Immortal Queen: Mary Queen of Scots

by Elizabeth Byrd

Book Overview

In protestant Scotland, Mary was to be confronted with fire and brimstone preacher, John Knox, an ardent calvinist, who would brook no tolerance towards papists. Mary, an ardent catholic and well... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• ISBN: B000TYUUWA
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 638 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Legacy" for Mary Stuart

The novel "Legacy" by Susan Kay is the consummate Elizabeth Tudor book. I've always been on the lookout for the equivalent for Mary. Although this book is not quite as amazingly compelling as "Legacy", it's close. I felt I came away with a new understanding of Mary. It covers her from birth to death, and gives you an insight into her psychological state. She's not a gibbering imbecile - as some books portray - but it does not whitewash the idiocy of some of her decisions. Rather they seem justified. It captures beautifully how Mary hardens and grows increasingly desperate after the murder of Rizzio, dealing with Darnley, etc. And Elizabeth looms in the background as this dangerous, implacable foe. Always a step ahead. A lethal and compelling opponent for Mary. The best book I've read in a while.

The best book about Mary of Scotland

After reading this book, I was so facinated by Mary of Scotland that I read every book about her that I could get my hands on, both fiction and non-fiction. "Immortal Queen" was still the best of them all. I have probably read it 6 or 7 times. Unfortunately, I lost my paperback copy. Hopefully, I will be able to get it from an online book vendor because I would love to read it again.

One of the best books, fiction or non-fiction, about Mary Stuart!

I came upon this book at a library completely by accident. It is a historical novel about Mary Stuart, starting with her life in France as a child and ending with her execution. It is extremely well written and accurate, as far as I can tell. It reads like a very good novel and draws you in to a point where you don't want to put it down - even though you know what's going to happen. It gives great insights into Mary's life and personality. It actually made me feel somewhat sympathetic towards Mary (which I didn't prior to reading this book) - at least it made me sort of understand where she was coming from and why she did the things she did. IMO, this is one of the best books, fiction or non-fiction, I ever read about Mary Queen of Scots!

A Classic of Historical Fiction

Although it is a work of fiction that was first published nearly fifty years ago, "Immortal Queen" still ranks as arguably the finest book ever written on the controversial Mary Queen of Scots. The novel is beautifully written and better researched than most biographies, but what truly makes this book such a classic is Byrd's insight into Mary's enigmatic personality. The psychological portraits of Mary and her star-crossed soul mate, the Earl of Bothwell, are the most fascinating and plausible ever written, and illustrate the Scottish Queen and her times better than a boatload of Antonia Frasers could ever hope to do. For anyone who wonders what Mary "was really like," this is the book to read!

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS...MORE WOMAN THAN QUEEN

This is a stirring, well written work of historical fiction about Mary, Queen of Scots. Drawing a three dimensional portrait of this tragic queen, whose reign was all too short, the author sets the mood for the turbulent time and place that was sixteenth century Scotland, replete with intrigues and almost unimaginable skulduggery. It was there that the beautiful Mary was to confront a certain duality in her nature that would see her rule Scotland with her heart, rather than with her head. Mary was a woman who had the capacity to enslave men's hearts with her luminous beauty and inspire great loyalty in her friends with her innate charm and kindness. She went to Scotland to reclaim her throne after the deaths of her husband, Francois, the King of France, and of her mother, Marie de Guise, who had been Regent of Scotland on Mary's behalf.In protestant Scotland, Mary was to be confronted with fire and brimstone preacher, John Knox, an ardent calvinist, who would brook no tolerance towards papists. Mary, an ardent catholic and well educated woman, wanted everyone to worship as their conscience dictated. Her benevolent posture and entreaties for religious tolerance fell upon the deaf ears of the rigid John Knox, a fundamentalist fanatic of the worst sort, who would prove to be the bane of Mary's existence.Moreover, her older half-brother, James Stuart, was a cold and calculating man of great ambition whose bastardy was the only thing standing in his way of claiming the crown of Scotland for himself. The book reveals his perfidy and the machinations that he set into play in order to obtain by stealth and intrigue what was Mary's by right. He would secretly work with the English, as well as with the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland, to ensure that he would eventually be the power behind the throne.Meanwhile, Mary would enter into a disastrous marriage with Lord Darnley, a dissolute, though devastatingly handsome, catholic member of the English nobility. This marriage that was to set the stage for a number of violent, heinous acts that were to traumatize Mary and set her upon a course for which there would be no turning back. This most unhappy queen would ultimately give birth to their son, James, the future King of Scotland, under the most difficult of circumstances. Her relationship with dashing James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell, her third and last husband, would prove to be her undoing. The book explores this relationship in great detail, in all its tumultuousness and passion. It delineates the events that led up to their marriage, and Mary's own complicity in them. Eventually, the decisions that Mary would make at this difficult time in her life would render her the captive Queen of Scots and set her on the royal road to Fotheringay Castle in England, where she would be sentenced to death by her wily cousin, Elizabeth I. The author's interpretation of the major events in Mary's life makes for fascinating reading, as Mary comes alive on the pa