The Virgin's Lover

I really enjoyed "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory, so I went over and signed up for another one of her books on Paperback Swap.

"The Virgin's Lover" is the tale of when Queen Elizabeth I first takes the throne, and deals with her relationship with Robert Dudley, a childhood friend, who although married, begins a relationship with the queen.

I enjoy that Ms. Gregory uses fact to mix into her fiction. It's fun to read up on the facts after reading her books. I just had a qualms with the two main characters. Mainly that I really did not like them! Elizabeth is portrayed as a fickle girl who lets her libido and lust dominate her decisions. Robert Dudley is this scheming conniving jerk of a man who abandons his wife, even though back then, divorces were rarely if ever granted. I wonder how true to their real character these characters were, because I have to tell you, not my favorite people.

The book was fun though because Ms. Gregory weaves these great webs of fact throughout her fiction.