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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Meyer, C. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Library | YA FIC MEY | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | TEEN MEYER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | YA MEYER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Willamina Public Library | JF MEYER | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it's all true. Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageousaffair with and marriage to the bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequences of that relationship for his firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear--and a girl's struggle with forces far beyond her control.
Author Notes
Carolyn Meyer was born June 8, 1935, in Lewiston, Pennsylvania. She served as editor of her high school newspaper and yearbook, and spent summers writing radio advertisements. She graduated cum laude with a degree in English from Bucknell University in 1957.
Meyer's first published book was Miss Patch's Learn-to-Sew Book, and she has written over fifty books since then. Her recent titles include: Diary of a Waitress: The Not-So-Glamorous life of a Harvey Girl, Anastasia and Her Sisters, Victoria Rebels, The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary, Queen of Scots and Duchessina: A novel of Catherine de' Medici.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-Utilizing a first-person narrative, Meyer delivers a compelling account of Mary Tudor, who literally went from princess to servant. Henry VIII's oldest daughter lives the privileged life of royalty until her father becomes obsessed with producing a male heir. His realization that Mary's mother will never give him a son coincides with his infamous affair with Anne Boleyn, whom he ultimately marries. This marriage changes not only the course of history, but gravely affects Mary's life as well. She once expected to inherit the throne; now she merely hopes to survive her father's violent reign. After years of banishment, separated from her family and friends, Mary is summoned back to court so that she may act as her half-sister's (the future Elizabeth I) servant. The novel ends with Anne's death and the spurned princess's tenuous readmittance into court. Meyer deftly handles the intricacies of court intrigue and Henry's descent into madness while focusing on how these events shaped Mary's life and personality. The excellent characterization brings these historic figures to life. Perhaps the novel's only flaw is its failure to emphasize Mary's early religiosity that led to her eventual zealotry. The author's note discusses Henry's virtual parade of marriages as well as Mary's "reign of terror." This book will inspire readers to further investigate the fascinating Tudor monarchy.-Laura Glaser, Euless Junior High School, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This riveting slice of fictional royal history paints a sympathetic portrait of Henry VIII's oldest daughter, before she earns the title Bloody Mary. Trained not to weep in public, the young princess puts on a steely front but lives in constant fear of her father's tyranny. The novel begins in 1527 when 11-year-old Mary learns that she has been betrothed to the middle-aged king of France. The accessible first-person narrative chronicles Mary's dramatic change in status from riches to rags when her father attempts to annul his marriage to Catherine, Mary's mother, and conveys how Mary's (and the nation's) fate is affected by her father's obsession with "bewitching" Anne Boleyn, his excessive spending and his execution sprees. The novel ends in 1536, just after Henry VIII takes his third wife, Jane Seymour, and things begin to look a bit more optimistic for Mary. While the pacing is at times uneven, Meyer's (Gideon's People) account convincingly sets the stage for Mary's own sprees of persecution (mentioned in a thorough afterword) and provides an excellent introduction to pre-Renaissance customs, fashions and morals. The author's characterization of the Catholic queen demonstrates there was much more to Mary than the deeds that earned her a sanguinary nickname. Ages 11-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Although obviously sympathetic to Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII's oldest daughter, this is an engaging account of Mary's childhood and early adulthood. Long before she ascends the throne, Mary is dismayed by the way her mother is discarded by Henry after failing to produce a male heir. Jealous and bitter, Mary is nevertheless full of determination and strength. The period is well evoked, although the history lesson in this fiction is definitely one-sided. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Meyer (Gideon's People, 1996, etc.) presents the youth of Mary Tudor, oldest daughter of Henry VIII, as a bitter tale of mistreatment, political machination, and battling wills. From the outset, Mary blames the witch, Anne Boleyn, for separating her and her mother, Catherine of Aragon, then depriving them of wealth and security; for persuading the king to declare Mary illegitimate; for forcing her at last into the role of scorned servant, charged with changing the infant Elizabeth's nappies. Certain that she will one day be queen, Mary fights back in the only ways she can, by becoming an accomplished spy, holding in her anger, and refusing for years to sign the acknowledgement of her illegitimacy. Meyer gives Mary, Henry, and Anne strong, distinct personalities and motives, enlivens historical events with closely observed details of dress and ceremony, and drives it all forward with engrossing emotional intensity'climaxed by an eyewitness's lingering account of Anne Boleyn's beheading: `` `We heard the dreadful sound'there is none like it in all this world.' '' It's an absorbing story, compellingly told, and if Mary doesn't come off as the religious fanatic she evidently was, her later brutality is not soft-pedaled in the appended historical note. Follow this up with Rosalind Miles's equally powerful I, Elizabeth (1994). (Fiction. 12-15)
Booklist Review
Gr. 6^-9. England's Queen Mary I has been known throughout history as Bloody Mary for the burning of some 300 Protestants considered heretics. This novel, written from Mary's point of view, covers Mary's life from age 10 to 20, when she fell from her position as cherished Princess of Wales to "bastard" daughter of King Henry VIII and his cast-off queen, Catherine of Aragon. Meyer underplays Mary's religious perspective, focusing more on her emotions--fear, abandonment, and, most of all, hatred for Henry's new love, Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I. Forced to wait on the baby Elizabeth, and scolded abusively, Mary nonetheless formed a strong affection for her half sister, one that is not reflected in Kathryn Lasky's book about Elizabeth, reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Meyer writes powerfully and sympathetically, mixing the grim details of life in the 1500s with glamorous, fascinating descriptions of life in the court of Henry VIII. This fine novel includes an eye-catching jacket and concludes with a historical note recounting the sad ending to Mary's life. --Susan Dove Lempke