Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor

After reading this book I actually felt sorry for Mary. It goes into a lot of detail about her life and it explains why she did what she did. Her father mentally abused and emotionally blackmailed her into doing what he wanted and denying that her mother was his true wife and that she was a bastard. That would leave any young child very messed up. The Author did a very good job at portraying the times that they lived in and wrote sympathetically but not romantically about her life. Highly recommended

DNF. I got up to about halfway through. But Mary's life is just boring. At the whims of her father's politicking. Pushed around on every side, declared to be a bastard, deprived of her faith. It should be more interesting! Maybe it's the narrative that's boring. In any case, I stopped. Although I did feel some sympathy for her. She didn't want to be evil, but evil was thrust upon her.

Prescott’s book about the stereotypical “Bloody Mary” actually gives a more humane approach to her biography. Instead, he paints her as a Christian warrior (like her grandmother, Isabella of Castile). Overall, this was a very informative work.

Oh Mary....