READ: 21.12.17 - 26.12.17

BOOK: Mary Tudor: England's First Queen

AUTHOR: Anna Whitelock

GENRE: Non-Fiction

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: In the summer of 1553, against all odds, Mary Tudor was the first woman to be crowned Queen of England. Anna Whitelock's absorbing debut tells the remarkable story of a woman who was a princess one moment, and a disinherited bastard the next. It tells of her Spanish heritage and the unbreakable bond between Mary and her mother, Katherine of Aragon; of her childhood, adolescence, rivalry with her sister Elizabeth and finally her womanhood. Throughout her life Mary was a fighter, battling to preserve her integrity and her right to hear the Catholic mass. Finally, she fought for the throne. The Mary that emerges from this groundbreaking biography is not the weak-willed failure of traditional narratives, but a complex figure of immense courage, determination and humanity.

REVIEW: This was an interesting read, and one that will be very useful for my history course at school. I knew quite a lot of the information inside just from studying this period of history in detail (and also I now realise my teacher has been spouting pages of this book in my lessons) but it was still a useful read and I've picked up some good facts and phrases from inside. It was well-written and engaging which can be rare in some historical non-fiction books so that was enjoyable.

FINAL VERDICT: For extra reading about the Tudors, this could have been a lot worse. Overall, it was an okay read.

RATING: 7.5/10