The story of Mary Tudor—oldest child and daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, sister to the famous Elizabeth I—as never told before

A chronological telling of Mary’s life as “told” by her spans her magnificent life, starting from her “first memory” at age two to becoming the first queen to inherit the throne of an England in disarray. Mary was certain that rejection of Catholicism was the source of her subjects' suffering. Her zealous campaign to re-Catholicize England was unrelenting in its brutality, re-christening her, “Mary, the Bloody.”

The Tudors famously used fine art to define their reign. Using expressive line work and lush watercolor, graphic novelist Kristina Gehrmann fittingly teases the painterly allure of royalty as she reveals the stark loneliness of the crown. Gehrmann pulls real quotes from historical documents and letters, along with dramatizations of known historic events. These details immerse readers in Mary I’s epic life, from her volatile childhood to her tragic demise, rendering a stunning portrait of a “bastard queen” losing her grip on power.