Helpful Score: 1
This is a meticulously-researched and long (700 pp) book beginning 30 years after Elizabeth has been crowned. Though parts are a bit long-winded (I was ready to order Essex' execution many pages before Elizabeth did away with him), I thoroughly enjoyed the dual, and dueling, first-person narratives of Elizabeth and her cousin, Lettice Knollys. If you are looking for excellent historical fiction, this is worth reading, especially if you are interested in the Tudors.