Legacy: The Acclaimed Novel of Elizabeth, England's Most Passionate Queen -- and the Three Men Who Loved Her (111 page)

relationships with the Lord Admiral, Robin Dudley, and the Earl

of Essex?

11. Though her behaviour and emotions are erratic, Elizabeth is steadfast

and confident in each choice that she makes. Regardless, several

members of her court follow her into perilous situations simply

because they believe she is lucky. Do you think that luck is the

reason Elizabeth was such a successful monarch? If not, do you think

she may have cultivated that impression intentionally?

12. Elizabeth had an affinity for playing chess, and the game is used

throughout the novel to describe her relationship with Robin, her

plans for Mary Queen of Scots, and her manipulation of men. How

does this symbolism affect how you perceive Queen Elizabeth? Was

she cold and calculating, thinking of people’s lives as a game, or

did she have to keep herself isolated, always forced to strategize and

guard herself against manipulation?

13. Queen Mary of Scotland is a great danger to Queen Elizabeth and

the English kingdom, yet Elizabeth refuses to kill her rival once she

is captured. Do you agree with Cecil who guessed that Elizabeth

could not bring herself to sentence someone to the same fate that

claimed her mother, her stepmother, and her first lover? Or is there a

different reason that she does not sign the death warrant?

14. Robin Dudley believes that “perhaps in every thousand years the

world produced one man or woman to live in incandescence,

enshrined within their span of time. What else would men call this

era but
Elizabethan
?” (535). Do you think there are any personas in

modern day that are comparable to Queen Elizabeth in their power

and influence—is there anyone important enough to name an entire

era after? If so, who? If not, do you believe that that is a benefit or a

detriment to society?

649

About the Author

S
usan kay’s first novel,
Legacy
, won both the georgette

Heyer Historical Novel Prize and the Betty Trask Award. This

novel was followed by
Phantom
, which won the Parker Romantic Novel

of the Year Award in 1991. Kay worked as a primary school teacher

until leaving to bring up a family, and she now lives with her husband

in Cheshire.

• Title Page
  
• Copyright
  
• Dedication
  
• Contents
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• Author’s Note
  
• Map of England in Time of Elizabeth I
  
• Prologue
  
• Part 1
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Chapter 7
  
• Chapter 8
  
• Chapter 9
  
• Chapter 10
  
• Chapter 11
  
• Chapter 12
  
• Part 2
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Chapter 7
  
• Chapter 8
  
• Chapter 9
  
• Part 3
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Chapter 7
  
• Part 4
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Part 5
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Epilogue
  
• Bibliography
  
• Reading Group Guide
  
• About the Author
  
• Back Cover