It follows three central characters; the Earl of Shrewsbury, one of the old aristocracy who is charged with guarding Mary; Bess of Hardwick, his newly married wife; and Mary herself. Each chapter is told in the first person by one of these three. They give us three very different personal takes on the action, and on each other.
These are momentous times for nations; Will the Spanish King invade to restore Mary to the Scottish throne, or to overthrow Elizabeth, and make Mary Queen of England as well?; Will England continue in the protestant faith or will the old familiar faith be restored? The story that unfolds is also a very personal one; a queen who longs to be free; a noble faithful to his Queen, and to the woman he has married, yet attracted to this beautiful queen it is his duty to guard; and a woman whose household is disrupted by this unwelcome rival for her new husband's attention.
The very lines of English Society are laid bare. For Shrewsbury, his duty is to his Monarch, as it had been with his family for 500 years. His loyalty is with his brother peers, who resent that a commoner such as William Cecil should be advising the Queen rather than themselves. His wife Bess has more in common with Cecil, born in poverty, advancing in society by her own abilities, enjoying wealth that used to belong to the church, she has everything to lose if Roman religion is restored. During the few years of this story, the very future of England, as well as the the other Queen, and their own household hangs in the balance.
The story is not particularly kind to Elizabeth, and much less so to William Cecil. Then again, the three central characters are also portrayed with all their weaknesses, either in their own thinking or that of each other.
A good story well told.
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