Rating: 
Summary: An OK Read
Review: This book is what I would classify as an OK read. The parts dealing with Elizabeth and Robert Dudley were much more enjoyable than the diary of their "son". Whether Elizabeth I was a virgin is anyone's guess, but it is fun to speculate. I like to think that she and Dudley were lovers, but Elizabeth never had any intention of marrying anyone. When she was eight years old and Henry's fifth wife, Katherine Howard was beheaded for adultry, she told her friend Robin Dudley she would never marry anyone. If Henry VIII had been my father I would not have married anyone either! My advice to anyone about reading this book is borrow it from someone don't buy it, don't take it too seriously and I think you'll find it an OK read too.
Rating: 
Summary: Coudn't put it down, but...
Review: True, I couldn't put the book down once I started reading it. But. I found it brimming with typical chichés, the beautiful intelligent English versus the evil Spanish zealots, and it ended up spoiling what initially seemed to be a right riveting read. Disappointing. But then again, its fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Still trying to finish it....
Review: Tudor England is fascinating, and Elizabeth a worthy heroine. Whether Elizabeth was indeed the Virgin Queen is open for debate, but almost 500 years of speculation about her supposed affair with her horseman, Robin Dudley, lends a plausible air to this novel. Maxwell has done a deft job rendering Elizabeth as both majestic and at times ridiculous. Reading her interactions with her court, her relatives, and her supposed lover are an exercise in devouring truly brilliant prose. Maxwell has done well capturing Elizabeth's reign, including bits of Philip II's hatred and lust for the Virgin Queen, the troubles in the Netherlands, and the damnable Mary Queen of Scots.The only false note here comes from the passages of Elizabeth's supposed son by Dudley, Arthur. There has been exploration and speculation regarding any illegitimate children the Queen may have had, so the idea of Arthur as her son allows a suspension of disbelief. However, the passages with Arthur as narrator are extremely dull and quite pointless. After the first few, I skipped over them entirely, and found that they were recapped almost in their entirety in the following chapters. While "The Queen's Bastard" is a great read, and the subject has a distinct air of possibility, it is too long by almost 100 pages. Those pages from Arthur's journal are just unnecessary. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading this novel, and am currently reading the concluding book in Maxwell's trilogy "Virgin." I heartily recommend this novel, but do take it with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant in Thought, Marginal in Execution
Review: Tudor England is fascinating, and Elizabeth a worthy heroine. Whether Elizabeth was indeed the Virgin Queen is open for debate, but almost 500 years of speculation about her supposed affair with her horseman, Robin Dudley, lends a plausible air to this novel. Maxwell has done a deft job rendering Elizabeth as both majestic and at times ridiculous. Reading her interactions with her court, her relatives, and her supposed lover are an exercise in devouring truly brilliant prose. Maxwell has done well capturing Elizabeth's reign, including bits of Philip II's hatred and lust for the Virgin Queen, the troubles in the Netherlands, and the damnable Mary Queen of Scots. The only false note here comes from the passages of Elizabeth's supposed son by Dudley, Arthur. There has been exploration and speculation regarding any illegitimate children the Queen may have had, so the idea of Arthur as her son allows a suspension of disbelief. However, the passages with Arthur as narrator are extremely dull and quite pointless. After the first few, I skipped over them entirely, and found that they were recapped almost in their entirety in the following chapters. While "The Queen's Bastard" is a great read, and the subject has a distinct air of possibility, it is too long by almost 100 pages. Those pages from Arthur's journal are just unnecessary. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading this novel, and am currently reading the concluding book in Maxwell's trilogy "Virgin." I heartily recommend this novel, but do take it with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: A lying piece of trash
Review: Well, some people like this book, and so, WHAT!? The way the woman Maxwell treats the Pope, Philip II, Mary Stuart and everything Catholic is really hateful. How can people write such trash and yet be happy with themselves!? Shame on them!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Vivid and compelling
Review: What if Queen Elizabeth had had a child with her lover, Robert Dudley? Robin Maxwell draws upon this question as she creates the character Arthur Dudley, born a (...) to the Queen and switched at birth by a lady-in-waiting. Arthur grows up in the gentrified household of the Southern family, leading a life like that of any other English boy: riding horses, going to school, and having all kinds of troubles of his own. As an adult he participates in the wars in the Netherlands, fighting against the Spanish, witnessing years of bloody battle. It is not until he is an adult, however, that Arthur learns who his real parents were, and his "memoirs" tell us about his life leading up to that momentous occasion.
This realistic novel places the life and times of Queen Elizabeth into a clear, definitive, albeit fictional, focus. Many authors have tried to recreate Elizabeth as a person, and not many can do it as easily as Robin Maxwell did here. Life at court is visibly rendered, as are the scenes in battle that Arthur Dudley witnesses.
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