An imaginative reconstruction of the mind of the young girl who was to become Queen Elizabeth I of England, that effulgent, daunting, and perplexing figure, one of the most influential women in history. Scores of theories have been attached to the personality behind the indomitable Virgin Queen. Her love life, especially, has been the subject of intense speculation. But what made Elizabeth the person she was, a scholar and diplomat, courageous, capricious, and awe-inspiring? Sitwell helps solve the mystery; she focuses on the Queen's early experiences and traces their dramatic repercussions on her life.