Elizabeth, Captive Princess

Although this isn't the best novelisation of Queen Elizabeth I that I have read, I still enjoyed this book which focused on her life between the reign of her younger brother, Edward VI, and her sister, Mary Tutor. Even though it was obvious that "Elizabeth, Captive Princess" was well researched, at times I found the plot dragged a bit.

However, Ms Irwin brought Elizabeth alive and provided an interesting perspective of her in her younger life. She was highly intelligent, charming, headstrong and courageous. Mary, on the other hand, was short-sighted (both literally and figuratively), jealous and convinced her decisions were absolutely right. It is no wonder Elizabeth Tutor's reign is often referred to as the Golden Age.

This was a fairly in depth look at the period between the death of Edward VI and the marriage of Mary Tudor to Phillip of Spain. It was highly readable, and detailed concerning the interactions of Elizabeth's story with those of the Nine Days' Queen, Jane Grey, the Duke of Suffolk (Jane's father), and Bloody Mary herself. The author incorporates a good deal of Elizabethan phrasing but makes it painless and easy to read by leaving out the slang that might require most readers to consult a dictionary. She also does a great job of depicting the attitudes of the time regarding religion, gender roles, and politics, making a complicated subject much more understandable for the non-historian. The basis of the religious conflict was glossed show more over, however, in several respects, in the interests of moving the story forward. It does do an excellent job of portraying the major players and their personal contradictions of character and belief. The author's admiration for Elizabeth I is a little too obvious, at times, but having read this middle book, I will now get hold of the other two parts of the trilogy and see how the rest of the story goes! show less

This is the second in a trilogy written by Margaret Irwin about Elizabeth Tudor.In the beginning of this book King Edward dies and Lady Jane Grey is deposed after only nine days on the throne. Most of this story takes place during her sister Mary Tudor's reign as Queen of England.

Mary is doing what she can to get rid of the Protestant faith that was the religion of Henry VIII and that Elizabeth grew up with. Mary becomes unpopular when Mary decides she is going to marry

Prince Philip of Spain. The country does not want Spain in control of England. There is an uprising and afterwards Elizabeth is brought to court and questioned, as Mary believes she was behind the uprising. She is imprisoned in the Tower, but after a time Mary was show more convinced to let Elizabeth go as there was not a lot of evidence against her. She is moved to Woodstock where she spends a year under house arrest. This is where the book pretty much ends. I liked this book but i think I preferred Young Bess over this one, although I definitely want to read the last in the trilogy. I am a fan of any books Elizabethan in nature so I was not too disappointed in this telling of the girl who became Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. show less

My copy of Irwin's "Captive Princess" dates back to 1948, so it is a yellowed relic of WWII paper conservation efforts, and bears a rousing commercial for Education, the Fifth Freedom, on the back of the dust jacket. The Irwin trilogy about Elizabeth I was well known for young readers back before I myself became one, so this old book is like getting a double helping of past history.

I've shelved this next to "Young Bess," and henceforth shall be on the hunt for the third volume to complete my collection.

The middle book in a Trilogy about Queen Elizabeth I when she was a princess. This book begins with Edward VI’s death, as Elizabeth is summoned to his side with the story moving through Jane Grey’s short reign and subsequent imprisonment and execution, and then Elizabeth's own captivity.
Though I know the history well enough to follow the characters and story, I would recommend beginning with the first book in the Trilogy, Young Bess.