First published 2001
Mary Stuart stands in Notre Dame Cathedral at sixteen, dressed in white, marrying the French Dauphin at the peak of her fortune. Within a year she becomes Queen of France, but her sickly husband dies when she turns eighteen. The young Scottish queen must abandon her French dream and return to the misty, harsh land of her birth. As a Catholic ruler in a fiercely Protestant kingdom, Mary faces immediate opposition. She loves unwisely, choosing men who prove faithless and murderous. By twenty-four, her own people have cast her out. Mary flees to England, seeking refuge with her greatest enemy, Elizabeth, though Mary herself holds ancient claims to the English throne. Her gamble fails catastrophically. After years of imprisonment, Mary faces the executioner's block, having lost everything she once possessed.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, biographical-fiction, historical-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, tragic-romance
Setting: Notre Dame Cathedral, Scotland, England, France
Period: 16th Century
1216 pages · Paperback · Bastei Lübbe
Content warnings: death, violence