So I was going to post this in the Philippa Gregory topic but saw its been untouched in around 5 years.

As angry as I am about her depiction of Anne Boleyn in TOBG, I think I’m even more offended by her characterization of Queen Elizabeth in this novel. Here we have an Elizabeth so sexually obsessed with Dudley that she literally can’t make a decision without him…so enthralled by his sexual prowess that she gives him all her power. He orders her around, yells at her, makes her feel guilty, schemes with heads of state behind her back…Its unbelievable. Shes written as sly and bad tempered, jealous and wanton. Any intelligence that history gives her, the book takes away but attributing it to a survival instinct and luck. Everyone in this book is unlikable and repulsive. Amy , Robert Dudley wife, appears as a shrew who is clearly mentally ill, who loves him so much she wants to destroy him completely and would like to see him dead….she does nothing but pine for him or argue with him…I dont know much about her character in real life, but i bet shes rolling in her grave to see what she has amounted to in this book. Robert Dudley, who by all accounts remained a loyal friend to Elizabeth all her life, is reduced to a scheming, manipulative, selfish jackass who is mad for power and thinks himself the rightful King…Its enough to hurt my head. The only character in this book who is interesting is William Cecil, who Philppa clearly admires cause she gives him all the credit for England’s triumphs. Oh, and Elizabeth and Cecil masterminded Amy’s murder. Nice touch. All I can think after reading this is that Gregory must really hate Elizabeth and Anne, its pure character assassination. Ok, rant over lol. Does anyone agree?