Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

This was a historical fiction book that tells the story of Queen Mary and the members of her court. This was an interesting story that told a side of the story I had not been familiar with. I enjoyed reading about the interactions of the other women who were involved with Queen Mary.

I guess I know too much about Scottish history and Mary, Queen of Scots to truly enjoy this book. As a general historical fiction it’s ok. Overall 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

**I received a copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

The Queen's Mary is a historical fiction novel featuring Mary Queen of Scots as told from the point of view of one of her handmaidens, Mary Seton. The story spans major events in the infamous royal's life from her journey from Scotland to France as a young girl to her imprisonment by Queen Elizabeth as Mary was one of her longest serving handmaidens. This provides a great opportunity for the author to pull in the political and religious history and struggles of this time. As historical buffs know, there is a lot that happens during this period and I felt the author did a good job of summarizing the life of Mary Queen of Scots. Having it told from a handmaiden's point of view just added an element of creativity to the story telling. I recommend this book for fans of historical fiction during the Tudor era.

Absolutely loved this it is one of the better historical fiction books I have read for a long time. Will absolutely recommend.

Historical fiction certainly is one of the hardest genres to write if you ask me, at least to write well! It is demanding, involves a lot of research, and should not be too dry.

Since this book was promising me to get to know more about Mary Queen of Scots, I was slightly disappointed by how it actually turned out. The premise of the book is very interesting, but the execution could be better.

Very interesting book. ☆☆☆☆ rating, because I had an issue connecting with development of the characters. Thanks to NetGalley, for this free copy. My opinion is my own.

I'm a huge historical fiction fan so I was excited to pick this one up, but found myself a bit disappointed. While I found Gristwood's writing style to be easy to read, I wish she had spent a bit more time developing the characters. I never really felt like I got to know the Queen's Marys, which is what I was hoping for. While they were in the story, but book felt more like a series of events where they just happened to be there.

Having read many historical novels, and quite a few of them about Mary Queen of Scots, I was looking forward to the promise of this book - i.e. exploring Scotland's Queen Mary through the eyes of her four ladies, all also named Mary. But this book was a disappointment.

First, it's really not about all four Marys. It's really about one of them, Mary Seton and her perspectives on the other Marys. But not one of the Marys, including the Queen, is fully fleshed out. And as a result, I never could bring myself to care about any of them. Including the Queen.

Instead, the book felt less like a coherent story and more like an almost random series of chronological snapshots -- bits and pieces of conversations and a whole lot of silent imagining and processing that take place only in Mary Seton's brain. So the whole book becomes really a second hand story. Even the drama surrounding Mary Queen of Scots herself winds up feeling remote. Was the Queen aware of plans to kill Darnley? Was she Bothwell's lover before Darnley was murdered? Were her letters to Bothwell real or forged? There are lots of questions raised but no certain answers. Just endless speculation.

I was determined to finish but it became a bit of a chore to stay with this narrative. For me, there are many more enjoyable historical novels that tackle Mary Queen of Scots more successfully.

Fascinating view of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and her turbulent life!
The novel is a narrative of Mary Seton’s life. She was the Queen Mary's lady in waiting. As a child she was designated to serve the queen with three other Marys: Mary Beaton, Mary Fleming and Mary Livingstone. The author has done a tremendous job researching lives of all the Marys. It was interesting to follow the Queen Mary and her ladies from Scotland to France and then back to Scotland, where she tried to rule with fatal results.
I have already read two biographies of Queen Mary, by Maria Bogucka and by Stefan Zweig, so I know the events of Mary Stuart's life. In general I agree with Stefan Zweig's assessment of her. She was a women guided by passion with no deep political understanding of her country and its needs. Certainly, she was no great ruler! She was nothing like her cousin Elizabeth I, Queen of England, whose reign brought peace, power and prosperity. Still, her actions shaped the history as we know it. It is ironic that all her three marriages were disastrous in their own way. Maybe she should have been a virgin queen, not Elizabeth I. Her last choice of husband resulted in a civil war, her imprisonment, trial and forced abdication. Instead of thinking about her country and people, she followed her own narrow-minded interests. While reading "The Queen's Mary: In the Shadows of Power..." I was astonished at how selfish she seemed and how foolish! I wanted to shake her. There were people depending on her, believing in her, following her follies till their demise. She was no great judge of character, that’s for sure! She made horrendous errors in judgement. Countless times she mistook a foe for a friend and a friend for a foe. During her lifetime she was presented as a temptress, trollop, murderess and a sinner. Afterwards her life was shown in more positive light for political reasons. She became almost a saint, a martyr for Catholic faith. The novel shows historical events without judging them.
The narrator of the novel Mary Seton is deeply loyal to Queen Mary, her own family, faith and country. That’s her most dominant quality and it limits her understanding of what goes on around her. She observes lives of others without playing active part in the most interesting events. She believes that she lives to serve her queen. She doesn’t allow herself to feel, to love and to question motives of people around her. It is interesting that the author has chosen Mary Seton to tell the story. Maybe it was because she hardly ever allows her opinions and feelings to influence her, so she stays neutral to what is happening? Anyway, the history she is narrating is compelling and beautifully detailed and nuanced. It is worth reading, especially if you are interested in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots.
“She fought hard to rule a country, but that was never the woman she was meant to be. A waste of talents, you might say. But a queen is more than a creature of politics. She is a creature of story.” – quote from “The Queen's Mary: In the Shadows of Power...”
I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

Four Mary's sent to be of service to Mary queen of Scots as she prepares to leave Scotland and start her new life in France. Married to the dauphin, she is expected to be the queen of France for many years to come.
When the young King dies early, the young queen returns home to Scotland, she is hoping she can slip back into the land of her birth, but she soon finds that there are factions within the country that are not quite as happy with her return.
As their lives progress, they will all soon learn the value of friendship, and the secrets that can circulate around the court. None of them are quite as safe as they appear to be...

The story of the four Mary's was a fun read, although some of the facts seemed a little more skewed, Sarah Gristwood pulls together the story of the four ladies who stuck with their queen through thick and thin and did all that they could to keep their queen safe. The main character is Mary Seton, and her tales weaves from the leaving of Scotland, to the end of Seton's life. A fun and interesting read!

This was a terrible book. I didn't finish it because it was so poorly written and constructed. I was disappointed to say the least. Having read one of the author's other offerings, I thought it would be good.

When Mary, Queen of Scotts, was sent to France as a young child to be raised as a bride for the Dauphin, four young Scottish girls were sent along to grow in service for the future queen. As all four girls were named Mary like their young mistress, they were often referred to by their last names. This novel tells the story of Mary Smeaton as she serves in the wake of the tumultuous life of her sovereign.
A reader who is not familiar with the life of Mary, Queen of Scotts, may have trouble with this book. Names and events are often mentioned without any real explanation. Smeaton seems to often just be on the periphery with no real understanding of what is really going on around her. Therefore the reader often feels just as lost. Thank you to NetGalley and Endeavor Press for this copy for review.

I am voluntarily submitting my honest review after receiving an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley.

This book offers a unique perspective on the much covered topic of Mary Queen of Scots by telling the story of her reign in Scotland through the eyes of one of her ladies-in-waiting, Mary Seton. By using Seton as the window into the events of those turbulent years, the author offers a more dispassionate view of events than seen through the conventional approach of telling the story through the queen herself, and Seton allows us to be privy to the rumors swirling around the court, as well as the mood and feelings of the courtiers as events sweep Scotland and her people along. While it is highly unlikely the queen would ever hear directly and precisely what was being said about her at any given time both within the court and amongst the populace, and she certainly would have no idea of any potential plots being hatched Seton wouldn't necessarily be so shielded. Overall, this was an enjoyable, but unsettling read. The desperate sense of loneliness and martyrdom to family duty faced by both monarch and lady-in-waiting alike shines through in the most heartbreaking, but oddly uplifting devotion Seton shows Queen Mary throughout her entire life. The Queen's Mary offers a front row seat to one of history's most dramatic, crazy and ultimately tragic reigns.

History - Mary Queen of Scots and a new aspect of her tumultuous history. She had four ladies in waiting all called Mary. It was almost like joining a nunnery because they had to dedicate their lives and they all did to the wishes, beliefs and life of Queen Mary.



1548 and five little girls are taken from their homes in Scotland for training in France all to serve another Mary. With only vague recollections of their Scottish roots they train in France till one day a decade later they are called back to serve in their homeland. The upheaval, the uprooting, the difficulty of adapting to a new, different, harsher way of life which will show reality in all its ugliness now awaits them. Their loyalties will be tested and for Mary Seaton especially the times are going to be hard.



How she has to chart a future for herself as well without endangering in any way the views and life of the Queen are going to be a challenge for Seton. She serves the longest and she knows the Queen or thinks she knows her the best. But does she?



This aspect of Mary Queen of Scots was from a more personal side of history - her life the way it started, how she was maneuvered into not just one marriage, coerced into another and how keeping up with the formidable Elizabeth on the other side was not going to be a life of much ease. Told from the personal aspect of the women who served her, this was an uncommonly good read.

Goodreads, Amazon and on my blog all reviews posted 9/1/2017

Mary Queen of Scots is one of my very favorite historical figures. (Which isn't easy, given that her cousin, Elizabeth I, is my all-time favorite Tudor.) I have read numerous books about the life of Mary Queen of Scots, and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. "Queen's Mary" is told from the perspective of one of the four Marys who served the Queen. As children they were friends. Once Queen Mary arrived at court, so did her childhood friends as ladies-in-waiting. This Mary, outliving the queen by many years, tells the story of Queen Mary's life at different points from flashbacks and remembrances. I absolutely loved it. Any Tudor-lover would devour this book and add it to their treasured collection, as I have.

tl;dr Review:

Couldn't even finish the book.

Full Review:



I generally hate talking poorly about any book because as a writer, I know how much it sucks when someone critiques your baby. And it wasn't the writing really that made this book unbearable to me, but either way, I couldn't even finish it.

Sometimes we don't connect with books and that's ok (who am I trying to convince here? hahaha). I really did give it the old college try, but ultimately I felt like this book never got off the ground.

The Queen's Mary tells the story of Mary Seton, a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots. I was initially intrigued by the description of the book, including "Torn between her own desires and her duty to serve her mistress, she is ultimately drawn into her Queen's web of passion and royal treachery - and must play her part in the game of thrones between Mary and Elizabeth I."

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually all about some Tudor era drama and I love fantastic historical fiction.

Sadly though, this book just did not do it for me.

I think part of my problem is that the book starts when Mary and the ladies in waiting are very young (think like 5 or so). I struggle relating to stories when the main characters are children.

I know others love to read the entire arc of these characters lives, but unless they progress in age very quickly, I generally don't.

For those who love a winding historical fiction where you follow your protagonist from a young age all the way through, you may enjoy this book. It was rich in historical detail and it captured the era well.

As much as I tried though, I just could not get through it and ultimately ended up not even finishing the book.

Gristwood brings to life the story of one of history's most misunderstood monarchs in this beautifully crafted tale. The Queen's Mary is a richly woven tapestry of life in court service and all of the perks and disadvantages it brought. Though this is a fictional narrative, the author sticks close to the historical facts, and it's clear why she is one of our most celebrated Tudor historians. If you're looking for a new perspective on Mary Queen of Scots, you won't want to miss this one.

I loved this book. I never realised there were four Mary's. It was so interesting and it was great to go behind the scenes to find out what was really happening and how many people involved to ultimately protect Mary Queen of Scots.

Loved it!!! At first I was a little confused the way it keep talking about all the different Mary’s but once I got it down I loved it

Sarah Gristwood is an author of both historical fiction and non-fiction. I have read one of her non-fiction books – Blood Sisters, a biography of several of the women involved in the Wars of the Roses – but this is the first of her novels that I’ve read. It’s set in the 16th century and the queen of the title is Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary is known to have had four ladies-in-waiting, young women her own age who were also all called Mary. They were the daughters of Scottish nobility – Mary Fleming, Mary Livingston, Mary Beaton and Mary Seton. Gristwood’s novel is written from the perspective of Mary Seton.

We first meet the four Marys as children of five or six years old. It’s 1548 and they are embarking on a voyage to France where the young queen will grow up and eventually marry the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne. This forms the novel’s brief prologue and we hear very little about what actually happened in France, except when Seton looks back on the period later in her life:

"Seton could tell tales of Diane’s banquets where the white wine was made cool with snow, of music in the pavilions by the river; a tennis court where the king played dressed in white silk. Of a park where special deer wore silver collars and ornamental canals were filled with fish; and of how, when the royal children came to stay, muzzled mastiffs and even a bear were brought into the nursery."

We join the Marys again in 1561 as they return to Scotland following the death of the queen’s husband. They have now grown into young women, all with very different personalities: Fleming pretty and regal, Livingston down to earth and flirtatious, Beaton quietly passionate, and Seton herself sensible and thoughtful. However, it would have been nice if, rather than the author just telling us what the Marys were like (by comparing them to the four elements, earth, fire, water and air, for example) she had done more to convey their personalities through their speech and actions instead.

The rest of the novel takes us through the years of Mary’s reign, a troubled time of religious conflict, disastrous marriages and controversial love affairs. It can’t have been easy for a young woman returning after a long absence in France to rule over a country she barely remembered:

"It was as if the queen were groping to understand what to her – Seton thought with a chill – seemed almost to be an alien country."

The queen is lucky to have such loyal companions as the Marys to help her through these difficult years, but even they are unable to prevent her from making mistakes. She rarely confides in them or asks their advice, remaining a very lonely and isolated figure. Seen only through the eyes of Mary Seton, she never fully comes to life on the page and we never really know what she is thinking or feeling, but maybe that was intentional, to show the distance between the queen and her ladies, even after so many years together.

The story of Mary, Queen of Scots is fascinating but has been written about many times before; the stories of Mary Seton, Beaton, Livingston and Fleming are much less well known and the hope of finding out more about them was what drew me to this novel. I can appreciate that there will not be a lot of information available on the lives of these four women, but I think Sarah Gristwood did a good job of working with what we do know to flesh out each character a little bit. I do wonder, though, whether the story might have been more compelling if it had been written in the first person rather than the third, or if each Mary had been given a chance to take a turn at narrating rather than just Seton.

I did have a lot of sympathy for Mary Seton; she is the one who remains in the queen’s service as the other three gradually marry and find freedom (or if not freedom exactly, at least a form of escape) away from court. Seton’s whole life has been devoted to the queen and she gradually becomes torn between loyalty to her mistress, frustration at her lack of influence and a longing to break the bond and live her own life at last.

Although there was too much distance in this novel for me to say that I really enjoyed it (distance between one character and another, as well as distance between the characters and the reader) it was still good to have an opportunity to meet the Four Marys and to add to my knowledge of this period of history.