"Mary Queen of Scots" by Antonia Fraser

 Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser

FIVE STARS!
December 2023

One description printed on the front of this biography “A book that will leave few readers unmoved.” (San Francisco Chronical) couldn’t have been more exact. Antonia Fraser’s note at the beginning of the book tells readers one of her goals was to write about Mary’s life in general terms and in the context of the sixteenth century so we might know Mary Queen of Scots as a person. I was mesmerized by this intimate look at a woman ahead of her time. Mary had royal blood from both her fraternal side (Stuart) and her maternal side (Tudor)  Her grandmother was the daughter of King Henry Vll of England and brother to King Henry VIII and Mary’s father the King of Scotland. Mary was educated in France and raised royal along-side her future husband the dauphin of France. She eventually became Queen of France until her young husband died and her position became Queen Dowager of France. By the time Mary was 16, she was next in line to the English throne after her cousin Queen Elizabeth as well as the current reigning Queen of Scotland.  This English bloodline would become the catalyst in her eventual demise. Mary was born, raised and died in her Catholic faith while practicing tolerance for the protestant domination spreading in her own country once she returned to begin her formal rule of Scotland.

Mary married Lord Darnley, a young, foolish, and immature match for level headed Mary. The union is unhappy. History is truly stranger than fiction when a murder plot is carried out that takes the life of Mary’s secretary and nearly her own life and that of her unborn son. Another conspiracy is carried out that results in Darnley’s death. The whirlwind of affairs that follows brings the Queen and country nearly to crumble. With trust in her aides and counsel destroyed, and threats at every turn Mary has a choice to make. Should she return to France where she has assets and is the Queen Dowager; and where her uncles can support and protect her? Or, should she set sail for England for the protection and support of Queen Elizabeth her cousin?

She chooses the path she believes will lead her eventually to the throne of England. Queen Elizabeth is neither supportive nor protective, as she considers Mary the ultimate threat to her reign. This one choice would put Mary in captivity for 19 years before her eventual execution in 1587. Accused of plotting to assassinate the Queen, Mary is put on trial. Here she faces the best criminal minds of the day,  a whole panel assembled to prove her guilt. Mary is not allowed paper to write on, personal letters of evidence, no solicitors or witnesses. She is stripped of every liberty to defend herself. Of course the trial is only a formality, one-sided with a predetermined outcome.

Perhaps the highlight of the biography is when this middle-aged prisoner, riddled with illness, who has been deprived of fresh air, exercise or proper nutrition, who was isolated from society and politics . . .  rises to defend herself regardless of her handicaps. I wanted to stand and applaud! Thank you Antonia Fraser!  Her oratory of defense is intelligent, strategic and powerful. Mary Queen of Scots before her judges, October 1586: "Remember that the theatre of the world is wider than the realm of England."  After nearly two decades, and on the eve of her execution Mary prevails. This was an exciting, surprising and heart wrenching story.

~Kim Luke

Book Blurb

More than 400 years after her death, Mary Queen of Scots remains one of the most romantic & controversial figures in British history. Fraser's classic biography of her won the James Tait Prize when it was 1st published in '69, became an international bestseller & was translated into 9 languages.
Mary passed her childhood in France & married the Dauphin to become Queen of France at 16. Widowed less than 2 years later, she returned to Scotland as Queen after a 13 year absence. Her life then entered its best known phase: early struggles with John Knox & the Scottish nobility; marriage to Darnley & his mysterious death; marriage to Bothwell, the chief suspect, that led directly to her captivity at the hands of Queen Elizabeth; her long imprisonment that ended with the labyrinthine Babington plot to free her & her execution at age 44.
Fraser's biography, 4 years in the writing, enters fully into the life of an historical figure who continues to capture the popular imagination, & provides an answer to the question, `What was Mary Queen of Scots really like?'