Elizabeth I (George) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
(Starred review.) Personal and political conflicts among such larger-than-life historical figures as Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, and Will Shakespeare intertwine in George's meticulously envisioned portrait of Elizabeth I during the last 25 years of her reign.… George painstakingly reveals a monarch who defined an era.
Publishers Weekly


George's writing is of an older, more formal style; neither cinematic nor intimately personal. Her story arc is leisurely to the point of plodding…. This is a book that would be treasured by history buffs but may try the patience of casual readers. —Therese Oneill, Monmouth, OR
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Narrating her own story, Elizabeth is in late middle age, still formidable.… George's mastery of period detail and her sure navigation through the rocky shoals of Elizabethan politics mean this lengthy novel never flags. —Mary Ellen Quinn
Booklist


Overly busy novel of life inside the Virgin Queen's court—and mind.… [I]t is it's all rather clinical.… The tale is also nicely bloody and byzantine, but it goes on much too long.… Historically sound, but without the sympathetic spark of the best historical fiction.
Kirkus Reviews