Kenilworth by Walter Scott

Kenilworth Reviews

• 
  Metodi Markov

  Приятна, макар и малко наивна история. Подходяща е и за по-млади читатели.
  
  Не знаех почти нищо за царуването на “кралицата-девственица” Елизабет I, така че определено обогатих познанията си за този период от английската история.
  
  Уолтър Скот е майстор на историческия роман, следва да прочета и “Роб Рой”.
  
  Цитат:
  
  "Не се пули като заклана свиня. Не можеш да подскачаш в серкмето, без никой да те види. 😆🐷"
• 
  John

  I am starting to reread and read my Sir Walter Scott collection. I enjoyed this story of royal court intrigue with the Earl Of Leicester and Elizabeth 1. The Queen views the Earl as a favorite with rumors of marriage between them. However, the Earl has secretly married Amy Rosbart and keeps her hidden in a remote manor called Cumnor Hall.
  
  The story starts with Michael Lambourne returning to a village near the Hall. He is a rogue and while drinking at his Uncles tavern bets he can get admittance to Cumnor Hall where his old friend Tony Foster is Stewart. So begins an adventure of treachery, love, pageantry and intrigue.
  
  A past lover, Tressilian discovers her at the Hall and believes her the mistress of Varney the Earls right hand man and a villain of the highest class. He tries to convince her to escape but she refuses and cannot tell anyone she is married to the Earl.
  
  The description of Elizabeth 1 is excellent although Amy the Countess is quite weak willed and out of her depth. Varney is a marvelous villain and the story is based on true events.
  
  
• 
  Laura

  Free download available at
  eBooks@Adelaide.
  
  Due to
  the Scottish Independence Referendum, which occurred in Sept. 18, I decided to read a couple of books written by two great Scottish writers:
  The Master of Ballantrae (see my review
  here) by Robert L. Stevenson and the present book.
  
  The love affair between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is very well-known and has been described in several books.
  
  However the role played by Amy Robsart, Dudley's wife, into this plot was never put in a first plan, on the contrary.
  
  The
  Kenilworth Castle - Dudley's castle to which the tittle refers played an important historical role, from the Siege of Kenilworth in 1266 to the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne.
  
  
  
  Even if this book has some historical inaccuracies, such as the circumstances of Amy Robsart's death as well as the real date of her death (Sept. 8, 1560), Scott manages quite well to write a masterpiece on this historical period.
  
  Two TV series were made based on this book:
  Kenilworth (1957– ) and
  Kenilworth (1967– ) with Jeremy Brett, John Bryans, John Fraser.
  
  4* Rob Roy
  3* The Heart of Mid-Lothian
  4* Ivanhoe
  3* Waverley
  4* The Fair Maid of Perth
  4* The Bride of Lammermoor
  $* Kenilworth
  TR The Monastery
  TR The Pirate
  TR The Waverly Novels: Anne of Geierstein
  TR The Two Drovers
  TR The Antiquary
  TR The Lady of the Lake
  TR The Talisman
  
• 
  Елвира

  Слагам 4,5 звезди, просто защото ми се струва, че никой исторически средновековен роман, пък бил той и на самия сър Уолтър Скот, не може да надмине „Айвънхоу“ по великолепие!
• 
  Kuszma

  Ha valaki kíváncsi rá, milyen az a „lassú idő”, olvasson Walter Scottot. A közhiedelemmel ellentétben amúgy a mester nem azért írja meg hatszáz oldalban azt, amit egy dán kortárs száz oldalban lerendezne, mert sok leírással operál – nem. Hanem mert szereplői nagyon ráérnek egymással foglalkozni. Nem úgy beszélnek, mint ahogy azt a „gyors idő” megkívánná, hanem telehímzik szóvirággal a szöveg szőttesét, kis túlzással náluk még az is, hogy „Gyorsan, gyorsan! Nincs vesztegetni való időnk!” alsó hangon egy fél oldalas bekezdés. Számomra mégsem unalmas, egyszerűen azért, mert Scottnál a lényeg valóban a szereplők interakciója, ebből rajzolódik ki nemcsak a cselekmény, de maguk a szereplők sajátos gondolkodásmódja is, és hát valljuk meg, Scott szereplői nagyon üdítő jelenségek. Gonoszságuk például nem egyszerű gonoszság, hanem helyenként meglepően komplex motivációs hálózat következménye, aminek köszönhetően képesek folyamatosan foglalkoztatni az olvasót. És ez jó.
  
  A cselekmény amúgy önmagában kifejezetten lendületes. Erzsébet királynő udvarában járunk, aki méhkirálynőként terpeszt Anglia trónján – és igényli, hogy mint minden jó méhkirálynőt, őt is daliás és sima nyelvű hímivarú méhpéldányok döngjék körül. E példányok között a legszemrevalóbb Leicester grófja, akiről rebesgetik, hogy akár király is lehet belőle, mert Erzsébet nem ódzkodna attól, hogy megossza vele nyoszolyáját, következésképpen koronáját is. Csakhogy Leicesternek van egy kis szépséghibája: már nős. Elvette ugyanis – szerelemből! – egy másodvonalbeli nemes gyönyörű és karakteres lányát, Amyt, ráadásul titokban, egy frappáns lányszöktetés után. És most ugye ott áll szögény Leicester, őrlődik egyfelől Amy iránt érzett érzései és kötelezettségei, illetve a korona reménye között. Ráadásul körülveszik egynémely rossz szellemek, csatlósok képében, akik maguk jóval gátlástalanabb eszközöket is megengedhetőnek tartanak a cél elérésében, mint a jó gróf. És máris a kellős közepében vagyunk a cselszövevénynek, amiben részt vesznek a jók, akik Amy megmentéséért ügyködnek, és a rosszak, közöttük is elsősorban a főcselszövő Varney, akik meg valahogy – akárhogy! – eltakarítanák a bal kézről való feleséget az útból.
  
  Én meg azon gondolkodtam, hogy ennek a könyvnek akár az is lehetne az alcíme, hogy „A büszkeség ártalmasságáról”. Mert ha van valami, amiért ezt a konfliktust nem sikerül a szereplőknek megnyugtatóan lezárni*, az a becsületük. Leicester nemcsak rangkórsága miatt lesz bűnrészes, hanem büszkeségből is: Varney ugyanis úgy játszik ezen a büszkeségen, mint a zongorán, és ezzel hajszolja bele egyre mélyebben a gonoszságba. Másfelől Amyt nem csak a Leicester iránt érzett szerelem teszi áldozattá, hanem büszkesége is, hisz ez a rongy büszkeség akadályozza meg, hogy segítséget kérjen, és ezzel megmentse magát. Meg úgy egyáltalán: a regény egyik arisztokrata szereplője sem mentes ettől a bűntől – ha belegondolunk, minden általuk elkövetett hiba erre vezethető vissza. Bezzeg a pórnéphez tartozó szereplők! Ők aztán tudnak racionális döntést hozni! Újabb érv a marxistáknak a feudalizmussal folytatott vitában. Már ha van még feudalista egyáltalán.
  
  Szerettem. Rákényszerített arra, hogy ne a saját időfelfogásomban olvassam, hanem abban, amit Scott üdvösnek tart, és ez bevallom, pajzán élvezetet okozott.
  
  * Ez nem spoiler, hisz a végkifejlet (Amy rút meggyilkolása) már a szerző előszavából kiviláglik.
• 
  George

  3.5 stars. An interesting, overly long historical fiction novel set in England in 1575. Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, is a favourite of Queen Elizabeth. Unknown to the Queen, Dudley is secretly married to Amy Robrant and keeping her at his home in Cumnor. Dudley is a weak man, torn between his love and ambition.
  
  Readers who have enjoyed the author’s other historical novels should find this book a worthwhile reading experience. ‘Rob Roy’, ‘Ivanhoe’ and ‘Old Mortality’ are my favourite Scott novels.
  
  This book was first published in 1821.
• 
  Hannah Kelly

  This could have had an even higher rating prob if it weren’t for the ending. I won’t spoil it but I was disappointed.
• 
  Steve R

  As stated in its introduction, an attempt to follow The Abbot's presentation of Mary Queen of Scots with a novel about Elizabeth. More specifically, it deals with one of her courtiers, the Earl of Leicester, who has rather illadvisedly married Amy Robsart, the daughter of a minor Duke. But since he is a favorite at court, and holds the desire to wed Elizabeth and thus become King, he keeps his wife secluded at Cumnor Hall and only visits surreptiously and rarely. His henchman Varney is a truly despicable character, one of Scott's best villians who, after taking his own life on the last pages of the novel, still held his sarcastic sneer. Tresselian, an early admirer of Amy's, tries to get her out of the clutches of Varney and Leicester, and briefly allies himself with the Earl of Sussex, the main rival to Leicester in the struggle for the Queen's affecions.
  
  The climax of the novel at Kenilworth, the castle of Leicester, when Amy makes herself known to Elizabeth but refuses to divulge her marital status, is really high drama. The bit parts of Wayland Smith, an 'artist' but more of a blacksmith and a doctor and his sometimes side-kick Donnie, are very well drawn, as is the poisoner Alasco who succumbs to his own potions. Walter Raleigh is cast as an up-and-coming courtier, complete with his cloak over the puddle scene to win Elizabeth's favour. The drunkard Michael Lambourne meets a violent end, but not one any discerning reader would care much about given the buffoon he is drawn to be. The eventual murder of a major character by another one - albeit against the reformed wishes of a third, is not quite as tragic as it could have been since Scott really makes it seem like she's a relatively empty-headed beauty who was only desirous of social rank.
  
  Well crafted characters, an expansive but tightly controlled plot, and some real scenes of colour - for instance, that of performers mimicking the five invaders of the British Isles - Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans - make it one of the best in the Waverley series.
• 
  Briynne

  I’m sorry to say that I hated this a little bit. I had such hopes for Walter Scott, and I find myself in a pickle because I’m determined to finish my three-novel omnibus regardless of my impression of this first attempt. With any luck Ivanhoe and Quentin Durward will be better, but I just don’t know how hopeful I am. What really gets me is that I thought the plot had such promise; it’s the story of Amy Robsart, the secret wife of Queen Elizabeth’s famous favorite, the Earl of Leicester. I like court intrigue and Golden Age England. I was looking forward to mentally tsk-tsking Leicester for being such a duplicitous and falsely charming little weasel. Furthermore, I thought that the hidden countess had all the makings of a proper tragic heroine. Basically, I had already written a nice and cozy Gothic melodrama in my head only to be confronted with what Scott actually wrote.
  
  Saving the bits with Elizabeth herself, who is beautifully written in her vanity, mistaken affection, and intelligence, this was trekking through mud to read. Amy is a simpering fool who threw away a good man for the absent and feckless Leicester; my resounding lack of pity for her surprised even me. Her maid was tolerable, but Amy herself was painful to read. Leicester wasn’t even fun to hate, as he might have been if he had seemed like the master of any of his decisions. As it was, he seemed more an Othello to Varney’s Iago, and I just thought him useless. Varney, granted, was vile and cunning enough to be interesting, but was so tamely written that it again just sort of all canceled out into dullness.
  
  The real problem with this book, unfortunately, seemed to be Scott. There is a prissiness and gentrified smugness to every line in this book that is practically insufferable. You can hear the delicate 19th century sensibilities much louder than the 16th century plot, and it’s as distracting as it is annoying. I felt like there wasn’t any depth to the story or characters – they just seemed to float airily along with very nice manners and improbably formal speeches at every turn. Scott was such a popular favorite that I expected something better, but hopefully things will improve with my next try. Wish me luck, as I might need it :)
  
• 
  Misfit

  As the book opens, Amy Robsart has left her family home and has secretly married Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Amy's father, Sir Hugh and the man her father intended her to marry, Edmund Tressilian, have no knowledge of Amy's whereabouts and suspect foul play at the hands of Dudley's sneaky master of the horse, Richard Varney, and Tressilian goes in search of Amy at an old manor house, Cumnor Place. As Elizabeth I's attraction to Dudley grows, so does Dudley's ambitions to reach for the stars and a greater place at court than he ever dared for, and Amy becomes a bit of a liability -- especially to Varney who hopes to rise in power alongside his master--and thus the game is on.
  
  This is the first Walter Scott that I have read, with the exception of Ivanhoe and that was many years ago when I was a young child. I admit to almost giving up a couple of times, as the vernacular used by the characters was hard to follow at times, but it's worth slugging through the first 50 or so pages until the story starts cooking along as Scott takes the reader on a grand ride through the court of Elizabeth Tudor. Even Walter Raleigh makes a wonderful secondary character, his characterization of Elizabeth I was spot on, and I loved the way Scott worked Dudley's famous fete of Elizabeth at his castle at Kenilworth into Amy's story.
  
  Although Scott based this tale on an old English Ballad (which is printed in the back of the book) and not known history, it's still a jolly good yarn peopled with interesting characters, poison, astrology, treachery and all the well known intrigues of the Court of Elizabeth I. Those of you who are well versed in Tudor history already know the fate of Amy Robsart and I will have to warn those potential readers who are picky about historical accuracy that Scott definitely diddles with history in this tale. But for those readers who are willing to forget what's in the history books and ready to enjoy a jolly good yarn by a master storyteller about Elizabethan England, this is one book worth checking out, and I intend to read other books by this author. Five stars.
• 
  Malvina

  *Slight spoilers below*
  
  I was told to read this because I hope to visit Kenilworth Castle. Part 1 sets the scene for this tale of mystery, deception, court politics and murder, set in 1575 when Elizabeth 1 did indeed visit one of her favourites - Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester - at Kenilworth. There is a large smattering of historic licence from Walter Scott, but it all makes for a terrific tale.
  
  It's rather a hard slog to read at first, but it picks up in Part 2 with the entrance of Elizabeth 1 (and even Walter Raleigh, in splendid form). From then to the end of part 3 the story races along, with wonderfully poetic prose from the master. As the introduction in this volume proclaims, the novel contrasts: '...a brilliant but deeply flawed society and its destined victim whose integrity, strength and essential innocence expose its moral bankruptcy...' What causes all this deception and deceit? The suspicion that Elizabeth 1 will not approve of the (secret) marriage of the Earl of Leicester to lovely Amy Robsart, sadly languishing most of the time like a luxuriously caged bird at Cumnor-Hall.
  
  The story is fabulously entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the references to Elizabeth 1 when she suddenly transforms from 'woman' to the unmistakable 'daughter of a line of kings', or shows her queenly blood as 'that of Henry VIII'. Watch out!
  
  *Ending spoilers*
  
  I love the last two verses included in the book from the beautiful elegy translated by William Julius Mickle, titled 'Cumnor-Hall'. They say it all:
  
  The village maids, with fearful glance,
  Avoid the ancient moss-grown wall,
  Nor ever lead the merry dance
  Among the groves of Cumnor-Hall.
  
  And many a traveller has sigh'd,
  And pensive mourn'd that lady's fall,
  As wandering onward he has spied
  The haunted towers of Cumnor-Hall.
• 
  Ruthie Jones

  Review to come later.
  
  Here are some of my favorite quotes:
  
  "...when stakes are made, the game must be played; that is gamester's law, all over the world." ~ chapter III
  
  "Well--it is wise to practice beforehand the part which fortune prepares us to play--the young eagle must gaze at the sun, ere he soars on strong wing to meet it." ~ chapter V
  
  "I had never more need that the heavenly bodies should befriend me, for my earthly path is darkened and confused." ~ chapter XVIII
  
  "...but the truth is, that a regard for personal appearance is a species of self-love, from which the wisest are not exempt, and to which the mind clings so instinctively, that not only the soldier advancing to almost inevitable death, but even the doomed criminal who goes to certain execution, shows an anxiety to array his person to the best advantage. But this is a digression." ~ chapter XXX
  
  "An eagle am I, that never will think of dull earth while there is a heaven to soar in, and a sun to gaze upon." ~ chapter XXX
• 
  Jules

  This was a very slow book to get in to, but I'm tolerant and once all of the background information was behind me I really enjoyed the story. The copy I read had notations of what was historical fact and fiction. I found it so interesting. I usually need happy endings, so I was surprised how much I liked this book.
• 
  Williamacrane

  I read this after visiting Kenilworth Castle. If your unaccustomed to reading eighteenth century English prose, you may struggle a bit with the language, but the reward does more than outweigh the effort. If you like castles, mysteries and history this book is for you.
• 
  Joe Kraus

  It’s been decades since I read Waverly and almost as long since I re-read Ivanhoe, but I have always had a sense of Scott as a great adventure writer. He’s more or less lost his audience now, though. His language and references are too obscure for most people looking for escapism, and his ideas and literary ambition fall short of, say, Austen or the Brontes. He has a crucial role in literary history, and he’s still a lot of fun to read, but the urgency isn’t there. Why read Scott when there’s so much else to get to?
  
  For me, here, I guess it’s the old hope for literary escape. I went through eight Trollope novels for most of the same reason. He’s good but short of great. He invites me into a rich imagined world, one where he’s testing prejudices and philosophies, yet he’s doing it in what seems today a minor key. And he gives a glimpse of literary history, a chance for me to fill in some of the gaps that become clearer the more I read.
  
  I confess as well that I grew up playing Authors Cards. If you’ve forgotten or never known, it was a Go-Fish game that used cards of famous authors instead of conventional numbers or children’s images. I can still see the serious Dickens and Tennyson. And I can still see Sir Walter Scott with his four great works, Kenilworth among them.
  
  So, for reasons silly and completist, I decided I wanted to read this one, knowing almost nothing about it when I opened it.
  
  That, I admit, was a bit of a mistake. In retrospect, it’s exciting to see Scott as he goes about the business of inventing the middle-brow thriller. Yes, we can see the roots of Hilary Mantel here – this is where historical fiction was born – but I think we can see the roots of LeCarre and Ludlum too. He sets characters in motion and asks us to worry about the repercussions.
  
  So, this one opens with the villainous Varney recruiting newly returned soldier Michael Lambourne to his cause of looking after Amy, nee Robsart and the secret wife of the Earl of Leicester. Lambourne turns out to be a minor character, so it seems a strange place for Scott to start, but the explanation eventually seems clear: he wants to make this as much fun as possible. Lambourne is a good man with a sword but a better man with a bottle. He’s often drunk and loud. He’s inclined toward being a bad guy, but he’s also fun in his appetites.
  
  It takes a while to move from that initial detour, but the thrust of the book deals with Leicester’s dilemma. He’s married the most beautiful woman in England, but he discovers there’s a real chance that Queen Elizabeth will decide to marry him. He has to think about choosing between love and the chance to rule – or at least-co-rule – the kingdom.
  
  Amy is a classic damsel in distress, but Scott has to deal with the challenge of depicting her as something less than an opportunist. She has, after all, married one of the queen’s favorites, and that looks to make her wealthy and powerful. She’s aware enough of it that she refused to be held captive with Varney as her jailer, but Scott also has to play up her virtues. He gives us an Amy who’s deeply in love with Leicester, one who wants his company more than his riches.
  
  The same is true of Leicester. Scott gives us a guy who’s cold-hearted enough to contemplate having Amy murdered but who finds his better angel before he can undertake it. (SPOILER: In that light, Varney is a convenient tool for pulling off the necessary-for-the-sake-of-reflecting-history murder of Amy.)
  
  In some of those scenes, we see Scott with an impressive light hand. It’s not just that he invented this form but that he brought real skill to it. He held his place as one of the most popular writers in the English language for close to two centuries – long enough to be immortalized in Authors Cards, no less – and that didn’t happen by accident.
  
  There are some thrilling moments here, and you can see how someone like Alexander Dumas would have read this work and determined to write The Three Musketeers. Still, there are also some slower ones. It becomes clear toward the end that we’re working toward a climax of will-they-or-won’t-they kill Amy. And then we get a series of chapters celebrating some of the masques that Leicester threw at his Kenilworth castle. Interesting as history? Maybe. But it kills the momentum of the story.
  
  Add that to the care that Scott takes in refusing to blame either Leicester or Amy for their troubled marriage, and the niceties get in the way.
  
  So, I did enjoy this one, but I remember Waverley and Ivanhoe as decided cuts above. I have a solid, portable collected Scott on my phone now, so I think I’ll keep going. As it is, it takes four of a kind to win at Authors Cards, so I have a couple more to go.
  
• 
  Beth

  This dragged for me. I read Walter Scott for adventures and heroics, but this book is about a weak man tempted into foulness, aided by a rotten servant, and not helped by a useless wife and her annoying ex. I never cheered for anyone. It's a mismatch between expectation and reality -- the book does what it wanted to, but that's not what I wanted.
• 
  Sofia

  "The death-bell thrice was heard to ring,
  An aerial voice was heard to call,
  And thrice the raven flapp'd its wing
  Around the towers of Cumnor Hall".
  
  Now THAT is how you do historical fiction.
  This novel was so alive and painted its historical scenes and characters with vividness and depth.
  You can feel Scott having fun with this.
  An absolute pleasure to read.
• 
  Kaja Kulinicz-Szymankiewicz

  Męczące, powolne, przykre, powtarzalne. Jednocześnie świetnie napisane - mimo znajomości tej historii (książka opowiada o wydarzeniach historycznych), powiątpiewałam czy zakończy się tak, jak "powinna", tak dalece autor zawirował akcją i zdarzeniami.
  Przykra opowieść o zwycięstwie zła nad niewinnością, przykry obraz wielkiego hrabiego, potężnego możnowładcy, który ma serce myszy, moralność gadzią, a rozum jak mucha.
• 
  Tracey

  I was lucky enough to find this book at work. Really enjoyed it as I’ve always found the story of Amy Robsart intriguing as a kid.
• 
  Sotiris Karaiskos

  In his third book referring to sixteenth-century events, the author deals with the very strange case of the death of Amy Robsart, wife of the Earl of Leicester, one of the most powerful men of the Kingdom at that time, considered by many to be a murder. The writer takes this case, changes a lot of facts and uses his writing talent to turn it into a very interesting Gothic adventure. Amy Robsart takes on the role of the classical protagonist of these stories as a woman innocent and sensitive who falls victim to ambitious and ruthless men. From the end, of course, we understand that the noble saviour is absent or at least not doing his job well. Whatever the case, however, through this story, the author shows in a very vivid way the intense competition of the powerful men of the time in the court of Queen Elizabeth, which he shows her to be flattered by this behaviour, even encouraging it but at critical points to have the power and wisdom to control it in a way. These are the ingredients of a book that may start slowly and subtly, but then the intensity gradually increases at the right rate until the extremely interesting ending. A book in which his writer still holds his high standards of quality.
  
  Στο τρίτο βιβλίο του που αναφέρεται σε γεγονότα του δέκατου έκτου αιώνα ο συγγραφέας ασχολείται με την πολύ περίεργη υπόθεση του θανάτου της Amy Robsart, συζύγου του κόμη του Λέστερ, ενός από τους ισχυρότερους άνθρωπος του Βασιλείου εκείνη την εποχή, που θεωρήθηκε από πολλούς ότι ήταν δολοφονία. Ο συγγραφέας παίρνει αυτήν την υπόθεση, αλλάζει αρκετά στοιχεία και χρησιμοποιώντας το συγγραφικό του ταλέντο τη μετατρέπει σε μία πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα γοτθική περιπέτεια. Η Amy Robsart παίρνει το ρόλο της κλασικής πρωταγωνίστριας αυτών των ιστοριών, ως μία γυναίκα αθώα και ευαίσθητη που πέφτει θύμα φιλόδοξων και αδίστακτων ανδρών. Από το τέλος βέβαια καταλαβαίνουμε ότι απουσιάζει ολοκληρωτικά ο ευγενής σωτήρας ή τουλάχιστον δεν κάνει καλά τη δουλειά του. Ότι και να ισχύει, όμως, μέσα από αυτή την ιστορία ο συγγραφέας μας δείχνει με έναν πολύ γλαφυρό τρόπο τον έντονο ανταγωνισμό των ισχυρών ανδρών της εποχής στην αυλή της βασίλισσας Ελισάβετ, την οποία παρουσιάζει να κολακεύεται από αυτή τη συμπεριφορά, ακόμα και να την ενθαρρύνει αλλά στα κρίσιμα σημεία να έχει τη δύναμη και τη σοφία να την ελέγξει με ένα τρόπο. Αυτά είναι τα συστατικά από ένα βιβλίο που ίσως ξεκινάει αργά και υποτονικά αλλά στη συνέχεια η ένταση αυξάνεται σταδιακά με το σωστό ρυθμό, μέχρι το εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον τέλος. Ένα βιβλίο στο οποίο ο συγγραφέας του εξακολουθεί να κρατάει ψηλά τον πήχη της ποιότητας.
• 
  Monty Milne

  The court of Elizabeth I is a fascinating subject for a historical novel, and Scott delivers the goods with this one, although it is a lengthy read, and – as with most Scott – there are boring bits which one is tempted to skim.
  
  There is something unpleasing about Elizabeth I – something which I think is to do with that combination of the petty and the deadly – and this is very well conveyed here. The false sycophancy of the courtier can easily come horribly unstuck if he fails to get the balance exactly right between flirtatious gallantry and over familiarity. One is reminded of those male spiders who risk between eaten by the females they attempt to entice.
  
  There are lots of excellent and memorable minor characters here who in many ways are more interesting and entertaining than the major characters. Tressilian and Leicester, for example – two of the principals – I thought were a bit dull compared to the ugly and brilliant urchin Dickie Sludge, or the sinister alchemist Alasco, or the mythologically-tinted Wayland Smith.
  
  When Leicester is in a tight spot, he contemplates rebellion against his Queen, but rejects the idea because – “This is not like other thrones, which can be overturned by a combination of powerful nobles; the broad foundations which support it are in the end the love and affections of the people.” Scott genuinely believed this, and so probably did Queen Elizabeth herself, and so indeed did most of her subjects. So although Scott is here displaying his own political opinions in the mouth of one of his characters, it is also an accurate enough statement. Whenever I think of Elizabeth’s tyranny and cruelty I remind myself of this.
  
  The ending is very dramatic and vintage Scott. There are an awful lot of pages to wade through before we get there, however. As always with Scott, you won’t enjoy this if you want quick thrills or are in any kind of a hurry.
  
• 
  Dochka

  Сюжетът ни разказва за съдбата на съпругата на граф Лестър. Като любимец на кралицата той запазва любимата си в тайна, понеже се страхува, че ще загуби нейното благоразположение. Лестър се впуска в рискована игра, а залогът е тронът или главата му. Графът е много противоречив характер. Любовта му към Ейми изглежда искрена и пламенна, но амбицията му е достатъчно силна да погуби и двамата. Имаше моменти, когато изпитвах съжаление към него, когато си давах сметка колко му е трудно да признае подобна тайна. Предполагам, че Елизабет наистина би го наказала жестоко за игричките му и страхът от гневът ѝ е основателен. Обаче после адски му се ядосвах, защото винаги амбицията му надделяваше над съвестта му и осъзнах, че той никога не би поставил любовта на първо място. За него Ейми Робстар се оказва пречка. Това, че не му достигна воля да се изправи срещу страховете си, и реши да пожертва щастието на съпругата си го причислиха към “лошите” герои в книгата.
  
  
  https://readingtrolls.com/keniluart-u...
  
  
  https://reviews.readingtrolls.com/ken...
• 
  Jo

  I picked this up on a recent visit to Kenilworth Castle and I had high hopes for it as it features one of my favourite historical figures in Robert Dudley. I can't say exactly why but it just didn't do it for me. The plot revolves around Elizabeth I's progress in 1575 where she was entertained at Kenilworth Castle by Robert Dudley in what was considered a last ditch attempt at romantic courtship. In Scott's novel the subplot is the concealment of Dudley's marriage to Amy Robsart, the eventual unveiling of this union and the murder of Amy by a servant of Dudley's. And this is where the truth is waylaid for poetic licence. By the time of the revelries at Kenilworth, Amy had been dead for 15 years and Dudley was married to Lady Douglas Sheffield. There are various other 'untruths' in the novel and it just didn't really hold my interest. As a whole, I thought the book was okay but the historical inaccuracies prevented me from liking it.
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  Al

  A stirring tale of deception and dishonor set in Elizabethan England, with Elizabeth herself playing a prominent supporting role. I never cease to marvel at the quantity, quality and scope of Scott's output. Kenilworth's plot is ingenious, and Scott's evocative prose, albeit formal to a degree not seen today, does it full justice. It's hard to believe his books were written nearly 200 years ago.
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  Kari

  It is almost entirely inaccurate in details beyond Elizabeth, Robin and Amy. That said, it’s a well written, amusing tale about a love triangle that did exist and a death that is still unsolved today. I liked the lens through which it was written, even if it is inaccurate in the extreme.