Unfortunately, I really struggled with this book. It almost lost me in the first chapter, and I was glad to have persevered for a time because it did get better. However, I gave up around the 75% mark because I had just completely lost the thread.
The author is extremely knowledgeable and I had such high hopes for this book. But unfortunately, in its current format, it is just a 'no' from me. It jumps around too much to have any real idea of who/what is being discussed. In places, there are a LOT of things that would have been better in footnotes, but they are just in the text which makes reading it a bit clunky. In this format, it feels a bit like an extended essay, which is still in draft form.
I would be interested in giving this book another go, once it has been through further editing and reframing, but unfortunately, at this time, this book has made it onto my 'did not finish' list.
A real shame.

There is a range of different people and events are introduced and primary examples given throughout the book. Decent if you are looking into these areas.

Pritchard sets out to answer the question of how people in the Elizabethan age viewed sex, marriage and love. He starts of with the common people and then moves on to Queen Elizabeth the first and her court. I really enjoy reading about Tudor history and this book certainly didn't disappoint. Thank you for the Netgalley copy.

This was a pretty fun book that was also really informative. We often hear about the art, theater and literature of this era as well as wars and politics but we never hear much about the personal and sex lives of the people, R.E. Pritchard rectifies that. Digital ARCs of nonfiction are unfortunately a little disjointed and this copy falls into that area with no table of contents and each chapter and section just smashes into the next. This is heavily researched and all the references are in the text and not a footnote which I prefer. I hope more authors decide to tackle sex and sexual mores of the last. Most often it can only help us understand the sexual mores of today.

Interesting, informative and well written! This book grabbed my interest from the first chapter and held it through to the last chapter. A definite must read for anyone interested in the time period

I don't get the purpose of this book... There's hardly anything original in it, it's just all quotes with a teeny, tiny bit of commentary. If I wanted to read sonnets, poems and plays - I would just read them! I don't mind that these things were the point of departure for Pritchard, but that's just the thing. The book never actually departed. It was really just quotes. Like the IKEA of books, some assembly may be required.

I enjoyed this book - it gave an extra level of information about attitudes to sex and marriage into the late 1500s and into the early 1600s. I was grateful for the primary sources which were quoted, sometimes at length - and liked how the author drew on different types of evidence - how lucky we are that we have a doctor's diary left from the age! I did feel at the end that the book strayed a little too much into politics surrounding Elizabeth, the men around her and also Mary Queen of Scots, but that could just be me as I already knew quite a bit about this. I imagine it is good for a reader fairly new to the era to place everything into context. I thought overall that the author managed to portray attitudes using a variety of sources and it was relevant to all sections of the society.

A well written historical account of the times. It was much more seriously written than I expected.
It was highly informative.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

For someone brought up on the saucy innuendos of ‘Carry On ‘ films, this book is a frank and open account of the Sex and scandals, pills and potions and very unusual ways of contraception, as employed by the Elizabethan age. These people were bold, bawdy and refreshingly open about sexual matters, their morals were indeed dubious and lax.
Taken from accounts of the Court procedures of that time, love letters, poems, plays and stories, this is a wonderful intimate, yet universally acknowledged tale of the trials of marriage, usually performed for land and titles, wealth and children to carry on the succession, there was not much mention of love. Courtly manners and the pursuit of love is contrasted with the casual rutting of the lower classes, children were produced and given away, sold into employment, or the poor law in various parishes took them in.
The seedy side of life was also recounted, brothels, whores, and Ganymedes , sexual diseases, Gonorrhoea and the pox, and the dangerous medicinal cures that were in favour , Mercury and lead, that led to disfigurement and poisoning.
The enigma of Queen Elizabeth the first is dealt with. The Virgin Queen had many admirers, or lovers, but did she have children? I have always found it a strange thing to say, that she was “ of barren stock” , when Mary, Queen of Scots had a baby son, how did she know, unless she had tried to conceive, or didn’t have periods. The general consensus is because her mother and step mother were both executed, she wouldn’t have children. She was certainly harsh to her Ladies- in - Waiting when they didn’t seek permission to marry.
I really enjoyed this book, it was a real eye opener! Well researched, quirky and easy to read. I shall use this a a reference book whenever I read novels set in this time, as it is my favourite era.
Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC, in return for my honest review. I shall post also on Goodreads and Amazon when the page is open. I have given this a four star read.

Action, adventure, drama, heartache, and love are what people crave when they read fictional stories. Yet, these elements are ever-present in the stories from the past. Each one of these topics could be explored in numerous ways when we are discussing history, but an area in history where romance and love were intermingled with politics was Elizabethan England. Queen Elizabeth I was obviously known as the “Virgin Queen” because she chose not to marry, but that did not mean that her subjects were banned from love and marriage. How did Elizabethans view the ideas of love, marriage, and sex? In this book, “Sex, Love, and Marriage in the Elizabethan Age”, R.E. Pritchard sets out to explore what love, marriage, and the intimate moments meant to Elizabethans of every class.

I would like to thank Pen and Sword Books and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book. The Elizabethan era has been one of my favorites time periods to study so I am always interested in learning some new aspects about that period in history.

Pritchard begins his book by discussing what love and marriage meant for the commoners in Elizabethan England. These relationships were essential for how the average person identified themself in society. He explores the scandalous relationships, rapes, adulterous affairs, and love of every kind through popular literature and journals that lesser-known figures kept during this time. I found this section particularly fascinating since I have never seen a book about Elizabethan England explore the literature of the time with such a narrow lens. I think it would have been cool if Pritchard would have done mini historiographical studies into why certain poets and authors wrote what they did to give more depth to the words that they wrote.

The second half of this book explores the romantic lives of Queen Elizabeth I and her Court. This is where I felt a disconnect with what Pritchard wanted to achieve with this particular book. It felt like a review of Elizabeth’s life and her numerous suitors vying for her hand in marriage. There are so many books out today about Elizabeth’s love life that explored this topic in so much depth and by comparison, it made this section of Pritchard’s book feel weaker than the first half.

I wish Pritchard would have focused on perfecting the first half of the book and exploring the amorous relationships of the average Elizabethan. There are sparks of brilliance, but they are marred by the second half of this book. If Pritchard wanted to include the section about the queen’s love life, I wish he had it at the beginning as a chapter or two to make it very brief and to set the mood, then jump into the lives of average Elizabethans as a comparison.

Overall, I felt like this book had the potential to be something special, but Pritchard tried to do too much in one book. He is passionate about the subject that he is writing about, which is obvious to those who read this book, but he was over-ambitious. I think his original research and ideas were fascinating and I want more of that new angle to romance in Elizabethan England that he was presenting. If you want a unique look at love and marriage in the late Tudor dynasty, you should give, “Sex, Love, and Marriage in the Elizabethan Age” by R.E. Pritchard a try.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I have a passion for history and in particular the Tudor age so was thrilled to be able to read this and it certainly did not disappoint

Including information from original sources, this was an exceptional read

This was a wide reaching overview of the time and I found it fascinating

Would highly recommend

Sex, Love and Marriage in the Elizabethan Age gives a fascinating look into the other side of Elizabethan society – the private behaviours and scandals separate to the courtly romances that we are more familiar with.

For a society headed by a Virgin Queen, sex was commonly written about in both prose and poetry, and I loved the excerpts from original sources particularly the private diaries, letters and court documents.

The snippets from Simon Forman’s journal in particular were more scandalous than a modern day soap. Full of Elizabethan gossip, affairs and a lot more casual sex than you would expect from courtly ladies and gentlemen.

Some of the Elizabethan views on how children are conceived and consent are horrifying to modern audiences but give insight into their laws and beliefs, as well as the impact of religious teachings at the time.

It was also really interesting to learn more of women’s fashion and the introduction of non-gendered (or what they considered masculine) forms of dress, giving rise to criticism from male contemporaries. The female sexual revolution appears to have begun much earlier than I was aware.

A great book for academic purposes or research, rather than a more lightweight historical text, and a little heavy on poetry in places for my taste, but all round a really fascinating read!

If Amy Licence delighted us back in 2012 with the publication of "In bed with with Tudors" and the sexual shenanigans of that most glorious but very dysfunctional family in English history, R.E. Pritchard has decided to give us a more panoramic view of the sexual mores & customs of an entire generation under the reign of the Virgin Queen.
This delightful book covers every aspects of the English social life & customs around love and relationships during the second part of the 16th century with lots of delicious details & plenty of wit. From courtship to engagement, from marriage to childbirth from divorce to adultery the author give us a panoramic view of the emotions of the Virgin Queen's subjects. All the aspects of human love and its consequences are artfuly dissected in this wonderful book from the nitty gritty emotions of ordinary daily life to its many representations in literature & popular culture. A very sophisticated overview of the human heart and its emotions under the most sophisticated Tudor monarch, Queen Bess.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Pen & Sword for the opportunity to read this wonderful book prior to its release date

A great reference full of interesting facts that made me want to read more. I found it hard to put down and finished in a weekend.

Elizabethan life, literature and history is intriguing and we often wonder how people lived in other times, what drove them, what delighted them, their differences and similarities to us now, what their love lives were like. This book offers us even more glimpses into the private (and not so private) lives of all classes from the poor to royalty. We are, after all, human beings.

Along with other informational details the author includes the meanings of "halek" and "occupy", the marrying ages of both women and men, the role of politics, the reasons for marriage which often excluded love in all classes, the prevalence of syphilis (the "pox"), dowries, short lifespans which meant a high prevalence of sexual crimes, church views, propriety vs. impropriety, those blighted due to connections, seasonality of reproduction in the poor class and the hands-off approach of the upper class in raising children. Many examples were given including known and lesser known people. Important writers of the day such as Shakespeare often wrote about sex and love, subtly sometimes and less than subtle at others. You will read some of his quotes.

Wives were "kept in order" by their husbands and often all that mattered was having heirs. There were tomboys, there were plenty of affairs (always the woman's fault in adultery and other things). Fashion, believe it or not, also factors.

The illustrations at the back are useful. I had no idea that a sieve signified virginity in portraits of Queen Elizabeth! This is what is immensely enjoyable about such books...they teach and enlighten. History lovers should read this witty book. You are bound to get a lot out of it.

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this thought-provoking book!

I found this book merely "okay". It wasn't what I was expecting. Full of quotes from poems and other sources; it made the book seem like the author really didn't want to write it by themselves.

A fascinating glimpse into love and marriage in Elizabethan times. The text has a wealth of original, contemporary sources and it takes a little while to ‘tune in’ to the language of the time but trickier parts of the prose are given further explanation which is helpful. Strange to say but I would have preferred the balance to be slightly tipped towards more modern narrative as this would have made easier reading and the text less subject to mis interpretation but reading in smaller chunks and concentrating still mean it was manageable to the uninitiated reader. Overall very informative and interesting.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

I gave up on this book about 33% in. Its not that the topic is uninteresting. I just couldn't get on with the style. This felt more like an academic paper than the kind of history non fiction I enjoy. I really gel more with a style like Ruth Goodman. This isn't at all to say that the book is bad but that it isn't for me.

This investigates sex,love and marriage in Elizabethan England by means of drama,prose,ballads and verse of the era.As anyone knows who likes this period the Elizabethans loved love or at the very least the idea of it.They talked about it,wrote about it and sang about it but what did they actually mean?This book points you in the right direction.From Kings,Queens and Shakespeare to the ordinary man or woman on the street we are given many stories,poems,letters,sermons and journal examples of what each thought about it.Some were quite fascinating particularly the church court records,the ordinary man's experience and the stories from Queen Elizabeth's courtiers and of course Elizabeth's own story.Other examples weren't so interesting but the author does provide explanations for some of the poetry and songs which made the book a lot easier to read.I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and Pen & Sword books so a big thank to them for providing me a copy.

If it's something I enjoy when it comes to history of any kind is to know that people has been pretty much the same through the ages, it gives of a sense of being connected both to history and also one’s humanity in a way. This is why I often request these types of books, they make me happy.

However, I didn’t quite connect to Pritchard’s book in the sense that it didn’t really describe the given topics in the sort of way I would have preferred. There’s a lot of reference given to real people and the documents they’ve left behind, but maybe a tad bit too much as it was hard to differentiate what was a reference/source to what was Pritchard’s actual writing.

Therefore this book was quite middle of the road for me, and I’m rating it accordingly.