Irwin was een romanschrijfster die bekend stond om haar goed onderzochte en soms hartverscheurende historische fictie. Ze schreef met passie over de Engelse Burgeroorlog en wist generaties te boeien met de ongelukkige maar charismatische Earl of Montrose. Haar literaire benadering bracht gebeurtenissen en personages uit het verleden tot leven met een diep begrip voor menselijke motivaties en historische context.
Philip of Spain, unwilling bridegroom of Queen Mary, has been warned about the Queen's half-sister, the young Elizabeth. According to reports, she is a heretic, a rebel and a potential enemy with 'a spirit full of enchantment'. An alluring description and one that immediately intrigues, rather than deters, the foreign prince.
A brother dead; a cousin executed; imprisonment in the Tower--in the aftermath of Edward VI's demise England is in turmoil and young Elizabeth's position is precarious. But while she is prey to the Queen's jealous suspicions, Queen Mary is fading; while Elizabeth is twenty and healthy. The country looks to the young princess for its future. Imperious, high spirited, fighting for her life, Elizabeth already shows the diplomacy, the baffling changes of mood, and the power to win men's devotion for which she would be famous as Queen. This is the second book in the series started in Queen Bess.
'I doubt if anyone could create more perfectly than Miss Irwin, the illusion of a vanished age.' - Observer