About the book: 1997 / The novel is written in the form of memoirs of the English Queen Elizabeth the First, who reigned in 1558–1603. A long, adventurous life is behind us. The Queen recalls the palace intrigues and religious wars that brought some of her associates to the heights of power and others to the scaffold. She writes about her father, King Henry VIII, her mother's murderer; about cousin Mary Stuart, who fell victim in the struggle for the throne; about herself - a downtrodden girl who turned into a great ruler…