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The Lady Elizabeth

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The Lady Elizabeth

By: Alison Weir
Narrated by: Judith Boyd
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The towering capricious figure of Henry VIII dominates Elizabeth's childhood, but others play powerful roles: Mary, first a loving sister, then as queen a lethal threat; Edward, the rigid and sad little King; Thomas Seymour, the Lord High Admiral, whose ambitions, both political and sexual, are unbridled.

Finally, there is the ever-present ghost—the enigmatic, seductive figure of her mother Anne Boleyn, executed by Henry, whose story Elizabeth must unravel. Elizabeth learns early that the adult world contains many threats that have to be negotiated if she is to keep her heart and her head.

©2008 Alison Weir (P)2008 W. F. Howes Ltd Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Heartfelt Royalty
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I really enjoyed this "listen" - and I thoroughly recommend it.

Sparkling.

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I absolutely love this book. I’ve read the physical copy many times. I’m always fascinated and entertained to hear another authors fictional take on the stories of the Tudors. This is a brilliant book.
The narration is one of the worst I’ve ever endured. The reader can’t stay in character. Sometimes the narration is in her own voice, other times it’s in character and makes no sense. The accent used for the Spanish is borderline racist, basically how people in 1960 would think all Spanish people sound. The voice for Henry Beddingfield is a croaky old woman and awful to listen to. It’s honestly like it’s the first time the reader has ever read this book. Ruined the whole thing. I suggest getting then physical copy for true enjoyment of this book

Amazing book. Terrible reader

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Alison Weir piggybacked a little on the success of Philippa Gregory's very successful books on the Tudors. It is a shame that Weir's books have not had the same success because they are better written and more true to the historical facts.

As another reviewer pointed out, the first few hours of the book are quite childish. Elizabeth is just a toddler, although a precocious one, during these chapters and so her outlook is of course juvenile. As soon as she grows up a little and is about 5 or 6 the book improves enormously and the characters become much more real and alive. The personalities of Henry VIII, Princess Mary, Katharine Parr, Kat Ashley and Elizabeth herself are very convincing and fit with the decisions that they make.

The narration is very good, except that the baby voices in the beginning are quite jarring.

Wonderfully Written

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Oh I loved this, Alison Weir does it again. Whether it's fact or fiction, as in this case, she writes equally well.

I chose this on audio download and wasn't disappointed, although I have to admit to being somewhat unsure whether to purchase on audio as I've heard another book narrated by Judith Boyd and didn't quite take to her. But in this novel she does a good job and I enjoyed it immensely.

Completely brings to life Elizabeth I, through childhood into adulthood to the time she becomes Queen. Portrays her in a compassionate light it evokes emotions, passion, suffering, such a difficult period in time to be alive, especially for a female. Fast paced, perhaps slows a little to the end, the characters come to life with an authentic feel to it. The religious aspect, as it often does, saddened me, the atrocities carried out in it's name, but was well played out in the novel, leaving me disliking Elizabeth's sister Mary nearly as much as I disliked her father Henry VIII!

If this had been the written book I would have described as a real page turner, certainly I couldn't wait for any spare minute to get my headphones on and listen, becoming complete engrossed and listening way into the night.

Very entertaining, I highly recommend this.

superb novel

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I selected this book after listening to the author's splendid historical novel about Anne Boleyn's fateful marriage to Henry VIII. The Lady Elizabeth is read by the same, excellent narrator, Judith Boyd. The story starts at about the same time in Tudor history as the Boleyn book ends and covers the years from Elizabeth's very early years until her accession over 20 years later. And what unsettling, and later dangerous, years these were for a young girl: getting used to three step-mothers in quick succession; the change of state religion when Mary came to the throne and her antagonism towards Elizabeth based on her fear of the latter's supporters rising in rebellion. The author, a professional historian, mainly uses historically accurate accounts of Elizabeth's life enlivened by a bit of speculative fiction over what might have happened.
I enjoyed the book, especially once the story was in its stride and Elizabeth was into her later teens: the descriptions of the early years are a bit soppy, at times; and the fervent yearnings of the young Elizabeth for Edward Seymour smacked of Mills and Boon!

A lively account of the early life of Elizabeth

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