Eve , a “remarkable and stirring novel” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author) based on the inspiring true story of Virginia’s Black Wall Street and the indomitable Maggie Lena Walker, the daughter of a formerly enslaved woman who became the first Black woman to establish and preside over a bank in the United States.       Maggie Lena Walker was ambitious and unafraid. Her childhood in 19th-century Virginia helping her mother with her laundry service opened her eyes to the overwhelming discrepancy between the Black residents and her mother’s affluent white clients. She vowed to not only secure the same kind of home and finery for herself, but she would also help others in her community achi...