The Queen's Fool

The bitter enmity between Elizabeth the First and Mary Tudor, the daughters of Henry VIII (not to mention the conflict between their mothers Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon) makes the squabbles between modern-day royals seem small beer indeed. This is particularly clear after reading something as enjoyable as Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool, which treats the period and its turbulent sweep with an almost operatic grandeur. In The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory delivered a tremendous popular success and lifted this kind of popular historical writing from the realms of romantic fiction to something rich in authentic drama and convincing historical verisimilitude.

Mary and Elizabeth, the two young princesses, have a common goal: to be Queen of England. To achieve this, they need both to win the love of the people and learn how to negotiate dangerous political pitfalls. Gregory recreates this era with tremendous colour, and she makes the court an enticing but danger-fraught place. Into this setting comes the eponymous fool, the youthful Hannah, who (despite her air of guileless religiousness) is not naive. She soon finds herself having to deal with the beguiling but treacherous Robert Dudley. Dispatched to report on Princess Mary, Hannah discovers in her a passionate religious conviction (to return England to the rule of Rome and its pope) that will have fatal consequences.

From Tolstoy's War and Peace onwards, historical novelists have set fictitious characters among real-life personages with mixed success; the author's creations can often pale beside the historical figures. That is emphatically not the case here, and Gregory ensures that all her characters have a full and teeming life. Expect a major movie: something as colourful and exuberant as The Queen's Fool is a natural for screen adaptation. --Barry Forshaw

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mmm not the best - Rated
this is my least favourite of Philippa Gregorys work, for one I could not relate to Hannah's character and felt her constant flipping of sides through out the book to really eat away at my patience I also felt she did not do much and that her character was pretty pointless and that if she wanted to do a book on the tudor court in its later years perhaps a book being told from Mary and Elizabeth's points of view would have been better . I liked her portrayal of Mary I felt it was a nice little spin on her but I disliked Elizabeth immensely so much so that I avoided the Virgins lover for fear of how she could destroy my own thoughts on our great queen as being nothing more then a cruel nasty piece of work, which I felt was a very bad portrayal on Gregory's side as I now can not stand any thing to do with Elizabeth.

The Queens Fool 4 me! - Rated
I have read this book 3 times,months apart and never tire of it.
The story is gripping from beginning to end,a story of triumph for the leading character hannah.
I love brittish history,which is a bonus when it came to reading Phillipa Gregory,s story.
This book has encouraged me to read more from this very talented author.
Well done Phillipa!!!!

Great intro to Gregory's novels - Rated
I read this book a while ago and can still remember it in detail. I was engrossed in it and really involved in the lives of the characters, genuinely afraid for the lead character and the dangers of her naivety in a Tudor court.

Gregory's novel based around this period are always really well written, full of well researched details which adds extra dimensions to the story. As such, and as the first novel by the author that I had read, I felt it was a great recommendation to her other works which I am making my way through currently....

Disappointing - Rated
I really couldn't get into this book and have yet to finish it. The historical accuracy is dubious to say the least; Mary I is known throughout history as 'Bloody Mary' for burning at the stake countless men and women who had the misfortune to adhere to the Protestant rather than the Catholic faith, and this portrayal of her as a gentle, misunderstood and sympathetic soul is just not believable. I also agree with the reviewer who said that it was unlikely that Hannah would have been able to sustain the trust of both Mary and Elizabeth. It also seems unlikely that she would have such a close relationship with Robert Dudley (who, incidentally, was only created a Lord a lot later by Elizabeth as Queen, so the constant references to 'Lord Robert Dudley' were irritatingly inaccurate).

I realise of course that this is a novel and as such shouldn't be taken too seriously, but I found it difficult to read because it was long-winded and repetitive, and I had little sympathy with any of the characters. I've read several of Philippa Gregory's books and while some are better than others, this is the first one I haven't been able to finish!

You'd be a fool not to read it - Rated
This book was absolutely encapturing, i could not put it down. i had just finished reading 'The Queen of Subtleties'which in my eyes lacked that magical spark that Philippa Gregory has in abundance. I was a little apprihensive to be reading another tudor history especially seen as i was so disappointed with the last, i bought as it was cheap and I am so glad that i did. It completely changes your sterotype of bloody Mary and allows you to see her as a woman without love and with a terrible history. it really is a MUST READ!