Elizabeth I Virtual Book Tour May 2011

Elizabeth I

Join Margaret George, author of the biographical novel, Elizabeth I (Viking Press, April 2011) as she virtually tours the blogosphere in May on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

Margaret George photo

About Margaret George

Margaret George is the author of six epic biographical novels, all New York Times bestsellers, featuring larger than life characters like Henry VIII and Cleopatra.  Although painstakingly accurate historically, their real focus is the psychology of the characters.  We know what they did, we want to know why. Her latest release is Elizabeth I.

Margaret’s research has taken her from the islands of Scotland to the temples of Upper Egypt, with experiences that include snake-keeping and gladiatorial training.

She lives in Wisconsin and Washington DC.  Interests include reptile conservation efforts, Middle Eastern dance (aka bellydancing), and archeology.

You can visit Margaret George’s website at www.margaretgeorge.com.

About Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I cover

It is 1588, and the showdown between England and Spain has finally come.  Elizabeth and her island kingdom stand alone against the strongest country in Europe.  Yet after that triumph, she cannot rest.  There are many other challenges to her, and the ever-hanging question of the succession to the childless queen.  Surrounded by such larger-than-life characters as Drake, Shakespeare, the Earl of Essex, Raleigh, and Francis Bacon, the queen proves bigger than all of them.

Her cousin and rival, Lettice Knollys, mother of the Earl of Essex and widow of Robert Dudley, who was Elizabeth’s love and soul mate, provides a dark counterpoint to the glittering aura of Elizabeth’s legend. Bound together in a love-hate relationship, the two women pursue their linked destinies.

Read an excerpt!

May 1588
ELIZABETH

The whip cracked and snapped as it sought its victim.

I could see the groom cowering in the bushes, then crawling away in the underbrush as the whip ripped leaves off a branch just over his head. A stream of Spanish followed him, words to the effect that he was a worthless wretch. Then the face of the persecutor turned toward me, shining with his effort. “Your Majesty,” he said, “why do you keep my whip?”

It was a face I had thought never to see again—that of Don Bernardino de Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador I had evicted from England four years earlier for spying. Now he rounded on me and began fingering his whip as he walked toward me.

I sat up in bed. I could still smell the leather of the whip, lingering in the air where it had cracked. And that smirk on the face of Mendoza, his teeth bared like yellowed carved ivory—I shuddered at its cold rictus.

It was only a dream. I shook my head to clear it. The Spanish were much on my mind, that was all. But . . . didn’t Mendoza actually leave me a whip? Or did we just find one in his rooms after he hurriedly left? I had it somewhere. It was smaller than the one in the dream, useful only for urging
horses, not punishing horse grooms. It had been black, and braided, and supple as a cat’s tail. Spain’s leather was renowned for its softness and strength. Perhaps that was why I had kept it.

It was not light out yet. Too early to arise. I would keep my own counsel here in bed. Doubtless devout Catholics—secretly here in England, openly in Europe—were already at early Mass. Some Protestants were most likely up and studying Scripture. But I, their reluctant figurehead, would commune with the Lord by myself.

I, Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England for thirty years, had been cast by my birth into the role of defender of the Protestant faith. Spiteful people said, “Henry VIII broke with the pope and founded his own church only so he could get his way with Anne Boleyn.” My father had given them grounds with his flip quote “If the pope excommunicates me, I’ll declare him a heretic and do as I please.” Thus the King’s Conscience had become a joke. But out of it had come the necessity of embracing Protestantism, and from that had grown a national church that now had its own character, its own martyrs and theology. To the old Catholic Church, I was a bastard and usurper queen; thus I say that my birth imposed Protestantism upon me.

Why must England, a poor country, be stuck with subsidizing three others—the French, the Dutch, the Scots—and facing Spain, the Goliath champion of Catholicism? God’s teeth, wasn’t it enough for me to defend and manage my own realm? The role was a sponge that soaked up our resources and was driving us slowly but inexorably toward bankruptcy. To be the soldier of God was an expense I could have done without.

Soldier. God must be laughing, to have handed me his banner to carry, when all the world knew—or thought it did—that a woman could never lead troops into battle.

Read the reviews!

“Like her heroine, George (The Autobiography of Henry VIII) possesses an eye for beauty and a knack for detail, creating a vibrant story that, for nearly 700 pages, enables readers to experience firsthand Elizabeth’s decisions, triumphs, and losses. Rather than turn Elizabeth I into a romantic heroine, George painstakingly reveals a monarch who defined an era.”

–Booklist

“George’s mastery of period detail and her sure navigation through the rocky shoals of Elizabethan politics mean this lengthy novel never flags.”

— Mary Ellen Quinn

Other Books by Margaret George:

autobiography-of-henry-viii mary-queen-of-scotland helen-of-troy memoirs-of-cleopatra

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Elizabeth I Virtual Book Tour Schedule

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Monday, May 2

Book reviewed at Book Drunkard

Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Tuesday, May 3

Book reviewed at The Book Connection

Book reviewed at One Day At A Time

Wednesday, May 4

Book reviewed at Slice of Life

Thursday, May 5

Book reviewed at Life in Review

Friday, May 6

Book spotlighted at Books, Products and More!

Book reviewed at Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog

Monday, May 9

Book reviewed and guest blogging at Always With a Book

Tuesday, May 10

Book reviewed at Bippity, Boppity Book

Wednesday, May 11

Book reviewed at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, May 12

Book reviewed at Tanzanite’s Castle Full of Books

Friday, May 13 books

Guest blogging at Tanzanite’s Castle Full of Books

Book reviewed at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

Monday, May 16

Book reviewed at Bags, Books and Bon Jovi

Tuesday, May 17

Book reviewed at Lynn’s Corner

Wednesday, May 18

Book reviewed at By the Book

Thursday, May 19

Book reviewed at Rundpinne

Friday, May 20

Book reviewed at History and Women

Interviewed at The Hot Author Report

Monday, May 23

Interviewed at Paperback Writer

Book reviewed at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, May 24

Guest blogging and giveaway at Acting Balanced

Wednesday, May 25

Book reviewed at Acting Balanced

Thursday, May 26

Guest blogging at Thoughts in Progress

Friday, May 27

Guest blogging at Lori’s Reading Corner

Book reviewed at Peeking Between the Pages

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Margaret George’s ELIZABETH I VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR MAY ’11 will officially begin on May 2 and end on May 27, 2011. Please contact Cheryl Malandrinos at cg20pm00(at)gmail(dot)com if you are interested in hosting and/or reviewing her book or click here to use the form. Thank you!

UPDATE: THIS TOUR IS NOW FULL AND NO LONGER ACCEPTING HOSTS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN ELIZABETH I BY MARGARET GEORGE!

If you would like to book your own virtual book tour with us, click here to find out how!

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