The Marriage Game (Elizabeth I)

by Alison Weir

The new novel from the New York Times bestselling historian Alison Weir tells the story of one of history's most scandalous love affairs: the romance between the new, young "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I and her handsome married courtier, Lord Robert Dudley.
     He is her dashing Master of Horse. She is the 25-year-old newly crowned English Queen, a title she holds only because there is no male heir to inherit it. Yet in spite of her tenuous hold on the throne, young Queen Elizabeth begins a flagrant flirtation with the handsome but married Lord Robert, taking long unchaperoned horseback rides with him and constantly having him at her side. Many believe them to be lovers, and over time the rumors grow that Elizabeth is no virgin at all, and that she has secretly borne Lord Robert's child. When Robert's wife is found dead, lying at the bottom of a staircase with her neck broken, there is universal shock followed by accusations of murder.
     Picking up where Alison Weir's bestselling novel to date, The Lady Elizabeth, left off (but standing completely alone), The Marriage Game tells the dramatic story of the "Virgin Queen's" reign, framed by Elizabeth's long and tumultuous relationship with Lord Robert. Did they or didn't they? Rivers of ink have been spilled in determining the answer to this burning historical question, and you can be sure Alison Weir has strong opinions about Elizabeth's questionable virginity, based on a lifetime of research. But fiction gives her a free hand to explore this intriguing love affair in its every colourful detail, and the resulting novel is one of her best.

• ISBN10: 0385667124
• ISBN13: 9780385667128
• Publish Date: 10 February 2015 (first published 26 June 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Doubleday Canada
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9780385667128

Reviews

[Lianne]

I won an ARC of this book via the GoodReads First Reads programme. This review in its entirety was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2015/02/10/review-the-marriage-game/

This novel pretty much follows Elizabeth’s reign, facing all sorts of issues from foreign invasion to religious and lay uprisings, traitors at court, and the question of Elizabeth marrying. Of course her reign and many of the political issues she had to sort out tied in to the question of her marrying in some way, and Elizabeth juggles this as best as she could, considering her options to keep everyone at bay but at the same time staying true to what she wants. Her struggle to rule in a man’s world was interesting, and at times frustating because of the society of the time, to read.

I also appreciate the author bringing out other aspects to Elizabeth not necessarily related to her queenship, but that as a young woman who wants love at her own terms, but also a young woman who grew up not knowing her mother and mourned for her, but who greatly desired to see her rehabilitated in the eyes of the people and in the histories.

While the story kept me engaged, it felt like reading a textbook at times, clinical in going through the scenes and bringing up one political incident after another. The will-they-won’t-they pull with Lord Robert, while it was interesting to read their dynamic and how politics kept coming in between them, after a while grew rather tedious to read, evoking frustration from me towards both parties.

In the end though, The Marriage Game was an interesting read. Readers of historical fiction and of the Tudor dynasty may find this novel interesting to check out.

[Ace]

Alison Weir once agan shows me exactly why she's one of my favourite Historical authors. It's interesting but most of all it's historically accurate and believable at the same time.