Mary, Bloody Mary

Mary, Bloody Mary tells the story of young Mary Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VIII, by his first wife (of six). It opens with Mary as a young princess, and heir to the throne. As the story continues, her father tires of is wife, Catherine of Aragon,who hasn't been able to give any male heirs that survived past early childhood, and falls in love with a Lady who lives in the palace. One named Anne Boleyn. Then Mary comes to find that the King's mistress is pregnant, and Henry is trying everything to make his legal wife consent to a divorce. (And to her dying day, she never did.) Henry finally finds someone to "divorce" him from Catherine. Upon the occasion he quickly marries Anne, who is now 6 months pregnant, and makes her Queen. Also, the King has declared Mary illegitimate, saying that his marriage to Catherine was never legal because she married his brother Arthur first, who then died , which makes Mary "unfit to rule", so no longer an heir to the throne. As Anne's pregnancy continues, Mary is brought to serve her as a maid. Then Anne gives birth--to a daughter, which is probably why she met her end the way she did. And Mary, though wrong, hates Anne for dethroning her mother, which is also the probable cause of Catherine's death, and prays daily for Anne to die. Mary is now seventeen, her half sister an infant. King Henry begins to dislike Anne more and more. After miscarrying a son and birthing a daughter, he wants to find a way do get rid of her and marry again, so as to produce a male heir. King Henry accuses Anne Boleyn of adultery, and has her beheaded on the Tower Green. Elizabeth is but three years old and she has already lost her mother. Mary is now twenty. Elizabeth, who was heir to England's throne, in place of Mary, is now also declared illegitimate. As the book ends, Mary's hope of becoming Queen as all but diminished. But she also realizes that if her father were to ever declare her a legitimate child of his legal first marriage, Elizabeth would also become a threat to her.

This book, as was life back then, can be at time somewhat gross (description of Anne Boleyn's, as well as other people's executions). I would recommend for ages 11 and up.

This book was written by Carolyn Meyer and was published in 1999.

The ISBN for Mary, Bloody Mary is 0-15-216456-1

To visit Carolyn Meyer's website click here.

To find out more about King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Queen Mary I of England or Queen Elizabeth I of England click on the links.