The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolly Erickson

Plot:

(From Amazon.com)- Queen of Scotland at six days of age, married as a young girl to the invalid young king of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third to the dashing Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
Unable to rise above the violence and disorder that swirled around her, Mary escaped to England—only to find herself a prisoner of her ruthless, merciless cousin Queen Elizabeth.
Here, in a riveting first-person account, is the enchanting woman whose name still evokes excitement and compassion—and whose death under the headsman’s axe still draws forth our sorrow.

 My Initial Expectation:

I LOVE Mary Queen of Scots. She's definitely my favorite historical character so I was excited when I found this book on sale at Barnes and Noble. I knew that the author would take some artistic license with her story so I was prepared for a few embellishments.

Review:

Two words if you're interested in this book- DON'T BOTHER. If you're unfamiliar with Mary Stuart's story, this is a horrible introduction. Read Margaret George's "Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles" instead. Erickson puts a note to the reader in the BACK of the book saying that she made up some extra crap that has no historical foundation whatsoever. This book is good from a purely fictional point of view but horrible for Mary Stuart fans. Just a few points that I feel compelled to point out because the way Erickson used them was maddening:

1. Mary and Elizabeth never met in real life. Erickson has them meeting not once, but twice.
2. Bothwell died in Denmark in 1578. Erickson has him at Mary's execution in 1587.
3. Erickson makes no mention of the four Marys and has some lady named Margaret as her lady in waiting.
4. Erickson calls Henry VIII "the Lion of England" and makes other references to various rulers being lions which is really weird in context.
5. Erickson makes the Casket Letter debacle into some weird thing where Elizabeth and Lord Dudley conspire to kill Dudley's wife and hide the letters in her casket. Mary and some cohorts find where Dudley's wife is buried and go to find the letters only to be beaten there by Elizabeth and her entourage. Elizabeth burns the letters by giving some dumb speech about how she knows about Mary and Bothwell's (fictional) daughter and how Mary should give herself up to protect her family.

Yeah, I didn't really care for this book. Granted, the writing is good but the story could be better.

Ratings:

(See rating chart on right)

Overall Concept- 5
Plot- 2
Loveability of Characters- 2
 Cover Appeal- 4
 Overall Rating-2

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