By Amira Kim
Historically royals have always been jackasses, but Mary Queen of Scots’ second husband might be the biggest.
Denise Mina’s Rizzio is a dramatic retelling of the weekend of March 9th, 1566, when the Scottish Queen Mary’s husband, Lord Darnley, led a coup during one of her dinner parties.
This short novel of 117 pages is a classic example of when systems built by men betray those men and their misogyny ends up screwing us all over.
Lord Darnley, at 21 years old, can’t help but feel entitled to his wife’s throne, being a man and all, and will kill his own lover and child to take it from her.
Mina masterfully weaves historical fact with fiction, giving life and narration to an event that happened behind closed doors.
Each chapter follows a key player from the night, and if careful you will notice the subtlety with which Mina alters the tone, prose, and pacing to match the personality of each character.
Written in third person, our omniscient narrator leaves us with no questions as the night goes on throughout the novel, we are guided so gracefully from one perspective to another.
Like a siren, our narrator commands our attention from the first page with intrigue and alarm. We do not notice how easily we are lured and captured by the story. We implicitly trust everything we are told.
Despite the ending being predetermined by history, Mary and Rizzio’s characters are so well developed in just a few pages that you cannot help but root for them to succeed and pray for a different outcome. You’re left eagerly turning each page waiting on the edge of your seat for another player to intercede in the conflict.
With themes of history, religion, royalty, misogyny, betrayal, and politics, there is no shortage of drama in this novel.
Do yourself a favour and spend a sunny afternoon reading Denise Mina’s Rizzio and verify for yourself why she’s earned five awards for her writing and shortlisted for many more.
Featured image: Mary, Queen of Scots, witnessing the murder of David Rizzio. Photo: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection/CC/Wikimedia Commons
