“Press a little harder with the pen, Mary. Your letters are all faint,” is the first sentence of Lucy Worsley’s intriguing new YA novel, Lady Mary, which follows the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

The England Tudor period has long been the center of attention in history, especially during the Henry VIII reign. You may remember him for having six wives in hopes to produce a male heir, along with how he formed the Church of England. Ironically, in the end, the throne only passed shortly to his son before passing to his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. In fact, Elizabeth I led England to what is widely known as the golden age or Elizabethan era. Because of this, Queen Mary is often forgotten by history and dubbed “Bloody Mary” due to persecuting many in an attempt to reverse the reformation. Henry VIII and Elizabeth also persecuted many, yet neither of them received the same garish title…

Now enough with the history lessons! The forgotten Queen Mary is why I was so excited to read this book to get a glimpse at her albeit fictional life. I am always curious on how she reacted to her mother’s downfall, the following throng of mothers, and relationship with her father. Even though this book is fictional, it did offer a glimpse within these area.

If you are expecting court intrigue in this book, you will not find it. This book tells the story of Mary’s childhood over the course of her teenage years, meaning she only spent a short time at the court before being exiled by her father. I don’t usually enjoy reading from children’s perspective, but I really enjoyed Mary’s perspective. She was her father’s daughter, but at the same time, Henry always came across as though he had no child. Her mother, Catherine of Aragon, both shielded her and loved her at the same time as Catherine played a dangerous game at the court.

After their separation, Mary was immediately sent away and we could see how much she had to mature and adapt in such a short time; from being a princess, heir presumptive to the throne, she became a prisoner and lady-in-waiting. She learned how to play at court, while maintaining her childhood naivety, as seen through her several missteps throughout the book. But the point is, she learned from her mistakes and showed immense growth by the end of the book.

At the same time, the focus on the character and the chosen time period provided little room for interesting storylines to unfold. Since Mary was in exile, all the intrigue and scheming happened at court with Mary merely a pawn in battle for the Queen’s seat and the war between religions. As the title suggests, this book focuses on her time as Lady Mary and stops after Jane Seymour’s death, which means we never seen her wield her power and position to eventually get that Queen title. There are some historical characters that play an important part in the effort to restore Mary, but they only appear occasionally and other than that, not much happens except for waiting and thinking for Mary.

I truly enjoyed how this book paints a picture of monarchy status and alliance at that time. Catherine and Henry’s divorce was a messy affair due the fact that Catherine is a princess of Spain in her own right, sister of the ruler at that time. Henry’s decision to marry Anne Boleyn, who grew up in France, made the alliance between France and England seem stronger, but at the same time weakened England alliance with Spain and Rome. Not to mention the long time animosity between Spain and France. Add that Catherine’s nephew was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire at that time, it seemed the battle lines were drawn between the supporters of Henry and Catherine. If only we could have seen more of Catherine’s scheming somehow.

While I love the focus on characters and inner turmoil of Mary was enjoyable, I had hoped to see more intrigue and scheming, as well as some court richness being shown. The lack of storyline caused this book to be pretty unmemorable to me, as the pages and story blurred together in forming Mary’s waiting day in exile.

However, I still recommend this if you are interested in the Tudor’s era, want to learn more about the era, or just plain curious about the life of Queen Mary!

This book was good and engaging and a quick read (I read it during 3 hour long car journeys). I found it refreshing and interesting to read about Mary from her own POV - obviously when we learn about history Mary comes across as a pretty nasty person but this book demonstrates how she took on board the lessons from her mother, Catherine, and showcased the ultimate betrayals she had to face which caused her to become the way she was.
On the other hand, I had some issues. Some of the writing was very cliche (referring to having a period as a 'bleed') and some vocabulary was used over and over again (describing the skeletal man, for example...). Also some of the sentences weren't brilliantly constructed and often couldn't tell what was going on and I'm 20! Don't know how someone of the target age would react!

I really enjoyed this book. It covers the life of Mary I, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon s daughter from when she is 9 years old and a feted princess to the age of 21 and the birth of her brother. The narrative was strong and you got swept away in the storytelling. Mary’s relationship with her mother was incredibly well created and completely believable,
The only weakness in the book I felt was the authors characterisation of Anne Boleyn whose almost caracatured presence detracted from any passage she was in. Likewise I found the portrayal of Henry VIII unbelievable, it is in my opinion the weakest part of the book.
Overall though I enjoyed this very much and would highly recommend it.

This was a refreshing, well thought out book. Cleverly plotted, it maintains focus on Mary Tudor (remembered by history as 'Bloody Mary') as a young woman, and how the breakdown of the relationship with her parents influenced her. Lucy Worsley beautifully captures Mary's relationship with her mother, taking a different approach to many writers and showing instead Catherine as someone prideful and stubborn, who loves like a lioness rather than a mother. I found their relationship to be one of the most poignant and believable aspects of the book.

The pacing was sometimes jarring, there are gaps of years between each chapter, and that sometimes makes aspects of the plot feel hurried or just glossed over. An example would be that later in the book, on learning of Anne's death, Mary thinks of her as someone she sat with many times - but as a reader I had only seen Anne in two scenes! Her presence in the book is as a constant threat more than a personality, which made the scenes after her death feel a little disingenuous.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book. Lucy Worsley has found a new way to retell one of the most famous stories in English history, and it's wonderful. It's telling that when I finished, the only real criticism that came to mind was just "isn't there more?"

I really enjoyed this. Its about a period of history about which I knew very little. There was an excellent sense of period and was obviously well researched. I will definitely recommend.

Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley

Mary is just a child when her father and mother separate. But this is no normal family break up – Mary’s mother is Catherine of Aragon and her father is Henry VIII. After years of marriage Henry wants Anne Boleyn and there is nothing he won’t do to win her, even if that means declaring his daughter Mary illegitimate and sending her off to Hatfield where she must serve as a maid to her new little half-sister Elizabeth. Removed from her mother, friends and possessions, Mary suffers everyday due to her resolution that she will never wait on Elizabeth, she will never deny her own title of Princess and she will never betray her mother who remains, in her eyes, Queen of England. There is little comfort for Mary as she grows to adulthood alone, frightened and uncared for. But Mary has the knack of finding friends in the most unlikely of places.

Lady Mary tells the story of Mary from when she is 9 years old, and happy, until she is a young woman of 21. During these years Mary is transformed, first by the appearance of Anne Boleyn in their lives and secondly by the King’s marriage to Jane Seymour. This is the story of Mary’s trials as a princess and royal figure but it is also, and more importantly, the tale of Mary’s suffering as a young person missing her parents and not quite understanding what is happening. She looks for friendship and sometimes finds it but she must also learn about dishonesty and betrayal.

This is a children’s book and I think, just like the earlier Eliza Rose, it will greatly appeal and hopefully spark an interest in this most fascinating and colourful of periods. As an older reader, there were certain parts of Lady Mary that I really enjoyed. I did like the depiction of life at Hatfield. It’s all very visual and full of little details, all reflecting Lucy Worsley’s knowledge as a curator of the royal palaces. There is also something very appealing about this portrayal of Mary. It’s so easy to warm to her and I didn’t want to put the novel down, I was so caught up in her story.

However, my biggest issue with the novel was also in this portrayal of Mary. Her religious fervour is removed and so, although I could believe in her gentleness and kindness as presented here, as a whole this depiction didn’t ring true for me. We’re given little glimpses of a possible romance, alongside quite upsetting scenes showing her brutal treatment as a prisoner, but, although she ages by over ten years through the book, her voice doesn’t change. It’s hard with hindsight to escape Mary’s legacy, that of Bloody Mary, but there isn’t a sign of any of that Catholic belief that dominated her life.

Henry VIII is equally unbelievable, in my opinion. He comes across as a bit of a fool. Some of the other characterisation isn’t subtle – Anne Boleyn is a horrifying ogress while Thomas Cromwell is as slimey as he is dangerous. Jane Seymour, by contrast, is a gentle angel. I did, though, really enjoy the scenes between Jane and Mary, and what they show about life at court. I did question the point at which the novel ended – with the birth of Edward VI. I would have loved it to have finished with Mary’s destiny – her accession to the throne.

Depth is missing from Lady Mary but in its place is an accessible and pleasing introduction to the Tudor court for young readers, and I found it much more successful than its predecessor My Name is Victoria. I certainly found Lady Mary very hard to put down, enjoying its Tudor richness and colour.

Other reviews
Eliza Rose
My Name is Victoria

Going in I didn't know anything about Mary, so learning about her was definitely interesting, though I was bored quite a bit, because for most of the book I felt like not much was happening. Just when things were starting to get interesting, it was over. I think I would've liked a little less detail on her childhood and teenage years, and a little bit more on her return to court. Not that her childhood and teenage years weren't interesting, but most of the time there just wasn't much happening? I don't know if that's because of a lack of sources on what was happening during that time, or a choice of the author. Maybe I would've felt different about this if I had connected with the writing style better, which is my next point.

The writing style was a bit too simple for me - it might be aimed at younger readers, but I don't think writing for younger teens/kids has to be simple. Just look at Harry Potter and Percy Jackson for example, both books read and loved by those older than the main younger audience. I also found it a bit weird how naive fifteen year old Anne was. Sometimes it felt like she still didn't understand how things at court worked, which I found a bit unrealistic. Not to mention that I even forgot that she was supposed to be fifteen at that point. She did grow a lot through the book as she grew older and she really stood up for herself, which was nice to see. I'm not going to call her an 'inspiration' or anything like that, as older Mary is responsible for putting a lot of Protestants to death. Just like her father and sister Elizabeth I put Catholics to death, as the author rightfully points out in her afterword. It's interesting, as she points out, that Mary has been quite vilified for doing something her father and sister did as well, just because Protestant historians told her story and she got the nickname 'Bloody Mary'. Of course all three of them were horrible for what they did, but it was interesting to read about Mary and find out what kind of person she was. And to see the affair between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn from her eyes.

Also if you ever thought Henry VIII was awful,, well boy are you in for a ride! The things Mary went through were inhumane and he didn't even acknowledge it for the most part? Or really apologise?

While reading the book I couldn't help but read up a bit more about Mary, since I'm curious like that, and Lady Mary seems like a very accurate portrayal.If you have an interest in the Tudors, or just in history in general, I say give this a go! It's definitely an interesting read and liking the writing style or not is very subjective.

Lady Mary is the story of Mary Tudor. She gives her perspective of her parents separation and eventual divorce. We follow Mary as she is moved from house to house at Anne Boleyn's command. We see her rise and then her fall and what becomes of Mary.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to Tudor fans.

Lady Mary is told from the point of view of a young Princess Mary, first daughter of Henry the 8th.

It covers the events between the ages of nine and twenty one years old in Mary's life, including her father concluding that his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was invalid which allowed him to divorce and marry Anne Bolyen. At this point Anne has Henry's ear and has Mary removed from court and banished to be a servant to her new sister Elizabeth. Mary, taught by her mother to be strong, refuses to acknowledge her sister and renounce her title and therefore becomes a prisoner in her new surroundings.

Whilst it's an interesting piece of history and I now know more about Mary's childhood, the story is rather dull. Not sure if that is the circumstances with the period of history being depicted, as the dialogue was so stilted and lacking. Some of the descriptions of the places seemed cliche.

Being aimed at teens I expected more feelings to be included, as they may empathise with Mary's situation being cast aside for a fathers new wife and child.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I’m not normally a huge fan of Tudor historical fiction- partly because in a general sense I know the Tudor period quite well. I live near Hampton Court and went to school at a place called Nonsuch ( so named by Elizabeth I) and learned about the Tudors at school. On the other hand, I dislike this period of history because of all the names. I get so confused with them all.

So Lady Mary was a real breath of fresh air because it was written for children. It was simply told. It was an aspect of Tudor history I had never considered before. Lucy Worsley says in the post script that Mary Tudor (aka Bloody Mary) has been unfairly and biasedly portrayed by anti- Catholic sentiment. Actually I believe this to be true. Mary, in her rule, is responsible for many Protestant deaths, but no more than Catholics condemned to death under her father’s rule. I hadn’t perceived it that way- more that Elizabeth was prettier and wore better dresses! I certainly never felt particularly sorry for her!

This story in this book though, happens before Mary’s reign and starts with Mary as a nine year old, when Henry is starting to sniff around Anne Boleyn. The story ends just after Edward’s birth. It was well told and although written for children, is an interesting and informative read for adults too- well this adult anyway!

The fact that is written by a historian made it really intruiging, as a fan of History I have always wanted to know more about them and getting to see what it was like for Mary Tudor growing up from a child to a young women has always fascinated me as we have always studied her after she became Queen.

And I loved getting to see everything that she went through as her Father, King Henry the eighth, went about his life as we all know it from the History books. Seeing how she first interacted with her sister and her mother was fun to see and the writing certainly brought them to life.
It was fun getting to delve into the lives back then and all the politics surrounding the Tudors.

My issue however with it was that it was very fact based and that there would be large portions of text where it would be filled with facts about the period or about the things going on rather than helping us understand the characters more. The lack of dialogue in some parts lead me to being very confused and having to re read sections to understand what was happening.

Anyone who loves history as a subject will love this book - particularly if you are a fan of the Tudor era!

I really enjoyed this book.It is supposed to be for a much younger audience than me but don't let that put you off.It is really refreshing to read a new book about King Henry the 8th from a different point if view. Mary comes across as a feisty young woman but one who understands the politics of court life. I would recommend this book to anyone who us interested in the Tudors or for someone new to historical fiction.

Mary Tudor made a mistake at birth, she was a girl, and that determined the kind of life she was going to lead with a father like Henry VIII and a mother like Catherine of Aragon. It was not easy to be the daughter of these two greats. On the one hand, her father had a highly selfish vision of life, which did not prevent him from being a great political strategist. On the other hand her mother, Spanish to the core and daughter of the greatest woman of his time as was Isabel I of Castile. All that weighed on Mary's blood.

As a child Mary noticed great indifference on the part of her father, although she herself denied that such a thing was true, as a measure of self-protection. Her mother was always by her side and certainly loved her and covered her need for affection, but she always prioritized her duties as queen, wife, (Catholic) Christian and educator. In that order. SHe instilled in Mary a strong sense of honor, virtue and dignity, she told her that a daughter of Spain never cried, that she stood firm in the face of adversity. It was probably the same lessons that Isabel of Castile gave her children, and we all know that the Spanish women are as strong or as weak as any other women. But it is important that these notions that Catherine gave her daughter got into her mind, because those were the lessons that helped young Mary survive the adversities, the negligence of her father and the cruelty of Ana Bolena towards her..

Lucy Worsley is a famous English historian. Her work as an academic is less known to the general public but her role as a communicator is priceless. Her documentaries for the BBC are more than recommended. On this occasion she narrates the years between the time when Henry VIII repudiates Catherine of Aragon and the moments after the death of Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife, who finally gave him a son, Edward, and died in childbirth (Divorced, beheaded, deceased…).

But Lucy Worsley does not tell the story, event after event, as if it were a textbook. Worsley focuses her book on Mary, what life meant for her after the separation from her parents, how her mother clung to her faith while preparing her revenge, how Henry separated mother and daughter under the influence of Anne Boleyn, how the lady Boleyn tried to reduce Mary from princess to servant of her own daughter Elizabeth, a baby of months. How Mary rebelled against her stepmother and thus Anne had her locked in an attic denying her more sustenance than a jug of water a day. And still Mary survived. And not only she survived the Anne’s schemes but also the betrayals and deceptions that she suffered from the right hand of the King Thomas Cromwell, a great political strategist who, nevertheless could not defeat Mary.

The book goes further, after the fall of Anne, Mary’s father call her’s to court. There she finds a second mother in Jane Seymour, the third queen, but soon loses her when she gives birth to Edward VI.

That is the story of Mary, who grows from preadolescent to young woman thanks (in want of a better word) to blows and injustices done to her, because with her parents in tug-of-war, their minds set on a kind of real-life chess; Mary was no more that a pawn without color, a marionette that they threw at each other but who also learned, grew, matured and who was constantly aware of what was happening around her. Even in moments when she was about to die of starvation, Mary watched and learned.

Mary I was known as " Bloody Mary" for the persecution she exercised over the Protestants after the restoration she carried out of the Catholic faith. However, according to Worsley, this treatment of her figure given by later historians is unfair. For all the lessons learned from her mother and everything she learned during her father's reign, Mary was a great queen. She did nothing that other kings did not do before or after her (for example, Henry had crushed Catholic rebellions and Elizabeth persecuted the Catholics and reinstated the Anglican faith). But the greatness of her sister Elizabeth and the power she retained eclipsed to some extent Mary's reign. However, again according to Worsley, it is more than possible that Elizabeth learned to be queen from her sister's example.

The book is aimed at a young audience, however anyone can read it because it does not use a condescending speechs as is usual in historical fictionalized books written for young people. What I found somewhat disconcerting is that it is written as if Worsley had transcribed a script for one of her impressive documentaries. It took me a long time to get into the story, but I persisted and in the end it was very interesting. I'm also convinced that if Lucy Worsley had read the book aloud or had told me the story herself I would have enjoyed it much more.

What sold this book to me was a quote from the Times; "Wolf Hall for the Skins generation” - I found this quite funny after reading this book, because it feels like whoever wrote this never watched Skins before, because this book is nowhere close to this description.
I did enjoy this book. I love reading historical fiction, and I love stories about King Henry VIII. It was very interesting reading a book with Mary's point of view, specially when you know what she was like historically.
Though reading from her point of view made me quite sad. This book is history through a child/teenagers eyes, and it's just sad to think that is what she actually went through. I don't know how much of this book is historically correct, but it shows the possibility of what point of view Mary might had as a child looks like.

I really enjoyed Victoria, and Lady Mary is just as good. I don't know a lot about the English monarchs, but these books make them really come alive and I can understand them and what they fought for. This would tie in really well to a history lesson, or for anyone reading The Prince and the Pauper for that matter!

A fantastic read, I enjoyed it very much.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

Okay so maybe Mary wasn’t so bad after all; you’ll believe me when you read this. Even if you weren’t familiar with how many lives Mary’s reign might have destroyed with her seemingly aggressive approach, you’ll definitely be familiar with the theory, and certainly those surrounding Henry VIII and his many wives!

What’s interesting about this story though, alongside that perfect blend of fact and fiction, is the relationships between key players during this time and how these relationships may have shaped Mary, and perhaps even her successors, to become the vengeful ruler she was alleged to be. True or not, it’s definitely some fun food for thought and it’s fun to imagine these well known figures interacting with each other more personally than a non-fiction book or documentary could capture.

I hadn’t even considered much of what is included in this book and the creativity with the storyline, whilst still holding true to things historians know to have happened, really made me question if Mary was just misunderstood, or maybe if I just understand the method behind her madness now!

I loved Mary and her relationship with her mother most of all. This book perfectly captures the bond between mother and daughter, but also the allies we often find in our parents, and this really made the characters shine for me.

An interesting book, with a slightly slow pace, but a really compelling character in Mary.

We see Mary go through a lot from the divorce of her parents, to her banishment from court by Anne Boleyn and reconnecting with the King when he marries Jane Seymour. Due to the nature of what happened to Mary, she spent a lot of time by herself away from the action of the court. This made the book a bit slow in places and not a lot happened.

Something that really came across in this book was Mary's strength and determination. She was determined to stick by what she believed in and she showed great strength with the lengths that she went to. I think the story really highlighted how difficult it must have been for her at the time. So many books follow Katharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn during this time so this is unique as I haven't seen anything that focuses on a young Mary.

I always like Lucy's books as although they are works of fiction you can tell that a lot of research goes into them and the story feels as if it could be real. I really liked this interpretation of events. I am hoping that Lucy will write more books like this as I really enjoy them.

Another 'female perspective' for younger readers. Tudor history brought home to teenagers.

I've read and loved all of Lucy Worsley's other YA/children's books, she has a knack, a little like Jacqueline Wilson, for bringing out the voice - the desires, the frustrations, the idiosyncrasies - of real historical figures in their youth and breathing life into them for contemporary readers.

Worlsey returns to the Tudors, this time heading straight for the controversial Queen Mary, when she was a girl. Readers will be fascinated by the story of her separated parents, the second wife of the King, her mother's political striving and struggles. And Mary's own demotion from royalty as punishment for not accepting the situation. The spirit she shows here, while we may not have proof of every action, does give rise to a feeling that Mary must have acted unlike most women of her time.

Mary is born an heir, but eh tempestuous situation of her youth, such a key time in history, gives this book many tense and surprising times, as Mary is treated in ways readers will be shocked at.

With social history and details aplenty, this will be much loved by history teachers (even if it strays from truth into speculation here and there) and any young reader who likes tales set in the past.

I began re-watching 'The Tudors' while reading this, and it also inspired me to learn more about some of the figures presented within it (Cromwell, Anne Boleyn), and I love books that encourage me to consider well-known stories from perspectives I hadn't given much credence.

Lucy Worsley seems to write naturally for her readers, the style personal and flowing, without resorting to old-fashioned language but giving plenty of historical detail to bring the scenes around them to life. This was a fairly short but engaging historical read, one I'd be recommending in a school library to Years 7-9 particularly.

With thanks to Netgalley for the sample e-copy, provided for review purposes.

Lady Mary tells the story of Mary Tudor, Daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon as told by TV Historian Lucy Worsley, the book itself is aimed more towards the younger teen side of young Adult but as a 30 year old, I really enjoyed this book, the Tudor period is a particular point in history that has always fascinated me so I went into this knowing with a bit of background on these characters and as you would expect with the author being a historian, it was very factual and doesn't stray from the history books. I loved reading this from the view point of Lady Mary who is sometimes lost in history for her fairly short reign that preluded the much more notorious Queen Elizabeth but Mary really does have such a fascinating story. Each chapter starts with the year and also which home or palace Mary was staying in that time, I quite liked looking them up as I was reading to help build a picture of what it was like.

As I mentioned, this is aimed towards the younger demographic but even if as an adult you just want to delve into British History a little more, this is a really enjoyable read, we're introduced to characters in this that you will likely have heard of such as Thomas Cromwell, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn and you start to get a picture of what they were really like from the viewpoint of Mary. Also, Lady Mary was a child from a broken home so there's themes of this throughout the book as she tries to come to terms with her parents separation along with themes of religion and politics with the books showing the birth of the Church of England with King Henry VIII denouncing the Catholic Church so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

Finally, this book shows a very strong female character as the lead, who fought on even in the face of adversity, obviously sometimes this was a little extreme and historically Mary with her moniker of Bloody Mary is known as being ruthless and savage but my view point is that she was no different to any other leader in this time period, I see her as a great role model for younger girls as someone who truly believed in her self and her beliefs and wasn't swayed by people that tried to tell her she was worth less. A great read and definitely one I'd recommend for anyone interested in Lady Mary.

4 stars for this historical fiction aimed at children and young adults.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lady Mary, Lucy Worsley's novel about the childhood and young adulthood of Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. A writer has to know her history extremely well indeed to be able to narrate a story so simply and clearly - and that this is the case with Lady Mary should come as no great surprise since historian Lucy Worsley is well known in the UK as a presenter of popular BBC TV historical programmes.

Through Mary's eyes we are shown huge events in English Tudor history including the political intrigues and religious upheaval sparked by Henry's dissatisfaction with his first wife Catherine and his infatuation with Anne Boleyn. We learn how it affected Mary that her father described himself as childless because he had no male heir, and we feel with Mary how it was to be a pawn in turbulent times: that she was stripped of the title of Princess Mary when her parents' marriage was dissolved, that she was manipulated, mistreated and half-starved is all shown painfully clearly.  Mary may be hurt, lonely, and unsure what to do at times, but the writer also makes obvious her determination and dignity. Many readers' knowledge of Mary is restricted to her nickname as queen: Bloody Mary. This novel of her early years offers some nuance and balance, and it is also a really enjoyable read.