Danger lined her path, but destiny led her to glory…
Elizabeth Tudor learned resilience young. Declared illegitimate after the execution of her mother Anne Boleyn, she bore her precarious position with unshakable grace. But upon the death of her father, King Henry VIII, the vulnerable fourteen-year-old must learn to navigate a world of shifting loyalties, power plays, and betrayal.
After narrowly escaping entanglement in Thomas Seymour’s treason, Elizabeth rebuilds her reputation as the perfect Protestant princess – which puts her in mortal danger when her half-sister Mary becomes Queen and imposes Catholicism on a reluctant land. Elizabeth escapes execution, clawing her way from a Tower cell to exoneration. But even a semblance of favor comes with attempts to exclude her from the throne or steal her rights to it through a forced marriage.
Elizabeth must outwit her enemies time and again to prove herself worthy of power. The making of one of history’s most iconic monarchs is a gripping tale of survival, fortune, and triumph.
Elizabeth Tudor was a study in contradictions. She was a king’s daughter, more like him than her sister or brother as she inherited not only his looks and intelligence but also the qualities that made his people love him (easy smile, interest in people...). She was gracefully athletic, really proud of her dancing, music, hands, and wit…But underneath that capable exterior, she had always felt herself to be a mistake – her very existence was wrong (if she had been a boy, her mother would still be alive). Elizabeth had to totally transform that thinking in order to become queen, had to come to believe in herself and her destiny in order to take the throne.
Not that she expected to take the throne – or even considered the possibility – until her brother died. Her initial goal was to build a good life for herself, a life where she would be honored in a way befitting her position as one of the highest ladies in the land. Of course, that goal changed somewhat in the face of the deadly challenges she was forced to ward off as the people around her sought to use her for their own ends, either to enhance their own power or, in her sister’s case, to indulge generational jealousy. Survival became Elizabeth’s greatest goal – and that required her to hone her judgment.
Essentially, Elizabeth needed to learn to trust her own instincts, as well as identify who around her she could trust and how. She was deeply connected to the people who supported her when she was young and out of favor, and she kept those connections forever. Showing the strength of those bonds was really an important part of this book, the origin stories of her key friendships as well as her assessment of people’s qualities and abilities. When Elizabeth came to power, she rewarded her faithful supporters but also used the talents of many people who were honest patriots – which she discerned by the way they treated her. Many of these decisions endured for her entire reign: people were given posts that in many cases they passed on to their children. But that is for books two and three…
In all, Elizabeth’s journey and its goals progressed step by step. Viewed in real time, her accession to the throne would have seemed impossible…until it was only improbable, then actually fitting. It is only viewed from our historical perspective that we can see destiny’s hand at work. Anne Boleyn had promised Henry his heir – and despite what he did to her, she delivered.
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