He Doesn't Love You!

The Queen's Pleasure by Brandy Purdy

Summary: When young Robert Dudley, an earl's son, meets squire's daughter Amy Robsart, it is love at first sight. They marry despite parental misgivings, but their passion quickly fades, and the ambitious Dudley returns to court. Swept up in the turmoil of Tudor politics, Dudley is imprisoned in the Tower. Also a prisoner is Dudley's childhood playmate, the princess Elizabeth. In the shadow of the axe, their passion ignites. When Elizabeth becomes queen, rumours rage that Dudley means to free himself of Amy in order to wed her. And when Amy is found dead in unlikely circumstances, suspicion falls on Dudley - and the Queen...Still hotly debated amongst scholars - was Amy's death an accident, suicide, or murder? - the fascinating subject matter makes for an enthralling read for fans of historical fiction.

Review: A much too long historical fiction novel about Robert Dudley and Amy Robsart.

There was actually very little sex which was surprising considering what I’ve heard about The Boleyn Wife, from my experience with The Tudor Throne, and the book’s title. The book also focuses heavily on Amy Robsart, which would have been fine if the damn book hadn’t been so long and if Amy was actually a character worth anything. I understand that she fell hard in lust (most certainly not love) with Robert Dudley and that the lust quickly faded. I thought she would have figured out rather quickly that Robert did not love her anymore. Instead she spends the whole book still “in love” with him and always trying to get him to come back to her.

Her pining takes up a surprising amount of the book and it downright boring to read. Robert Dudley was also an ass. I always like the idea of love between Elizabeth and Robert, but in this book, it’s only love due to his great ambition. Elizabeth has the right of it when she questions whether Robert would still love her if she wasn’t queen. I am not sure how ambitious he was in real life, but he was ambitious almost beyond believing along with constantly verbally and physically abusing his wife. Elizabeth was the only character actually worth a damn.

Rating:






Recommendation: I would recommend this book to those interested in the scandal of Amy Robsart's death.