There's Something About Mary

Goodness, it's been a long time since I finished a book!  It's taken me about two months to read 'My Heard is My Own', John Guy's biography of Mary, Queen of Scots.  Not a good start to 2013, but nevermind, I'm still determined!

'My Heart is My Own'
by John Guy (2004,
Fourth Estate)

'My Heart is My Own' explores the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, from her birth at Linlithgow Palace in 1542 to her execution in at Fotheringay Castle in 1587.  It's a story full of excitement and intrigue from the very beginning as Queen Mary battles forces seen and unseen to stay on the throne.  As soon as she's born, Mary is under very real threat from the Scottish nobility and they remain a thorn in her side all her life.  The key theme of Queen Mary's life seems to be 'nothing going to plan' or, if you're feeling less generous, 'bad decision-making'.  As well as her efforts to control the bickering nobles in Scotland resulting in uprising and exile, none of her three marriages go as expected and a final appeal for her 'sister Queen' Elizabeth in England ultimately leads to imprisonment and death.  In the end, even her family abandon her.  But despite all this, Mary remains a strong character and, as a reader, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd have done anything differently in her situation.  This is the story of a fallible human being, which contrasts well with the popular myth of almost unimpeachable Elizabeth I.

I didn't know much about Mary, Queen of Scots, before reading this book, which is why I bought it in the first place.  I have a lifelong admiration for Elizabeth I, which led to a less than flattering idea of Mary, a prejudice that I didn't even realise I had.  It just goes to show that powerful. positive image Elizabeth created of herself in the popular imagination has managed to survive more than 400 years.  Just as her grandfather Henry VII rewrote history to make Richard III and his predecessors wicked tyrants, she recreated herself as the venerable 'Gloriana', England incarnate, bold, beautiful, just and bountiful.  Mary, Queen of Scots, is often portrayed on screen as the opposite of Elizabeth, so I'm glad I read this book to realise that things certainly aren't that clean cut.

'My Heart is My Own' is an enjoyable, accessible read right up until chapter 22.  Unfortunately, I really hit a wall with chapters 22 (Mary's Story), 23 (Bothwell's Story), 24 (The Lords' Story) and 25 and 26 (dealing with The Casket Letters).  Up until that point, longer quotes from original sources had been kept to a minimum, so the author was in control of the narrative and able to give it pace and drama.  In these chapters, the pace changes completely and the true historian comes out, so we get longer quotes from the protagonists' letters.  Unfortunately, Mary isn't an easy writer to read and this is a stumbling block I didn't quite get over.  By this point in the book, the narrator has earned my trust and I didn't need to see all of Mary's own words to believe his interpretation of them.

The chapters dealing with the Casket Letters, a cache of probably faked correspondence used to show Queen Mary complicit in murder, was so confusing that I found myself rereading whole paragraphs to try and get to grips with them.  Really, this in depth analysis of the texts could've been consigned to an appendix, so it could still be read, but without interrupting the until then excellent narrative.  As it was, it stalled the story further and meant that the book began to lose my attention.  Reference to primary sources would be important in an essay, but wading my way through the archaic and sometimes incomprehensible language just made me feel disappointed after enjoying the book so much up to that point.

Overall, I did enjoy this book enough to want to read more by Mr Guy, but I am slightly worried that storytelling will be lost to academic analysis in his other publications.  I love history, but have to accept that I'm a casual reader without the time to take in indepth analyses of the evidence.  I need books such as 'My Heart is My Own' to balance readability with fact.  I'm very glad I read this book, however, as I've learned a great deal and gained a new perspective on an oft maligned historical figure.  It's also made me want to find out more about other figures, including William Cecil, who has also changed in my perceptions too.

I would recommend 'My Heart is My Own' to anyone with and interest in the era, but be prepared for the narrative shift in some chapters!