The Noble Bastard: The Story of Robert Dudley
While the Robert Dudley best known to readers of historical fiction is likely the Earl of Leicester, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, his son Robert led a far more interesting and admirable life. He “claimed” Trinidad for Elizabeth and probed the Orinoco Basin before Raleigh in search of El Dorado; he fought at Cadiz and equipped an expedition to the Far East. After his suit for legitimacy was denied by James I, he fled to Tuscany with a new wife and put his talents to the service of the Medici ducal family, which included building the port of Livorno and serving as chamberlain. He married three different women, sired at least twenty children, died recognized as the Duke of Northumberland, and left behind the six-volume Secrets of the Sea, a comprehensive encyclopedia of navigational and sailing advice.
McLeod, author of The Brilliant Stage, paints Dudley’s life in thick historical detail and lively, highly readable prose. Her admiration for Dudley infuses her portrayal; she heaps praises upon his head with each accomplishment and excuses his occasional lapses as humiliation over the stain of bastardy on his name. While billed as fiction, the book lacks the novel’s defining characteristics of scene, dialogue, character development, and narrative arc; instead, it reads as a lively biography with skilled exposition, convincing speculation on characters’ temperaments and motivations, and here and there a lovely tableau. Dudley’s is a fascinating life by any measure, enviable and tragic by turns, and McLeod’s extensive research animates a colorful cast of real people and dramatic events, producing a textured, impressive portrait of early modern Europe and two of its most powerful realms.
