“I was surprised by how modern the sexual relationships were—people having affairs, getting pregnant—all this going on all the time,” says Tasha Alexander of her experience writing: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the companion novel to the film starring Cate Blanchett.
During her reign as Queen of England (1558 - 1603) the so-called Virgin queen had a close relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh. “Everyone has a gut reaction to Raleigh," says Alexander. "He was the one who colonized Virginia but he was a much deeper person. He opened the new world. He was a poet and a scientist, and a member of a secret society for new scientific ideas.”
Raleigh’s relationship with Elizabeth fell apart when the Queen learned that he secretly impregnated and married one of her Ladies In Waiting.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, made a conscious decision not to marry. “That was a very difficult and unique choice to make at that time,” says Alexander. “The time period was not at all what you would have expected to find. There were a lot of strong women in the Renaissance period.”
During Queen Elizabeth’s spectacular reign, the arts prospered. But so did political intrigues and assassination attempts. The most controversial was the plot against her life involving her cousin, Queen Mary. Plots and counterplots ensued. Finally, Queen Elizabeth had Mary beheaded in 1587.
Despite her enormous power and the duties that went with it, Queen Elizabeth made a point of reading three hours a day, every day, says Alexander. “She stopped everything to do this—despite her duties as Queen.”
Tasha Alexander is a graduate of Notre Dame University. She has written three novels and lives with her family in Tennessee. Read an excerpt of Elizabeth: The Golden Age here.
