Elizabeth's Rival
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
A kinswoman to Elizabeth I, Lettice Knollys had begun the Queen’s glittering reign basking in favor and success. It was an honor that she would enjoy for two decades. However, on the morning of September 21st, 1578, Lettice made a fateful decision. When the Queen learned of it, the consequences were swift. Lettice had dared to marry without the Queen’s consent. But worse, her new husband was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the Queen’s favorite and one-time suitor.Though she would not marry him herself, Elizabeth was fiercely jealous of any woman who showed an interest in Leicester. Knowing that she would likely earn the Queen’s enmity, Lettice married Leicester in secret, leading to her permanent banishment from court. Elizabeth never forgave the new Countess for what she perceived to be a devastating betrayal, and Lettice permanently forfeited her favor. She had become not just Queen Elizabeth’s adversary. She was her rival. But the Countess’ story does not end there. Surviving the death of two husbands and navigating the courts of three very different monarchs: Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and Charles I, Lettice’s story offers an extraordinary and intimate perspective on the world she lived in.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tallis (Crown of Blood) has constructed a thorough first biography of Lettice Knollys that also serves as an excellent view of the Elizabethan era from a noblewoman's perspective. For years the young Lettice was a close companion to Queen Elizabeth I, but this closeness was ruptured when, after the death of Lettice's first husband, Walter Devereaux, Earl of Essex, Lettice secretly married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the queen's "favorite" one of "those individuals closest to the monarch, who entertained them, were loyal to them, and perhaps offered the most intimate personal connection outside of their family." Lettice and the queen seldom met again during their lives, and Elizabeth never forgave Lettice for her perceived betrayal. The queen did not display the same lasting rancor toward Leicester, nor did it initially extend to other members of Lettice's family; her firstborn son, Robert, was for a time the queen's favorite after his stepfather's death. Tallis uses Lettice's 91-year life to showcase the scandals, wars, and rebellions that marked the end of the Tudors and the beginning of the Stuart monarchy. Tallis includes pictures, genealogies, a timeline, an extensive bibliography, and notes to round out this work, which is a great choice for historians and lay readers alike.
