My Heart is My Own

Ever since I was 11 years-old and read Stephan Zweig's biography of her, Mary, Queen of Scots has fascinated me. Zweig's account of her tragic existence and of her beauty made a long lasting impression on my imagination. Since then, I have come to see that Mary's life and death, her rivalry with Elizabeth I, and her claim to the English throne played an important part in the history of Britain and indeed in that of Europe.

That is why I wanted to read the latest serious biography of Mary, John Guy's My Heart is my Own (the title is a very meaningful phrase in a letter from Mary to Elizabeth), which I really enjoyed. "History is written by the victors", Churchill said, and undoubtedly much was written about Mary in the 16th and 17th century which wasn't true and that is still reflected in many history books. It was great to read a scholarly, thoroughly researched and very well written book that tries to set the record straight. It's the remaking of history.

Synopsis

A long-overdue and dramatic reinterpretation of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots by one of the leading historians at work today. She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at sixteen years; at eighteen she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At twenty-five she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her. The life of Mary Stuart is one of unparalleled drama and conflict. From the labyrinthine plots laid by the Scottish lords to wrest power for themselves, to the efforts made by Elizabeth's ministers to invalidate Mary's legitimate claim to the English throne, John Guy returns to the archives to explode the myths and correct the inaccuracies that surround this most fascinating monarch. He also explains a central mystery:whay Mary would have consented to marry - only three months after the death of her second husband, Lord Darnley - the man who was said to be his killer, the Earl of Bothwell. And, more astonishingly, he solves, through careful re-examination of the Casket Letters, the secret behind Darnley's spectacular assassination at Kirk o'Field."