Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, was born in 1542. She was the only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland. Her father died when she was six days old, making her Queen. She was sent to France to marry the Dauphin, Francis, and to stay safe from English invaders. She and Francis were only married a year before his death. She returned to Scotland, amid a period of religious upheaval. Her second husband was found murdered. She was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her son, James. She fled to England to seek asylum from her relative, Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII, and the granddaughter of Henry VII. Mary Stuart was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. She was placed under house arrest in England, because she had a claim to the English throne. People from Scotland also sent letters, which Mary claimed were fake, to Elizabeth. The letters were an attempt to prove that Mary had facilitated the murder of her second husband. In the meantime, she had reinvented herself as an extremely devout Catholic, in stark contrast to Elizabeth's Protestant ways. She was implicated in a plot to seize the throne from Elizabeth and start a Catholic uprising, which ultimately resulted in her execution.

This book was actually a pretty exciting book to read. It was full of intrigue and drama, but still full of historical facts. I knew about the conflict between these two women thanks to watching Reign on the CW channel. I had been meaning to look up the actual facts and not a period dramatization of them, and happened to run across this book. I was really pleased with it .