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The Queen's Fool: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Touchstone
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 18.99
Buy New: CDN$ 9.28
You Save: CDN$ 9.71 (51%)
New (13) Used (11) from CDN$ 2.83
Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 215
Media: Paperback
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743246071
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780743246071
ASIN: 0743246071
Publication Date: February 3, 2004
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Ships from US, Duties and taxes are responsibility of purchaser. Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served
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From Amazon.co.uk
The bitter enmity between Elizabeth the First and Mary Tudor, the daughters of Henry VIII (not to mention the conflict between their mothers Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon) makes the squabbles between modern-day royals seem small beer indeed. This is particularly clear after reading something as enjoyable as Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool, which treats the period and its turbulent sweep with an almost operatic grandeur. In The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory delivered a tremendous popular success and lifted this kind of popular historical writing from the realms of romantic fiction to something rich in authentic drama and convincing historical verisimilitude. Mary and Elizabeth, the two young princesses, have a common goal: to be Queen of England. To achieve this, they need both to win the love of the people and learn how to negotiate dangerous political pitfalls. Gregory recreates this era with tremendous colour, and she makes the court an enticing but danger-fraught place. Into this setting comes the eponymous fool, the youthful Hannah, who (despite her air of guileless religiousness) is not naive. She soon finds herself having to deal with the beguiling but treacherous Robert Dudley. Dispatched to report on Princess Mary, Hannah discovers in her a passionate religious conviction (to return England to the rule of Rome and its pope) that will have fatal consequences. From Tolstoy's War and Peace onwards, historical novelists have set fictitious characters among real-life personages with mixed success; the author's creations can often pale beside the historical figures. That is emphatically not the case here, and Gregory ensures that all her characters have a full and teeming life. Expect a major movie: something as colourful and exuberant as The Queen's Fool is a natural for screen adaptation. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
 My favorite Philippa Gregory book! July 25, 2008
Laurie N. Gayne (Toronto, ON)
This book tells the interesting story of 2 sisters who are rivals, Queen Mary who is catholic and Elizabeth I who is protestant. Told from the interesting view of a jewish servant girl who loves both of them. Fast moving, couldn't put it down, my favorite Philippa Gregory book.
Interesting and captivating July 24, 2008
Toni Osborne (Montreal, Canada)
The story is told from Hannah Greens perspective, a young Jewish girl who flees Spain with her father to escape persecution and lands in England. Hannah is a seer and has visions, a sought after talent during the troubled times for the Tudor court, she first serves King Edward, then his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, as a holy fool. She is also a vassal to Robert Dudley who she adores. This is a very dangerous time where every action is under scrutiny and many lives are in peril due to laws against heresy, treason and witchcraft. Hannah must choose between the safe life as a commoner or being part of the extravagant life the royal family.
This novel is fast-paced, interesting and captivating from start to finish. It is clear that Ms Gregory has a talent for writing entertaining historical fiction, with engaging narrative. Her characters are seemly woven between actual and fictional ones, with all their flaws and weaknesses. The heart of this novel is the reign of Bloody Mary, Queen of England seen through the sympathetic eyes of a young woman. This is a fresh portrayal of familiar figures and a new perspective on a dark period of England's history. Serious history buffs may not like this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
How to Sidestep Danger! July 21, 2008
Ian Gordon Malcomson (Smithers, Canada)
Of all the Philippa Gregory historical fiction I've read so far, this particular story carries with it the greatest sense of adventure and suspense that I've ever come to associate with the Tudor period. The plot covers five years in the the often incredibly tumultuous life of Hannah Green, a teen-age girl of Jewish-Spanish origins, as the court fool for the English Catholic queen, Mary Tudor. Gregory, as usual, does a meticulous job in setting the stage for Hannah's entry on the public stage. Politically, England has just come through a very tempestuous period where the state, under Edward VI, has finally taken control of the church. Prostestantism is growing in strength and Catholicism has basically gone into hiding. Out of all this, the tide suddenly turns and Mary, the only daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, a Catholic through-and-through, ascends the throne after the death of her brother. Gregory lays out a story that shows how Hannah, blessed with special insights, assumes the role of court fool and proceeds to live a precariously tight-rope existence for the next several years that protects both her jewish identity, her loyalty to her betrothed, her father's business interests, her love for Robert Dudley, her admiration for Princess Elizabeth, and her intellectual attachment to Dr. John Dee. During this journey, the reader will be introduced to a royal marriage between England and Spain, the appearance of an English form of the Inquisition, and numerous court intrigues that will lead their victims to the block. Her ability to survive all these testy moments in a nation's history is more a tribute to her political astuteness to remain always humble but forever helpful. What I enjoyed about the story the most was that the plot, while predictable in places, carried with it some very consistently strong characterizations of main personalities. At the end, the reader should be satisfied have been introduced to the court of Mary Tudor in all her fame and infamy.
 Boring July 9, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I selected this book because the time period is one of my favourites in history and it had a female lead character. I decided to use this book for my grade 12 english ISU and it was a mistake. I found the book got boring about halfway through and I could not finish it. I never not finish a book. Hannah got increasingly more annoying and the plot kept slowing down.
Disappointing[ July 1, 2005
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I did not really like this book. I got about three quarters through it and gave it up. I did not like the main character of Hannah. Maybe I am old fashioned but I like my main characters to really grab me, Hannah didn't. I think if she hadn't dressed up like a boy right from the beginning, or even if she had changed shortly into the book, I would have enjoyed it more. I have read several other Philippa Gregory books and really enjoyed them. She is an excellent writer and historically she is right on. I wouldn't recommend this book but obviously others here have enjoyed the book, so some people really liked it. It would suggest you get is second hand though, just in case.
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