I loved this book and can't believe I had never heard of Jean Plaidy, a writer of more than 200 books. With In the Shadow of the Crown, Jean Plaidy brings to life the dark story of a queen whose road to the throne was paved with sorrow. Swayed by fanatical advisors and her own religious fervor, Mary made horrific examples of those who failed to embrace the Church, earning her the immortal nickname " Bloody Mary." She was married only once, to her Spanish cousin Philip II-a loveless and childless marriage that brought her to the edge of madness.
It was, she felt, a sign from God-proof that England should return to the Catholic Church. In a stroke of fate, however, Henry's much-longed-for son died in his teens, leaving Mary the legitimate heir to the throne. Lonely and miserable, Mary turned for comfort to the religion that had sustained her mother. Worst of all, she never saw her beloved mother again Katharine was exiled too, and died soon after. He divorced her mother and, at the age of twelve, Mary was banished from her father' s presence, stripped of her royal title, and replaced by his other children-first Elizabeth, then Edward. The father who had once adored her was now intent on having a male heir at all costs. But her father's ill-fated love for Anne Boleyn would shatter Mary's life forever. Red-haired like her father, she was also intelligent and deeply religious like her staunchly Catholic mother.
She was the daughter of Henry's first queen, Katharine of Aragon, and was heir presumptive to the throne of England. As Henry VIII's only child, the future seemed golden for Princess Mary.
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