Book Review of Lytton Strachey's Elizabeth and Essx

The tragic but yet romantic novel I read was called, Elizabeth and Essex. This novel is a biographical and historical book. The subject of the book is a “tragic history”. The author, Lytton Strachey, tells the reader a lot about these two “love birds” that were destined to be together. Whose name’s were Elizabeth and Essex.

Lytton Strachey presents a very “well-rounded” picture of the book. I think it is very important for an author to present a good picture of the book because of one very IMPORTANT reason, for the reader to understand and to become more interested in the book, the author has to make the reader feel as if they were there discovering that piece of history that was created or a joke that was told. To me I think that the author’s purpose was several different things. Only because the book wasn’t only entertaining , but it was informing, and instructive. The author will do anything to make his/her book interesting and enjoyable to the public, so they try to squeeze in entertaining, informing, and instructive material into the book.

The style of the book is what made it so special. It was VERY easy to understand, and at the same time it was exciting. Some readers may think a tragic, but yet romantic novel is hard to understand, but what they don’t know is that all books are easy to read. You are just stopping yourself too soon to learn it. This book had no problems with being beautifully written and understandable.

Compared with the first book I read for the first nine weeks, I would say this book is 110 times better. (The book that I read the first nine weeks was called Abraham Lincoln as I knew him.) This book, Elizabeth and Essex, had everything that a book worm could ask for.

Some interesting quotes and passages that I found were: on page 3 it said that the Earl of Essex, Elizabeth’s lover, was once her first cousin twice removed. Another one I read was on page 91. It was a quote that was quoted by Portia to Bassano, “but I fear you speak upon the rack, where men enforced do speak anything.