One of my favourite (and most popular) series returns with a new installment- my period drama book recommendations! I know that I am absolutely not alone in looking for books to give you the same feeling as a particular period drama. Sometimes you just want to stay in a world for as long as you can. And quite frankly, with there being how many millions and millions of books out there, it can be hard to know upon first glance. For this month’s post, I’m going with a contentious period drama choice. These are the best books if you love Reign!
This list features both fiction and non-fiction books. However, there are no books with the supernatural elements that featured in the first season of Reign. (That simply isn’t one of my preferred genres of books, so I don’t have any to recommend.) If you want that element, there are four Reign novels that have supernatural storylines! (I’ve not read them either, so I can’t say whether or not they are worth it.)
The Best Books If You Love Reign
Mary, Queen of Scots, Antonia Fraser
More than 400 years after her death, Mary Queen of Scots remains one of the most romantic & controversial figures in British history. Fraser’s classic biography of her won the James Tait Prize when it was 1st published in ’69, became an international bestseller & was translated into 9 languages.
Mary passed her childhood in France & married the Dauphin to become Queen of France at 16. Widowed less than 2 years later, she returned to Scotland as Queen after a 13 year absence. Her life then entered its best known phase: early struggles with John Knox & the Scottish nobility; marriage to Darnley & his mysterious death; marriage to Bothwell, the chief suspect, that led directly to her captivity at the hands of Queen Elizabeth; her long imprisonment that ended with the labyrinthine Babington plot to free her & her execution at age 44.
Fraser’s biography, 4 years in the writing, enters fully into the life of an historical figure who continues to capture the popular imagination, & provides an answer to the question, `What was Mary Queen of Scots really like?’
Why You Should Read This…
Yes, this biography is over 50 years old now but it remains one of my favourite biographies, period. If you want to know the history behind Reign, there is no better place to start.
This biography is beloved amongst those interested in Mary Stuart, and for good reason. While there are newer (equally wonderful) biographies, Fraser’s is referenced frequently throughout them. Notably, Fraser covers a lot of what-ifs- and with Mary, there is no shortage of questions to ask. While it is several hundred pages long, there is also an abridged audiobook if you would like a more brief introduction to Mary.
The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots, Carolly Erickson
In this dramatic, compelling fictional memoir Carolly Erickson lets the courageous, spirited Mary Queen of Scots tell her own story—and the result is a novel readers will long remember.
Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third marriage to the dashing, commanding Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
Unable to rise above the violence and disorder that swirled around her, Mary plucked up her courage and escaped to England—only to find herself a prisoner of her ruthless, merciless cousin Queen Elizabeth.
Why You Should Read This…
Is this book the height of literature? No, that it is not, but it is highly entertaining and quite frankly, very much in the vein of Reign. It is quite liberal in regards to historical accuracy, but it is a fictional telling of Mary’s life. I’m going to be blunt- if you enjoy Reign, you probably aren’t married to accuracy in your historical re-tellings, and you will enjoy this, as well! (I am not fussed with accuracy in fiction and love Reign, so there is no judgement from me.)
Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart, John Guy
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: why 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. With great pathos, Guy illuminates how the imprisoned Mary’s despair led to a reckless plot against Elizabeth – and thus to her own execution.
The portrait that emerges is not of a political pawn or a manipulative siren, but of a shrewd and charismatic young ruler who relished power and, for a time, managed to hold together a fatally unstable country.
Why You Should Read This…
This is the newer “it” biography of Mary and served as the basis for the Saoirse Ronan/ Margot Robbie Mary, Queen of Scots film. Guy takes quite a balanced approach to Mary and her life, which quite frankly is oftentimes missing. People like to treat Mary as a dumb, emotional woman whose only defining characteristics were her stupidity and over-bearing heart. However, she is more complex than that and Guy gives her the pages and treatment that her life deserve. He can sometimes go off on tangents about those around Mary, but for the most part, he does stick to Mary and it is easy to see why it has become a favourite.
Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles, Margaret George
She became Queen of Scots when she was only six days old. Life among the warring factions in Scotland was dangerous for the infant Queen, however, and at age five Mary was sent to France to be raised alongside her betrothed, the Dauphin Francois. Surrounded by all the sensual comforts of the French court, Mary’s youth was peaceful, charmed, and when she became Queen of France at the age of sixteen, she seemed to have all she could wish for. But by her eighteenth birthday, Mary was a widow who had lost one throne and had been named by the Pope for another. And her extraordinary adventure had only begun. Defying her powerful cousin Elizabeth I, Mary set sail in 1561 to take her place as the Catholic Queen of a newly Protestant Scotland. A virtual stranger in her volatile native land, Mary would be hailed as a saint, denounced as a whore, and ultimately accused of murdering her second husband, Lord Darnley, in order to marry her lover, the Earl of Bothwell. She was but twenty-five years old when she fled Scotland for the imagined sanctuary of Elizabeth’s England, where she would be embroiled in intrigue until she was beheaded “like a criminal” in 1587. In her stunning first novel, The Autobiography of Henry VIII, Margaret George established herself as one of the finest historical novelists of our time. Now she brings us a new, mesmerizing blend of history and storytelling as she turns the astonishing facts of the life of Mary Queen of Scots into magnificent fiction that sweeps us from the glittering French court where Mary spent her youth, to the bloodstained Scotland where she reigned as Queen, to the cold English castles where she ended her days. Never before have we been offered such a rich and moving portrayal of the Scots Queen, whose beauty inspired poetry, whose spirit brought forth both devotion and hatred, and whose birthright generated glorious dreams, hideous treachery, and murdered men at her feet.
Why You Should Read This…
This is a whopper of a novel, and I’m only going to recommend it if you are in the mood to read something for several weeks on end. At nearly 900 pages in physical form and forty hours of listening as an audiobook, you will be in it for the long haul. However, George’s historical fiction books are a unique style in the genre. I would say that it is more substantial than George’s other novels (like The Autobiography of Henry VIII), and is fairly grounded in history. It also spends a great deal of time on Mary’s imprisonment in England, a period which was rather rushed on the show.
The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots: Elizabeth I and Her Greatest Rival, Kate Williams
Elizabeth and Mary were cousins and queens, but eventually it became impossible for them to live together in the same world. This is the story of two women struggling for supremacy in a man’s world, when no one thought a woman could govern. They both had to negotiate with men–those who wanted their power and those who wanted their bodies–who were determined to best them. In their worlds, female friendship and alliances were unheard of, but for many years theirs was the only friendship that endured. They were as fascinated by each other as lovers; until they became enemies. Enemies so angry and broken that one of them had to die, and so Elizabeth ordered the execution of Mary. But first they were each other’s lone female friends in a violent man’s world. Their relationship was one of love, affection, jealousy, antipathy–and finally death.
Why You Should Read This…
This is a joint biography of Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth Tudor. The two were destined from childhood to be continually intertwined and compared to one another, and that continues in books. This is a fascinating and well-written biography that takes a modern approach to two women who were criticised constantly by the men around them and who had to navigate intensely difficult political situations. I appreciate that Williams does not deify Elizabeth as the “perfect queen” as so many people do even to this day. A must-read for any fans of Reign!
Want more books on period dramas like Bridgerton, The Gilded Age, Versailles, The Great, and more? Visit my Books If You Love… hub!
♠
What books are on your list of the best books if you love Reign?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
