My Contrary Mary
by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
narrated by Fiona Hardingham
HarperAudio, 2021. 12 hours, 18 minutes.
Review written March 12, 2022, from a library eaudiobook
Well, this crew of authors who play fast-and-loose with history have finally turned away from Janes to write about Marys — Mary, Queen of Scots, in this case, and an upcoming book about Mary Shelley.
I’m afraid I’m getting a little tired of the style, though it is fun if you’re in the right mood. I liked that this one went back to the world created in their first book, My Lady Jane. In this world, instead of Protestants and Catholics fighting about the thrones of Europe, you’ve got Verities and Edians. Edians are shapeshifters who can transform into their inner animal and believe everyone has one. But Verities believe humans should be human and Edians should be put to death.
Once again, we’ve got three viewpoint characters, each written by one of the authorial trio (though we don’t know which gets which character). Mary, Queen of Scots, has been growing up in the court of France along with her betrothed, Francis the Dauphin of France. The other viewpoint character is Aristotle, who goes by Ari, the daughter of Nostradamus. She does get visions, but they aren’t helpful at all. (The modern reader will enjoy recognizing scenes from modern films.) What Ari is good at is making potions. And that skill is commandeered by Catherine de Medici, Francis’s powerful and scheming mother.
To add to the fun, Mary and her four ladies-in-waiting, who are also named Mary but have nicknames, are all secretly Edians themselves. Mary can turn into a mouse, which is perfect for court gossip – and spying.
But there’s lots of intrigue going on at court, and Mary and Francis are doomed to ascend the throne of France much sooner than they meant to.
I’m not sure how much of real history you’ll learn from this book. The authors give Mary a happy outcome — which is very different from what happened to her in her real life. I confess, I enjoyed her Happily Ever After — even if the repercussions probably would have completely changed the modern world. I also really enjoyed that we saw the characters from My Lady Jane and got to see how well their lives were going.
That book had an outcome that matched very well with history — resulting in Queen Elizabeth on the throne even though Lady Jane Grey and King Edward weren’t actually dead, they were Edians. This book? Well, if it happened, European history would have turned out very differently, with less war and death, which is all good in my book.
Read these books when you’re up for silliness and happy endings involving historical characters who suddenly got much more interesting.
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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