Marriage with My Kingdom
by Alison Plowden
New York:  Stein and Day, 1977
216 pages

I do not have the entire quartet of books in this series, only Marriage with My Kingdom which my husband found as a gift for me.

As mentioned before, the more I read the more I know I need to read.  The other books would be of interest for me as I do admire the writing of Plowden.  This title was very compelling and of a fascinating topic.  How a woman in that era, especially one of Elizabeth’s position in society, managed to evade marriage is remarkable, seemingly against all teachings, expectations and advice.

There have been many theories as to why Elizabeth avoided marriage (that is for another blog entry) and this title does not delve into them.  Plowden shows excellent knowledge for the historical issues and explains the maneuverings of the various suitors competing for Elizabeth’s hand while displaying great understanding toward the Queen.