Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles

This book was a huge disappointment. It's a 870-page story, which could be told in 300 pages. The author is extremely repetitive and focuses more on pointless aspects, such as writing about Mary riding her horse on the fields, the landscape in Scotland, or Mary's beauty, rather than actually telling the story. When I reached about page 300, I couldn't believe I had read so much still there was no essence in the story. In addition some of the characters developed unrealistic behaviors, which made more annoying.

Mary Stuart is an historical figure about whom I've done a lot of reading/research, so I apologize in advance if I come across as a pedant in any way... I know with historical fiction, the ultimate goal is to read an engaging and interesting portrait of someone that may not always be right on the nose with what actually happened. George does a good job with Mary, I think, and mostly does her justice. This ultimately becomes more of a love story, and that aspect is fun to read.I have two problems with the book:1) It definitely gets a little dull towards the end. It's simply not really possible to make the later part of Mary's life interesting. Some of the intrigue in which she was involved before her execution is interesting, sure, but it's a little repetitive otherwise.2) Her relationship with Bothwell, while definitely a steamy read, just doesn't seem right. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying I wanted it to be a novel where they hated one another and she was duped into marrying him, because I certainly think the truth is a complicated matter. But the idea that they were swept up in a romance with one another seems to be a bit fanciful, and even George admits that she may have fudged things just to give Mary a few more moments of happiness.So, as with any work of historical fiction, just go in knowing that it may not be spot on with what happened, but try it enjoy it otherwise! This book is certainly miles above everything else in the genre written about Mary, so it's worth picking up.

I was sad to finish this book but I know I will re-reaffirm a it soon. I had just returned from a trip to Europe where we spent a week in Scotland. From our hotel room we had a view of the queens castle. We were.surprised.by the enormous size of the Edinburgh castle. This was an enlightening read and a very captivating one.

This was the third Margaret George book I read in secession. I got hooked with The Autobiography of Henry VIII, moved on to Cleopatra, then to this one. I must say that compared to the other two it was my least favorite.Yes, she was a puzzling Queen, and I enjoyed the insights into her personality, and the book kept my attention for 2/3 of the way through. I think the problem was simply that she was virtually a prisoner for much of her life, so there was just not alot to expand upon, therefore, the end third of the book was slow reading. And since we knew the direction it all was going......However, the first part of the book which took us from her childhood in France, her return to Scotland, and the years of her rule were fascinating. I often had to stop and wonder if it all really happened as told. And yes, most of it did. It was exciting reading, and I could not put it down. Also, her descriptions of those times in Scotland were both haunting and lovely.As with the other two books, I also appreciate the author's comments at the end.

This was definitely what I was looking for when looking for a book on the Queen of Scots. I loved how all the characters were carefully depicted in this book and so much emotion in the Queen Mary. Even though I know the history of her end, I was still "rooting" for her.

My purpose in reading this book was to try to better understand Mary Queen of Scots because she obviously made some questionable choices during her lifetime. The author has thoroughly researched Queen Mary and gives her interpretation of Mary's choices and actions. I definitely learned more about Queen Mary so the book met my expectations. That said, the book was long and at times tedious to read. It's impossible to know all the true facts surrounding her life so I expected some embellishment. But I thought the author included too much detail when describing the way she imagined events took place.

One of my all time favorite writers and this book doesn't fall short in interesting historical content as well as entertaining drama! I recommend this and her other titles such as her book on Cleopatra and Henry VIII! Very great books that you'll be glad you read years later!

Having recently discovered historical fiction as a way to read more about history, I love Margaret George's novels! Her writing remains true to the known facts, while embellishing the history with her creation of conversations, personalities and other events not currently known to have happened.Along with her novel, "Mary of Magdalene", "Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles" is an engaging read, with development of the characters being wonderfully descriptive, and yet not flowery or overstated.Highly recommend Margaret George's books....can't wait to read more!

I had a bit of a difficult time getting into this book initially, as the first 100 pages break that Creative Writing 101 rule of not spending too long in the beginning describing a character's past and childhood, before getting to the main plot. I do understand that Margaret George wanted to write a full biographical novel of Mary, Queen of Scots, from the cradle to the grave as it were. However the section covering Mary's childhood probably should have been pared down. Instead, the first 100 pages spend too much time on Mary's childhood and are largely descriptive, featuring tell more than show, and contain a few clunky information dumps. We're told that Mary is an extremely accomplished student, but we're not shown it, presumably because the author doesn't have enough pages to spend on building this up through demonstrative scenes. If that is the case, why waste space telling instead of showing, in a somewhat awkwardly written litany of accomplishments? On one occasion the reader is told in narrative exactly what the implications are of Mary Tudor (aka "Bloody Mary", cousin of Mary Queen of Scots) coming to the throne of England and her choice of husband. The problem with it is that it's a passage that exists solely to tell the uninformed reader what is happening, whilst most of the historical figures would have understood the implications without needing to spell it out.The writing in these first 100 pages or so isn't terrible as such, but it feels detached and succumbs too much to tell over show and info dumping, so I can well understand why some readers find this book difficult to get into. It shouldn't take 100 pages to get going. Thankfully, things start picking up as Mary returns to Scotland. The info dumping and telling is largely dispensed with, the plot gears up, the descriptions drew me into the world George creates, Mary's character shines through, and I started to find myself becoming engrossed from that point onwards. Not only is Mary thrust into a world so culturally different from the extravagant French court, but a Scotland divided between traditional Catholicism, a faith which Mary keeps, and the new Protestantism, which has gained significant popular support amongst the populace and the nobility. I have to say I enjoyed Margaret George's depiction of Mary. I was surprised by how empathetic Mary's character was. Margaret George offers a rather favourable interpretation of Mary, and personally I remain sceptical about the real Mary's motivations, but George succeeded in creating such a sense of dashed optimism that my sympathies for this fictional Mary were invoked, despite her lack of political savvy.All in all, definitely recommended, but with the caveat that the first 100 pages are not as high quality and probably should have been cut down and refined more than they were.

Decided it was time to find out about this lady, and what better way than a Margaret George book ..... well at the beginning I WAS thinking it seemed like hard going and that I'd have to quit, but I found I couldn't actually stop reading as I wanted to know her story, and then suddenly I was swept away into Mary's world and there was no way I was putting it down !

I always love Margaret George and this book is no different. Her books are very readable and the story of Mary is an interesting one. If you enjoy the Tudor time period and/or her works you will like this.

I love historical fiction and I adored the autobiography of Henry VIII but this seemed to drag on and on with nothing much happening, although I finished it I lost interest completely.

The best book so far I have read among biographies of Mary Queen of Scots. Well researched, a perfect blend of fiction and historical prose, of which history prevails. A touching love-story between Mary and Bothwell moves you to tears (I am the one who strongly opposes the version of historians in which Mary has been raped by Bothwell). Truly a story of a woman in the wrong time in the wrong country! !! The only fact that does not seem true to me: is it documented somewhere that Darnley had a sexual intercource with Riccio?!