Death and the Virgin Queen - Book Review

I normally don't read non-fiction books but I was actually intrigued when I saw 'Death and the Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I and the dark scandal that rocked the throne' by Chris Skidmore. It focuses on Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Dudley, Amy Dudley's sudden death and the aftermath.

In the beginning, it seems that Amy and Robert had a good relationship since they did marry for love. Even though Amy barely saw her husband, he always seemed to managed to send her gifts via servants, which is different from Robert not doing anything for his wife while he was at court. There is a possible picture of Amy in the book but since the painting does not say who it is but the author makes a possible explanation that it could actually be a picture of Amy Dudley. The close relationship of Elizabeth and Robert is also looked at. It was so close that she had contemplated on marrying him after his wife died. Did she know that Amy was to die soon?

Of course the mystery of Amy's death is speculated in the book. Robert wanted to investigate his wife's untimely death right away so as not to damage his reputation. At the time, he was hoping to marry the queen so any link to him would hurt his chances. The book also goes into what if Amy was murdered. If so, who could have done it? The book makes an interesting case that maybe it was one of Robert's servants. The talk of poison by bribing a doctor makes an interesting case. Robert's servants would want to do away with his wife to speed up her so called sickness.

The book also goes into the years after Amy's death. How Robert's chances of marrying the queen was slipping away that it came to the point that Robert realized that he would never marry the queen. I didn't know that Amy's half brother wanted to take matters into his own hands by finding out what had happened to his sister. After the first year of Amy's death, any speculation about her death started to fade and things went back 'to normal'.

The most interesting fact is the Leicester's Commonwealth, which was written some years after Amy's death. It was a book that wanted to bring damage to Robert's reputation. After all, by then, he accumulated so many enemies. Most people thought that he was the reason why the queen never married. The most damage was pointing the finger at Robert for the death of his wife. It's interesting as to why the author thought that it was Robert's fault, even bringing evidence that wasn't really known. Elizabeth was quick to renounce this book but those during that time remembered the sudden death of his wife. As Cecil thought, the death of Amy Dudley would forever haunt Robert. I believe it did even though he was proven innocent during the initial investigation of Amy's death.

The book was interesting by stating facts and bring into light about the mystery of Amy's sudden death and the aftermath. I don't see many fiction books that looked into the sudden death of Amy Dudley so this was a change from what I normally read. I may look into Chris Skidmore's book 'Edward VI' in the future.

The Light Between Oceans - Book Reivew

Something drew me to this book. Maybe it's because I'm a mother and would do anything to keep my son safe as possible. 'The Light Between Oceans' by M.L. Stedman is about two families, one that finds a baby when they could not have one and the other thinking she has lost one.

Tom Sherbourne was a solider and returns home to Australia to take a part time job as a lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse is out on Janus, a lonely place that all you hear are the waves and goats. Seems to be a perfect place for Tom, who tries to leave behind the war in his past.

He meets Isabel Graysmark who has lived on Partageuse all her life. The only surviving child after her two older brothers died in the war overseas. She is full of life despite the sorrow that falls on her family.

Eventually the two fall in love and Isabel comes to live on Janus with Tom who is now a full time lighthouse keeper. They mostly stay on Janus for three years, being visited by Ralph and Bluey every couple of months to replenish supplies and return to the mainland when they get permission. Not exactly a life I would lead but Tom and Isabel have each other.

Two miscarriages and a devastating stillbirth leaves Isabel in a sorry state. No one to comfort her and Tom is at a lost of what to do. Then in the wind, Isabel hears a baby cry but thought that it was her imagination. Then Tom tells Isabel that a boat had washed up. They investigated to find a dead man and a baby girl in the boat. As a lighthouse keeper, Tom is to report everything that goes on at Janus (even when the weather is calm). He wants to report the body and the baby but Isabel comforts the baby and eventually convinces Tom to not report till the next day.

As you can imagine, they keep the baby girl assuming the mother died out at sea. They rename the baby girl as Lucy and they seem to be a happy family. The only thing is that Tom still feels that he should report it. His conscious gets the better of him when they come to realize who the mother is. Isabel feels that they've lived this lie for so long that they can't give up Lucy without damaging their little family.

The other half of this story is the true mother of the little girl, Hannah Roennfeldt. She believes that both her husband Frank and daughter Grace are still out there even though it's been a few years. Her story is a sad one, considering that the people of Partageuse hated Frank for being 'German'. People in town let her be.

The two families collide when someone recognizes a rattle that was with Lucy/Grace in the boat. Tom tries to protect Isabel from the decisions made on Janus that night they found Lucy/Grace. Isabel is torn by the lost of her daughter that she wanted revenge on Tom for breaking up their family. Hannah on the other hand is happy to have her daughter back but devastated that her daughter calls another woman 'momma'. In the middle is a little girl that doesn't understand what is going on.

It makes you wonder what you would have done if you were in Tom and Isabel's place. Or even if you were Hannah, wondering if you should give up your happiness and give back your daughter to the ones that raised her. For me, this is a very moving novel because for me, it's sad but it also makes you look how important family really is.