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This was a fantastic
book...my first reading Virginia Henley. It definitely
won't be my last. Bess Hardwick is a young, ambitious
girl who knows what it will take to get out of her
life and into the one that she wants. Her ambitious
and her belief in fate takes her to London,where she
befriends the younger Princess Elizabeth and becomes
her confidante. Just as Queen Bess has a destiny to
fulfill, Bess Hardwick knew that her destiny awaited
her and with eager abandonment, she races to meet
it.
Bess Hardwick is based on a historical
figure in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The history
portrayed in Virginia's Henley's novel is terrific,
and the story is even better. Her characters are full,
interesting and true to themselves. A fantastic read
for anyone who likes Elizabethian England.
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From Booklist May 1, 1999
"Bess has an overabundance of passion,"
says her mother, and for a poverty-stricken family
in Tudor England, firebrand Elizabeth Hardwick is
a trial. At the urging of her aunt, Bess journeys
to London to become a companion to a noblewoman and
her daughters. Through a fortuitous set of circumstances,
and Bess' shrewd grasp of court politics, she meets
a young woman who could be her twin: flame-haired
Elizabeth Tudor, royal bastard of Henry VIII. As Bess
marries and buries three husbands--one for the sake
of her family, two for love, and all three at royal
decree--her fortunes grow, and she becomes Lady of
the Royal Bedchamber to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth
I. But good fortune lasts only so long, and eventually
her role as confidante to the queen makes her a potential
threat to the stability of England. Basing her novel
on a historical figure, Henley re-creates the licentiousness,
greed, and gluttony of the Tudor court, and presents
a heroine comfortable with her own highly erotic nature
and force of will. A must for Henley fans. Melanie
Duncan
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