Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Bloody Mary

By: Carolly Erickson
Narrated by: Corrie James
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $39.95

Buy for $39.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Here is the tragic, stormy life of Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. Her story is a chronicle of courage and faith, betrayal and treachery - set amidst the splendor, pageantry, squalor, and intrigue of 16th-century Europe.

The history of Mary Tudor is an improbable blend of triumph, humiliation, heartbreak, and devotion - and Ms. Erickson recounts it all against the turbulent background of European politics, war, and religious strife of the mid-1500s. The result is a rare portrait of the times and of a woman elevated to unprecedented power in a world ruled and defined by men.

©1978 Carolly Erickson (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Bloody Mary

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    87
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    84
  • 4 Stars
    30
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    76
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mary Tudor

I loved this book. learned a few things I didn't know. I feel this book was very well written. I love English history especially about the Tudors you have to like and hate Mary. her having all those people burned just because they were Protestant just makes you so mad. unfortunately it was the time people lived in but sad. her marrying Phillip was happy for her as she really loved him. but him treating her like he did or I should say using her once he fell out of love and became king of Flanders and the Netherlands, you have to feel sorry for her. however no matter she is still bloody Mary.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well told but felt Imbalanced

I like Carolly Erickson’s books. But, I felt this story did not answer the question posed by the title, why was she known as Bloody Mary? Author does a great job of telling a story that makes a heroine of whomever her subject may be. But still, it seems she favored this one more than some of her others and certainly more than history has favored this one. She was harshly honest about Elizabethan court, but seems to have smoothed over the uglier aspects of this monarch.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not the best of books, not the worst of books

I usually love Carolly Erickson's books but this one failed to capture me. Mary Tudor is certainly an Interesting subject so I don't know why I was unable to connect here. Ms. Erickson provides plenty of information in a well written format and the narration was okay but I just found myself wandering while listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Woefully Unspecific

The Tudor Dynasty is fascinating and I was very much learning forward to learning more about Mary specifically. However I feel as if the book focuses a bit too much on the history of her ascension rather than what she actually did during her reign. I may be wrong about this, but I am not entirely sure that this specific book explains how she got the nickname ‘Bloody’ Mary. Bizarre, considering it is the title of the book.

I feel as if there were large gaps here that went completely unexplored and worse, unmentioned.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

Too much expositional background, which is unfortunate. You have to get about midway in the book to even start Mary's life. The orator was ok—except you could hear the saliva moving around in her mouth which was gross. Overall, this was a disappointment, and just a vague history of 40 years of Tudor history in which Mary just "happened" to live.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An absolutely WONDERFUL narrative of Queen Mary I

Would you listen to Bloody Mary again? Why?

This book takes the life of Queen Mary far beyond the accepted stories and gives us a view of her personal life and trials.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful depiction of a misunderstood personality.

I have been student of the Tudor period for over 20 years and this biography is a wonderfully in depth study of a woman that is sorely misunderstood and under appreciated by historians and people alike. Mary was a pragmatic but sensitive woman that saw as much trial and heartache as her beloved mother. A true heiress to the Tudor and Spanish dynasties in her mettle and faith.

Wonderfully performed by the narrator and written in an unbiased manner detailing the strength and weakness of the first crowned Queen of England. She truly did not deserve the moniker that history proscribed her.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A good history

If your a Tudor history fan this is deep and thorough. But it is a history - not a fictionalization scandal funhouse - so be prepared for some dry content but faithful telling of a queens life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I'm sure it's great! the narrator needs a drink

I can't! I can't continue to listen to the narrators spittle and strange pauses. she sounds like she needs some water. I'll just purchase the book and read it myself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing story exquisite narration w/ some hiccups

Queen Mary's is amazingly and beautifully complete. HERstory is exquisitely narrated, loved the voice, the beautiful accent and the narrator's rhythm, but:
1. at chapter changes there are excerpts read with a really strong weird accent and a different tone that breaks the books spell on the listener, it made me cringe and want to skip it all together, even if I wanted to know what was in it.
2. the track pauses at odd moments as if the tapes were digitized and not seamlessly stitched together.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!