Elizabeth and the many women in her orbit and their influence

Comprehensive study about the women who surrounded and perhaps influenced Queen Elizabeth the First. Author Tracy Borman dissects every female relationship and the many ways their orbit intersected with the woman who ruled England. Usually we read about Cecil, Raleigh, Essex, Dudley and a host of males that revolved around the queen, the female's in her life are largely ignored. Borman starts with Ann Boleyn, and works though each woman from Kat Astley, to her many ladies in waiting, to show how their interaction played a role in Elizabeth's decisions. While we usually see Elizabeth as that larger than life warrior, who envisioned herself as a Renaissance prince, stories like the one of her stealing Lady Mary Howard's gaudy dress and wearing it despite it being too short for her, ruining it for the younger woman, presents the queen in a surprising new light- that of a jealous female not above petty spite, rather than the image of Gloriana she preferred.

Happy Reading!
Carole P. Roman