Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy

Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy

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★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

It has been a while since I borrowed anything from the library! As expected, I took a really long time finishing this. It really tested my patience as I'm not often a reader of non-fiction, but I'm glad I completed it despite it all. I have been ⁠— and still am ⁠— in a phase that makes me highly curious of British history. Well, history of the British royals, to be exact, and this satisfied my inquiring mind.

This book sections itself into different themes per chapter, so we find ourselves dumped with information that are not in chronological order. As this is my first time completing a historical biography, I am not too certain if this is the norm. But with it not in chronological order, it can get quite confusing at times. That, and the fact that the author did not list out the key characters involved in Mary's life, makes it even more tedious to read. The family trees only helped in the first few chapters. I reached the point when I allowed myself to relax and read this as a material that only served to teach me something or two, not as a textbook. I am, after all, learning for pleasure ⁠— something that can hardly be done when in school. I began to ignore the dates and the characters (only remembering the good and the very bad ones; all the Lords involved in her forced abdication were just 'cowardly men' to me), only focusing on learning Mary's story well.

Some may say that John Guy wrote this with a biased heart. Before this book, I never really researched about Mary, so I hadn't exactly known how she had been depicted thus far. But having read the last few chapters, of how she was purposefully disgraced and portrayed to be purely a bad woman and Queen, I feel glad that this was the first book I touched on about her. She was so much more than that with her wittiness, her kind heart, and her longing for love. Of course, an open mind is required to ensure that the reader gets the most out of it. Exclamations of 'Why did you do that, Mary?' was very real and common; I could hardly bear her naivety and recklessness. But that's just it — what John Guy wrote wasn't biased, but of her flaws and strengths, and we can all see how human she was behind the duties of a Queen. She was just so like everyone else that I couldn't help but sympathise with her circumstances.

The thing I found most amazing was the fact that Elizabeth and Mary never met. It was frustrating having to read about how their plans to talk never came into fruition. What would it have been like if they were to meet? Would their friendship have grown stronger? Would Mary have made use of the chance to overthrow Elizabeth? The other burning question I have is: what would have happened if the Dauphin, Mary's first husband, had lived to a ripe old age instead of succumbing to illness so early on? Mary wouldn't have been caught in the assassination of Darnley, her second husband, and married Bothwell, her third husband, impulsively. Mary wouldn't have found herself wedded to two very ambitious and arrogant men, who were part of the reasons that led to her downfall. What would Queen Mary be like, then, in person and in the eyes of her enemies? So many what-ifs that can never be answered. *sigh*

I hope to watch the movie based on this book really soon!