Young Bess

March 1, 2010
Originally published in 1944, the first installment of Irwin's classic Elizabeth I Trilogy returns to enthrall new readers fascinated by the Elizabethian period. Brimming with vivid period details, Irwin portrays a young Elizabeth growing aware of her doomed love for the charismatic Tom Seymour, who married Elizabeth's widowed stepmother Catherine Parr (becoming uncle to Elizabeth's brother, King Edward IV). Tom, meanwhile, has grown dangerously tempted by Bess. Irwin depicts the iconic daughter of King Henry VIII and the beheaded Anne Boleyn ("Nan Bullen") with impeccable grace. After the death of her tyrannical father, leaving behind a legacy of beheaded wives and fear, Irwin suggests Elizabeth was all too aware of her inability to control her dark future, nor the fate of Lord High Admiral Tom.