The heart wants what it wants…
Young, vivacious Mary Stuart is a widow for the first time before reaching the age of twenty-one.
With her husband, the frail King of France, now gone, she returns to her native Scotland, eager to be loved once more.
What she finds is a dour, bleak kingdom occupied by suspicious fanatics, so far removed from the gallantries of the French court that it seems another world entirely.
A Catholic in a country of Protestants, Mary must rule over people who distrust her every move.
Still young, and in need of an heir, Mary looks forward to making a marriage that can give her some of the love she craves.
But her royal cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, repeatedly vetoes proposed matches, seeking to maintain a measure of control over her younger sister.
Tired of having her options refuted, Mary allows herself to fall into a flirtation with the weak, drunken Lord Darnley, blinded to his failings by his pretty face and her desperate desire to feel loved.
Deliriously happy for a few short weeks following their marriage, Mary swiftly realises that Darnley is not who he first seemed.
Increasingly repulsed by Darnley’s touch, Mary is drawn towards the devil-may-care Bothwell, whose liaisons with women are many and never long-lived.
A relationship with Bothwell is forbidden, as both are married.
But neither can resist…
Surrounded by cunning, watchful men, Mary treads a dangerous path between being a queen and a woman, a ruler and a lover — all too conscious that everywhere she turns traitors are waiting, swords in hand, for her downfall.
'A compelling historical drama.' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of The Lunar Code
Philip Lindsay (1906–1958) was an Australian writer, who mostly wrote historical novels. He was the son of Norman Lindsay, an Australian artist. His novels often treated his subject matter in a dark fashion, with his central characters depicted as brooding, depressed, or disturbed characters. In addition, he did some work for the film industry. He was one of a team of writers on Song of Freedom and Under the Red Robe, and was a technical advisor on The Private Life of Henry VIII.
Young, vivacious Mary Stuart is a widow for the first time before reaching the age of twenty-one.
With her husband, the frail King of France, now gone, she returns to her native Scotland, eager to be loved once more.
What she finds is a dour, bleak kingdom occupied by suspicious fanatics, so far removed from the gallantries of the French court that it seems another world entirely.
A Catholic in a country of Protestants, Mary must rule over people who distrust her every move.
Still young, and in need of an heir, Mary looks forward to making a marriage that can give her some of the love she craves.
But her royal cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England, repeatedly vetoes proposed matches, seeking to maintain a measure of control over her younger sister.
Tired of having her options refuted, Mary allows herself to fall into a flirtation with the weak, drunken Lord Darnley, blinded to his failings by his pretty face and her desperate desire to feel loved.
Deliriously happy for a few short weeks following their marriage, Mary swiftly realises that Darnley is not who he first seemed.
Increasingly repulsed by Darnley’s touch, Mary is drawn towards the devil-may-care Bothwell, whose liaisons with women are many and never long-lived.
A relationship with Bothwell is forbidden, as both are married.
But neither can resist…
Surrounded by cunning, watchful men, Mary treads a dangerous path between being a queen and a woman, a ruler and a lover — all too conscious that everywhere she turns traitors are waiting, swords in hand, for her downfall.
Praise for Philip Lindsay
'A compelling historical drama.' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of The Lunar Code
Philip Lindsay (1906–1958) was an Australian writer, who mostly wrote historical novels. He was the son of Norman Lindsay, an Australian artist. His novels often treated his subject matter in a dark fashion, with his central characters depicted as brooding, depressed, or disturbed characters. In addition, he did some work for the film industry. He was one of a team of writers on Song of Freedom and Under the Red Robe, and was a technical advisor on The Private Life of Henry VIII.
