The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

The Virgin's Lover My Rating: 4.4

In the autumn of 1558, church bells ring across England announcing that Elizabeth I is the new queen. While the nation celebrates, one woman hears the news with dread. She is Amy Dudley, wife of Sir Robert Dudley, and she knows Elizabeth’s rise to the throne will draw her husband back into the dazzling Tudor court where he has always belonged.

Elizabeth’s triumph is short-lived. She inherits a bankrupt country plagued by treason and the threat of foreign war. Her advisors insist she must marry a powerful prince to secure the realm, yet the man she desires is her childhood friend, the ambitious Robert Dudley. As their bond deepens, one question lingers: could he truly set aside his wife to marry the queen? When Amy is found dead, Elizabeth and Dudley are thrust into a desperate struggle for survival.

Philippa Gregory tells much of this story from the wife’s perspective, highlighting how easily a good woman can be cast aside when ambition and power take center stage, even for a Queen. I especially appreciated this angle.

The only drawback for me was the narration. I’ve become so accustomed to the exceptional performances of Vanessa Kirby and Gemma Whelan that this narrator felt less engaging and, at times, distracted from the story.