The Lost Tudor Princess: A Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox

by Alison Weir

Royal Tudor blood ran in her veins. Her mother was a queen, her father an earl, and she herself was the granddaughter, niece, cousin and grandmother of monarchs. Some thought she should be queen of England. She ranked high at the court of her uncle, Henry VIII, and was lady of honour to five of his wives. Beautiful and tempestuous, she created scandal, not just once, but twice, by falling in love with unsuitable men. Fortunately, the marriage arranged for her turned into a love match.

Throughout her life her dynastic ties to two crowns proved hazardous. A born political intriguer, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London on three occasions, once under sentence of death. She helped to bring about one of the most notorious royal marriages of the sixteenth century, but it brought her only tragedy. Her son and her husband were brutally murdered, and there were rumours that she herself was poisoned. She warred with two queens, Mary of Scotland and Elizabeth of England. A brave survivor, she was instrumental in securing the Stuart succession to the throne of England for her grandson.

Her story deserves to be better known. This is the biography of an extraordinary life that spanned five Tudor reigns, a life packed with intrigue, drama and tragedy.

• ISBN10: 0224089803
• ISBN13: 9780224089807
• Publish Date: 1 October 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 27 September 2016
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Imprint: Jonathan Cape Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 576
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780224089807

Reviews

[Beth C.]

I enjoy reading about the past - learning history from those who have studied it thoroughly. I used to hate it in school - too much focus on dates, and not enough on the interesting stuff ;) However, as I am learning, there is a line between history that is readable, and history that is so chock-full of bits, pieces, and details that it becomes difficult to read. Unfortunately, this is an example of the latter.

Don't get me wrong - I did find the story of Margaret interesting, particularly as framed around her interactions with both Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots. It's certainly a window into the time, as seen through the eyes of three extremely powerful women - in a time when women were often marginalized. However - the amount of details contained within the pages of this book could probably have created two more readable books, rather than one that felt like I was reading something written by the teacher in "Ferris Bueller".

Overall, I do enjoy Alison Weir's work, but this is one I will not be adding to my list of favorites.