Four Marys are brought together to be the personal companions of the young Queen of Scots. Mary Seton, in particular, must weave her way through the politics of her time and choose where her loyalty lies.

To be honest, I did not leave this novel feeling as though I knew this woman at all. Yes, we see things through her eyes, but most of the time I felt outside of the situation. I never felt any real emotion from her, even though at times we are told she is angry.

I did learn a lot about Mary, Queen of Scots, that I didn't know before, but I didn't approach this as a history lesson.

Overall, it was interesting but didn't pull me in. I would recommend this to readers who would enjoy learning more about the Queen of Scots.

Nicola Tallis together with Sarah Gristwood is one of the resident historians on Alison Weir's Tudor themed historical tours.

I have previously read her excellent non-fiction history book “Blood Sisters; The Women behind the War of the Roses” which served as a brilliant non-fictional companion to Philippa Gregory’s Cousins fictional Cousins War series of novels (some of which were televised as The White Queen).

Here Gristwood effectively writes a fictional companion to her own non-fictional work – “Game of Queens” where Mary Stuart comes across as an anomaly – the weakest of the royal women who made 16th Century Europe.

In this novel Gristwood, inspired (as is clear from the Historical Q&A Notes at the end of the book) by her own historical researches uses fiction to give a more sympathetic portrayal of Queen Mary Stuart, written from the key viewpoint of one of the four Mary’s (Livingstone, Fleming, Beaton, Seton) who served as her lady’s in waiting.

This is a book that will appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory – just like her writing it brings to life the period in which it was set, with a focus on women of influence in a still vastly male dominated society. Just like Gregory, Gristwood brings in witchcraft. Perhaps the biggest difference in approach is that whereas Gregory so often uses the first person, Gristwood uses the third person and even at times, switches away to other points of view.

My thanks to Endeavour Press for an ARC via NetGalley.

"The Queen's Mary" isn't bad, or poorly written, or anything like that. But it left me cold anyway. I think one reason is that the protagonist seems to have little in the way of personality or character compared with those around her. Between that and the fact that she learns of, rather than witnesses, many of the pivotal events, I was left wondering why she was chosen to be the reader's eyes and ears, so to speak. The book would have been much more interesting and less distancing, in my opinion, were just about any other character the protagonist instead.

This is a wonderful historical fiction book from the perspective of one of the queens servants.

I really enjoyed this book. Excellent storyline and great main characters. I would recommend this book.

THIS BOOK WAS SO INTERESTING! I had never read a book from this point of view and I was enthralled! It sheds light on what happens behind the scenes of court and how many secrets and spies lie in wait

Aged just five, Mary Seton boards a ship bound for France and her life is never her own again. Mary is one of the four chosen ladies who accompany Mary Stuart to France to be raised in her maternal family and affianced to the Dauphin of France. Mary learns manners, etiquette and how to serve a great Queen until the day the Dauphin dies and, after a period of mourning, Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to claim her throne. Unfortunately things are not so straightforward and Mary Seton is a silent witness to scandal, murder and more as her mistress wins and loses her inheritance.

Gristwood is an excellent biographer, her book about Arbella Stuart is terrific, but this is the first fiction of hers that I have read. The premise is great, the four Marys are renowned as the ladies in waiting to Mary Queen of Scots, Mary Seton being with her throughout her captivity and at her execution. Unfortunately the book never really caught fire for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written historical novel about the early life of Mary Queen of Scots. Told through the words of one of her Marys, one of 4 handmaidens or ladies in service to the queen, the story of this tragic queen comes to life brilliantly. One of my 2017 recommendations for sure, and I will be looking for more from this talented author.

Gristwood is novelizing the periphery of the Tudor/Stuart court, this time the lives of Mary Stuart's four ladies in waiting. There's real potential here, except that she never makes the four women into identifiable characters, stays in third person, dropping on on them at seemingly random times, and gives no indication other than their jobs of why they'd stay loyal or attached to the Queen. Imagining this told in rotating first-person pov makes it immediately a lot better, but the author didn't, and it's not.