Now anyone who knows me knows I love Alison Weirs' books, fiction and nonfiction alike i will happily devour her books. And I've loved the other books in this trilogy, as always Alison Weir delivers when it comes to historical fact with her ideas of what thoughts might have been going around their heads at the time. I'm really pleased that she chose Mary for this book rather than Elizabeth or Edward ( though a book from either point of view of course would be brilliant) because Mary often has a bad reputation, especially with her moniker of "Bloody" Mary when in reality I think both of her siblings cause more deaths during their reigns than she did. So I really wanted to get that whole period from "the king's great matter" to her eventual death from her perspective because we mostly get it from the Mary was bad/evil point of view and I really don't believe she was, not wholly.
As always Alison Weir's writing style is beautiful, it is so easy to read and flows beautifully across the page, I can so easily get drawn into the time period and fully see the scene she creates in my mind's eye like I'm looking back in time.
The book makes you look at Mary I from a different angle, yes she was a religious zealot and firmly believed that she was doing God's work burning heretics but she was also a child who suffered a lot of trauma in her formative years and who had a lasting effect on her and choices from that point onwards.
If you love the Tudor period then I definitely recommend picking this book(and trilogy) up and on a side note, the covers for this series are stunning.

Mary I: Queen of Sorrows by Alison Weir is an outstanding crossover of fiction and fact.

Weir has that rare skill of bringing history to life by adding colour and personality to the famous figures of past times and if you are a fan of the Tudors, this is an outstanding read

HIghly recommended!

An amazing historical novel based upon Mary I aka Bloody Mary.
Written by Alison Weir this book is a fantastic read. Alison is a well known historian who knows the Tudors inside and out, and this shows immensely in all her fictional works. I have read all her historical fiction books, and some of her non fiction and she knows her chosen genre extremely well.
The book is divided into different parts, part one is approximately 40% of the book and is about being the Kings daughter detailing her youth as Henry VIII’s beloved first born to being classed as illegitimate, and finally back in favour prior to his death. The second part is as Edward XI’s sister, and in her faith in the Catholic a church against the new faith, and finally as Queen of England, her time as Bloody Mary, her marriage to Philip, health and worry over Princess Mary.
A good interesting read, Mary was a devout Catholic who kept her faith regardless of the obstacles in her way. A sad story where a girl then woman was kept unmarried and as a political pawn until she was eventually Queen of England.

Mary Mary, quite contrary is a nursery rhyme we have grown up with and which is supposed to be about the ill-fated Mary Tudor who brought such deadly religious strife to her country. Mary wasn't always contrary being the much cherished daughter of Katherine of Aragon and even though her father Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir, Mary was very much fêted as a young child and treated as the princess she undoubtedly was. So, what went wrong for Mary?

Mary's teenage years spent as an outcast from her father's court, her frosty relationship with Anne Boleyn, who she deemed unfit to take Katherine of Aragon's place as Queen of England, is recounted in much detail and with a sympathetic eye towards Mary's thwarted dreams and ambitions. Her disappointment and frustration during her brother's Edward's reign is especially poignant as she was forbidden to hear the Catholic Mass which brought her much sorrow.

There is no doubt that Mary I: Queen of Sorrows is a beautifully written and intricately researched historical novel which portrays a much softer Mary and not the despotic Queen who was determined to rid the country of protestant heretics although this covered in the later chapters of the novel. This is very much about a woman, who was often lonely and misunderstood, who was driven by destiny and passion, and who was determined to bring England back to Catholicism and even though this route would see much unrest Mary's religious belief was always her guiding light.

All credit to the author for shining a much needed spotlight on Mary Tudor in a story which brings the intricacies of the Tudor court to life in glorious detail.

An interesting (if not particularly original) story about Mary I. Well written and full of fascinating detail, this book will please any fan of general historical fiction and Tudors in particular.

Mary is born of love and into a family rich with honours and status. The only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Mary is raised to be a queen but her father longs for a male heir. When he supplants her mother with the 'witch' Anne Boleyn, Mary is cast aside in favour of her half-sister. Then Anne's star falls and Henry gets his heir. Mary is getting older though and longs for a marriage and child of her own. Finally she ascends to the throne but life gets harder, not easier for this devout woman.
Mary I is a very divisive character and Weir is completely honest when she says that she finds it hard to sympathise. In fact I feel that she has written quite a balanced novel here despite the extremely radical Catholicism that Mary believed in. Every Tudor monarch has their positives and negatives and in this book, Weir tries to show the motivations behind Mary's later actions. What I love about these books is the strong research interwoven with the story

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for this eCopy to review

Mary I: Queen of Sorrows was a very informative account of Mary's life and how she stayed true to her Catholic faith in the face of much adversity and the ups and downs that she faced throughout her life going from heir apparent to bastard child to Queen all whilst suffering from a mysterious illness every autumn.

Eventually, she is able to marry, but it is very sad that she never had the children she so desperately wanted

Weir truly brings history alive

With thanks to Netgalley and the author Alison Weir

Mary I: Queen of Sorrows is the third and last book in the Tudor rose trilogy and does not disapoint.

Mainly told from Mary's point of view the book follows her life from her young life in the Tudor court under her father and mother to the very last moments of her life, covering everything from Anne Boleyn to Lady Jane Grey, the religious 'war; between Catholics and protestants.

The book is very well researched and brings a forgotten Queen to life.

This is the third book in the Tudor Rose Trilogy, and it follows Mary I, the firstborn daughter of Henry VIII and the only child of Katherine of Aragon.

When Mary was a child, she loved her father until she heard the rumours of the ‘King’s Great Matter’, in which Henry wanted to divorce Katherine on the grounds of not producing a male heir.

Mary was outraged to hear this, as she adored her mother and took her side. Just like her mother, she was a devout Catholic, and prayed for her father, however, to no avail.

The story moves through Henry’s marriages and the time when Mary was perceived as illegitimate. This later changed, and she was restored to the line of succession, and as we know, she became the Queen.

Mary’s five-year reign wasn’t easy. There were rebels everywhere conspiring against her, and throughout her short rule, there was a lot of bloodshed. She became extremely fixated on stamping out the heretics, and many were burned at the stake.

In my mind, she was overzealous and too radical when it came to religion. She thought she was doing it for the right reasons, but I was squirming in my seat when she sent yet another person to their death.

Her marriage to Philip of Spain was her undoing. This was a hugely unpopular match; the English at that time didn’t trust any foreigners, and the royal couple became the easy target for the nation’s distrust and dislike. It is fair to say that Mary loved Philip and would do anything for him, but the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.

I was saddened to read about her phantom pregnancies. Mary really wanted a child, and I am sure she would have been a good mother.

Overall, this book contains a great and detailed piece of history within its pages. I definitely recommend it.

Alison Weir is known for her researched and engrossing nonfiction and fiction, but her "Mary I: Queen of Sorrows" takes a different approach to similar material she's written about in the past. It's a novel about Mary's viewpoint of how her life changed from being the king's daughter to becoming Bloody Mary. Weir's focus here is on how a young child becomes the pawn between her parents and those men around her father. When we encounter Mary I in other books about Mary's life, it's often about her reign as queen, but Weir boils down Mary's story to how a young girl saw her mother mistreated and cast aside by her father. It's about how a young girl copes with being the daughter of a powerful man who treats those around him like disposable chess pieces.

Weir contextualises the story of Mary I/Bloody Mary in terms of how she suffers from the violence and cruelty of her childhood. She becomes Catherine Of Aragon and Henry VIII in equal measure as queen of England. While we have often been taught to see her as someone who used religion as a weapon against other, Weir makes us see how religion and the trappings of religion make her feel closer to her mother. Weir does not excuse the violence, but she writes of Mary's religious fervour as a reaction to an unstable childhood. In this way, Mary I: Queen of Sorrows serves as a bildungsroman of a political figure often given short shrift by authors who would rather write about Henry VIII or her half sister, Elizabeth I.

The book is engrossing, and highly readable. If there's a criticism, it's that the book is a tad too long. Since most of us who paid attention in our history courses will know how things turn out for Queen Mary I, we don't need to go into so many tributaries. With that said, I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a more nuanced version or Mary I.

The author has once again transported us to Tudor England, this time to see events through the eyes of 'Bloody Mary', eldest daughter of Henry VIII and a rabid Catholic who brought the burning of heretics to England. I have never held her in particularly high esteem, although one had to feel sorry for her as an unwanted female in her father's court, then a pawn to her husband Philip and the Spaniards. Her phantom pregnancies were truly pitiful to read about.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was able to see the Tudor era through a new lens. Mary was a complex woman, very much of her time but in a difficult position as women were not considered to have the mental or physical capacity to rule. Comparing her reign to that of her sister who followed her is like comparing night to day. Elizabeth had a strong understanding of her people that Mary never had, nor did Mary really make the effort to know any of them.

An entertaining and historically accurate read. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge historical fiction fan, especially Tudor history. I've read all of Alisons' other historical fiction books, and they never disappoint. Each book takes you into the court of Tudor England and the mindset of each figure she writes about. This book, like her others, is written in the first person, so you really get involved in the day to day life, thoughts, and feelings of Mary as a child all the way to her death.

What to expect:

👑 Historical fiction of Mary I full life
👑 First Person Account
👑 In depth and highly researched history

Even though this one dragged slightly for me in the middle (during Edwards reign), I found this book so fascinating. I didn't know much about Mary, and I have to say she wasn't very likeable or a popular Queen, she was nicknamed Bloody Mary after all... but this book laid out her struggles and I felt for her as a women. She was the first female Queen in her own right and that is truly amazing.

I love reading these books, as they don't feel too dense, but also because even though Alison does take some creative licence, she stays as true to the truth as possible.

Even though this is the 3rd book in her Tudor Rose series, it can be read as a standalone as most of her other books can.
I also highly recommend the Six Tudor Queens series!

Mary went from being a much loved and adored child, with two doting parents, to being sidelined due to being born a female, the wrong sex, a Prince was needed to secure the future of the Kingdom. Mary became a pawn, she was used as a bargaining tool, offered in marriage to both France and Spain, only to be cast aside when the scandal of her legitimacy began to be questioned.
When her father married Anne Boleyn, she was reduced to the title of Lady Mary, and banned from all contact with her mother. Mary found solace in religion, but due to the Reformation, this was undesirable, the country became Protestant. Mary remained stubbornly loyal to her Catholic faith.
Throughout her formative years, Mary had five step mothers and a half brother and sister added to the family.
When Mary finally takes the throne, she stamps her authority, good and hard. Her Catholic beliefs become fanatical, and the well known phrase of Bloody Mary becomes attached to her. Meant to show strength , this back fires, her people become afraid of her.
An unhappy and miserable life by all account. She is remembered for her bitterness, piety and losing Calais, our last possession in France.
Even her portrait does little to flatter her, she looks severe, humourless and old before her time.
This book helps to redress the balance somewhat, it shows a different side to her , but it cannot rehabilitate her completely.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Headline Review, for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. A five star read. I will leave a copy to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

As usual Alison does not disappoint. I love all her books and this one was not any different. Obviously there are no spoilers as we all know what happened to Queen Mary. Very well written and it gives a great insight to what Mary might have felt at different stages of her life and why she reacted the way she did.

Mary I is a difficult queen to love. Is it time to rehabilitate her reputation?
Alison Weir builds a sympathetic picture of the young Mary. At times forbidden to see her mother and removed from the succession, Mary developed health problems that would affect her all her life. Weir speculated that she probably had crushes on Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador, and Simon Renard, an Imperial advisor.
At times Mary’s life was in danger but she was indecisive and didn’t take a lifeline thrown by the Imperial Emperor who had sent people to England to try to rescue her.
Fortunately she grasped the opportunity to fight for her crown and managed to summon enough support to overthrow Lady Jane Grey who had been put on the throne by plotters.
As queen Mary was finally married at the age of 37 to the handsome heir to the Emperor, Philip. She became pregnant but was still confined long after the pregnancy had gone full term. After this she rarely saw Philip who was spending time in Europe with his armies.
Mary had to work with many of the men who had plotted against her. She occasionally showed compassion for her subjects. But she was determined to restore England to the Catholicism that preceded her father Henry VIII, against advice from Philip and many others. Her reign saw the execution of between 300 – 600 heretics, earning her the name “Bloody Mary.”

Brilliant absolutely loved it. A huge fan of historical fiction particularly those set in the Tudor periods. To read history through the eyes of one of the Tudor Queens and to see it from their point of view had me gripped from the first page.

I think this book would be great if you know nothing about Mary I, which is not my case since I studied the Tudors in college. Aside from the personality Alison Weir gave her, there wasn't anything I hadn't seen in the few classes we'd spent on Henry VIII and Mary's reigns so this just felt quite redundant. For someone who know absolutely nothing about her, or on the contrary, loves this specific period of British history, this is the perfect book. 3.5 stars

Mary I is a difficult monarch to capture in fiction. As one of the less popular Tudor monarchs, her story is a little different to her mighty father’s (Henry VIII) and her half-sister’s (Elizabeth I). Nevertheless, Weir creates a detailed and insightful portrait of Mary’s life.

With Weir’s novels, you know you are getting meticulously researched and up to date history, woven into approachable fiction. Weir brings to life the story of a complex historical figure and transports the reader into Tudor England.

Mary is a vulnerable character who endured a lot of hardships during her life. When Katherine of Aragon (her mother)’s marriage to Henry was declared null and void, it meant she was labeled a bastard - a title she lived with for many years until she finally inherited the throne after the death of her half-brother Edward VI. She also endured ill health and a phantom pregnancy.

However, she wasn’t a popular figure, due to her religious persecutions against Protestants and her foreign policies which saw England and Spain unite against France…leading to a disastrous defeat at Calais. Weir’s Author’s Note at the end of the novel reveals how Weir herself sees Mary as a very polarising character, and how the author’s own childhood, growing up with a broken marriage, influenced how she portrayed the character of Mary. It is also interesting to see how Weir, whilst sympathetic, also does not seem to connect with Mary in general.

Whilst the history is there in this novel, and it’s utterly fascinating to learn about Mary, I do think the author’s own opinions influence this novel heavily. Therefore Mary is a very difficult character to connect with and admire which makes the pace of the novel a bit slow sometimes - but then, that is perhaps more to do with Mary being a difficult subject, rather than the skill of the author.

Overall, this is still a great read from an established and popular historical fiction writer, and perfect for anyone wanting to know more about Mary I. But I personally feel it’s not quite as strong as some of her other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review!

There's something truly special about diving into a book where historical accuracy meets skillfully crafted dialogue. Being able to immerse myself in the vividly depicted world of the past while also learning something new is an experience I adore. It's safe to say that books like these rank among my favourites!

In 'Mary I: Queen of Sorrows,' Alison Weir provides a vivid and poignant glimpse into the life of a historical figure often overshadowed by her successors, the first queen regnant of England. Weir plunges readers into the turbulent political and social landscapes of Tudor England, delving into the complexities of power, loyalty, and personal struggle during Mary's reign.
The meticulous research evident in the narrative is astonishing. The first 40% of the book is dedicated to Mary’s younger years, which, although I didn’t ultimately warm to her, helped humanize her character. It allowed me to peek behind the curtain and discover what her life and relationships were like, particularly with her mother and father, both before and during the event of 'the great matter.' She showed incredible strength of character in her teenage years, advocating for herself.
From 40% to 60%, we witness King Edward's ascension to the throne and the challenges Mary faces during this uncertain time. This portion of the books momentum slowed down for me, perhaps more due to Mary's life at that time than anything to do with the author as to me, Mary I isn’t the most exciting monarch in some respects to write about. Another aspect worth noting is occasional repetition and brevity in the narrative. Certain sentences are repeated closely together, and some are very short, which may have benefited from more descriptive detail to enhance engagement but the information provided was still captivating!
Around 60% on, we witness Mary's ascent to the throne and her subsequent tumultuous reign. We observe her journey from moments of public adulation to periods of condemnation, ultimately leading to her enduring historical epithet, 'Bloody Mary.' Mary's character truly stands out in this phase of her life, exhibiting moments of resolute determination juxtaposed with instances of hypocrisy. It's particularly poignant witnessing her descent into misery and distrust towards those around her near the end.
Despite her unwavering conviction in her actions, it's disheartening to observe how she disregards valuable advice from multiple sources. Her steadfast belief in her righteousness blinds her to the reasons behind the loss of love and adoration from the very people who initially supported her ascension to the throne.

The author's notes are an added bonus of information, and the book questions posed at the end are a fantastic addition for extra contemplation, making it book club friendly or useful in academic settings. The strengths of this book for me were the historical accuracy and authenticity, the humanizing portrayal of Mary, the insightful exploration into various aspects and phases of Mary's life and the challenges she faced as well as the complex relationships portrayed, such as sibling affection to political rivalry. These dynamics add layers to Mary's story, particularly in her interactions with Elizabeth and her unexpected revelations about Philip.

I would definitely recommend this book, particularly to anyone who loves Tudor history or historical fiction. It is enriching to the historical fiction genre, providing readers with a fresh perspective on Mary's life and reign. I'm eagerly looking forward to exploring more of the author's works, both past and future

The sad story of a troubled Queen. Mary I was the daughter of Henry VII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. He was married to Katherine for many years but divorced her because she did not give him a son and heir. Mary was eleven when her parents separated, which must have been traumatic for her, as it was for the whole country. Alison Weir's book shows Mary as a vulnerable person trying to do what she thought was best for the country, often against advice. What she wanted was to reverse the schism between England and Rome and for England to become Catholic again. Protestants were vilified by her and her supporters. Many people were put to death on her express orders, often by being the horrendous method of being burnt at the stake. A Queen of Sorrows indeed. Alison Weir's books are always readable. This one certainly is, despite the grisly end of some of her subjects.