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It is the story of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots as she is brought up in the French Courts as she is betrothed to young Francois. (As an infant she was made Queen of Scotland when her father James V died.) It then goes on to her travels to Scotland and her second and third marriage, which were both disastrous and were not recommended to her. To use a word used in the book and which comes to mind often when thinking of Mary's decisions in her life, "Folly".
The edition I own is the same as one pictured (Pan [M197] 1967, 2nd printing Paperback) but it is slightly more used. Where your thumb goes when reading a paperback, my edition has the actual binding off in a little square at the bottom. The knowledge that I was reading a book that came to me from the UK and that it belonged to an unknown person"Merle Horvington" as transcribed inside of the book, brought me a sense of 'vintage pleasure'. I did have to be careful though as several little pieces of the binding was just crumbling at the touch. I was quite thankful it did not have that old book musty smell though it was yellowing around the edges..but not bad for a book older than I am!
Back to the contents of the book. I do not want to give away plot lines or events, but I intend to give a brief review. I truly enjoyed this version of Mary as Plaidy interprets her. I had begun my British History passion with Henry VIII, and then Elizabeth I, so I have had Elizabeth's biased view of Mary till now. Through this book, I cannot but help to feel so much more empathy for her although the decisions she makes in her love life and consequently politically are utterly disastrous and you just want to yell at her. Poor thing was misguided from the get-go. The only good thing that happens is that she and Darnley have a healthy son. The bad thing is that she barely got to see her child as she was on the run ever after and then a prisoner. That son becomes James VI of Scotland, and James I of England whom I spoke of in earlier posts in regards to Arbella aka Arabella and her own misfortune for being born a Stuart.
I have previously read Jane Dunn's Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens which is non-fiction. I can not point out any direct historical inaccuracies although I am not one for noticing for the smaller details. As far as my review of that book I had previously written on WeRead via Facebook: "It was okay.. nothing new and seemed a bit of disorganized. I didn't like how all of the major events were eluded to several times before getting to that point in time. Could never get a sense of time with this book."
I wonder if Mary was simply more in tune to her beauty and cared more for the finer things in life and not brought up to think politically. Since this work is fiction I cannot say for sure.
The book ends as she is abdicating Scotland, and now I have begun "The Captive Queen of Scots." It picks up directly where "Fotheringay" left off and you learn soon the fate of the pregnancy that we learn of towards the end of "Fotheringay".
I give The Royal Road to Fotheringay 5 of 5 stars as a piece of Fiction. ( )

An interesting and illuminating book about the early years of Mary, Queen of Scots. The only things I had read about Mary before dealt with her capitivity and relationship with Elizabeth I so it was a pleasant surprise to learn about her early years, including her marriage to the Prince (then to become King) of France, her falling in love with Darnley and the events that lead to his murder and her loss of power. If you're at all interested in this period or the lives of powerful women in history, this is a good historical novel to read. ( )

The first novel in the Stuart series, this is the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, the luckless Queen of France and Scotland, who threw away her throne for passion. The story begins with the 5 year old Mary being whisked to the safety of the French Court, where she is betrothed to the Dauphin. As she grows older, the Dauphin grows weaker, but they marry and soon become the King and Queen of France. Unfortunately, Francois soon dies, and Mary is unceremoniously shipped back to Scotland. Here she is unwelcome as a Catholic, as well as lonely. Unlike her cousin and counterpart, Elizabeth, Mary lives her life through her emotions, which eventually becomes her downfall. ( )