Lauren's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:39:17 -0800 60 Lauren's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 Lauren 0 to-read 4.35 2024 Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Year of Wonders 4965
Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition.

As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love.

As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. ]]> 304 Geraldine Brooks 0142001430 Lauren 2
In addition to disliking the plot, I didn't particularly enjoy Brooks' writing style. I thought it was too wordy and it took me a long time to get in to the book. Even once I was in to it, I never found it particularly enjoyable. Another issue I had was the depiction of childbirth. Anna, the narrator, suddenly becomes an expert midwife with no training whatsoever. Of the three births that are described in the book, two of them are filled with danger and only Anna can save the day. This is a common fault in historical fiction - that is, novels tend to portray childbirth as more dangerous than it really was due to our own modern perceptions of birth prior to its medicalization. However, I found Year of Wonders depiction to be even worse than the common fault - most births were not breech births with the mother at death's door. The reason for the historically higher death rates from childbirth was largely childbed fever (due to poor hygeine and lack of penicillin).

Finally, Anna's reaction to her sons' deaths didn't quite ring true. I would have thought that she would have expressed her grief with more emotion than was shown in the novel. She seemed more emotional about Eleanor Mompellion's death than the loss of her own sons.]]> 4.00 2001 Year of Wonders
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 2010/06/04
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves:
review:
I thought Year of Wonders would be better. It tells the story of a village that voluntarily quarantined itself during a plague outbreak, under the guidance of Michael Mompellion. I expected the story to be sad, as the plague had such a high death rate. However, I also expected the story to be uplifting. Instead, the story catalogued the darkest of human traits. The ending was ridiculous and implausible. The characters who seemed likeable (except perhaps the narrator and the angelic Eleanor Mompellion) all were corrupt or dark. The novel degenerated into a gothic horror show . After I finished the book, I was glad it was over.

In addition to disliking the plot, I didn't particularly enjoy Brooks' writing style. I thought it was too wordy and it took me a long time to get in to the book. Even once I was in to it, I never found it particularly enjoyable. Another issue I had was the depiction of childbirth. Anna, the narrator, suddenly becomes an expert midwife with no training whatsoever. Of the three births that are described in the book, two of them are filled with danger and only Anna can save the day. This is a common fault in historical fiction - that is, novels tend to portray childbirth as more dangerous than it really was due to our own modern perceptions of birth prior to its medicalization. However, I found Year of Wonders depiction to be even worse than the common fault - most births were not breech births with the mother at death's door. The reason for the historically higher death rates from childbirth was largely childbed fever (due to poor hygeine and lack of penicillin).

Finally, Anna's reaction to her sons' deaths didn't quite ring true. I would have thought that she would have expressed her grief with more emotion than was shown in the novel. She seemed more emotional about Eleanor Mompellion's death than the loss of her own sons.
]]> A Hollow Crown (Saxon #2) 1958776 504 Helen Hollick 0099272342 Lauren 4
The novel opens up with 13 year old Emma bartered into marriage with the much older King Aethelred. The little I knew of Aethelred stems from his nickname "The Unready" and Anya Seton's depiction of him as a spoiled child in Avalon. Hollick depicts him as a pretty awful individual who earned his nickname as "the Unready" - indecisive, cruel, with little political acumen. Emma absolutely despises Aethelred, who is either abusive towards her or indifferent, depending on his mood. Because of her hatred of her husband, she also dislikes the sons that he fathered - particularly her firstborn son Edward (later "the Confessor"). Initially, Emma hates Edward because he was conceived in rape (I wonder where the author got this from - perhaps out of a desire to explain why Emma was such a cold mother?) and later because Edward is as "ineffectual" as his father.

I intially felt sorry for Emma. However, by the end of the novel I disliked her. Based on my knowledge of history, I knew that she would marry Cnut and forsake her children. However, her actions after Aethelred's death did not fit the characterization that Hollick gave Emma. The Emma of the first half of the novel is a timid wife and impatient mother, an intelligent woman who longed for love and affection. I didn't really understand why Emma decided to marry Cnut, the cruel Viking invador who later became Emma's great love (according to Hollick). Hollick's theory is that Emma loved her crown and would do anything to keep it. I wasn't quite sure, though, why she loved it so much that she would be willing to forsake her children and condemn them to foreign exile and marry Cnut, whom I was pretty sure she thought was a murderous Viking.

Towards the end of the novel, after Harthacnut refuses to come to England to claim his throne, Emma becomes even more odious and self-centered, luring her sons Alfred and Edward to England - and to serious danger - simply because she wants her crown. Then, it seems that Emma barely mourns "ineffectual" Alfred's death, noting that he is as useless as his father. Emma's anger regarding the situation centers on Godwine's abandonment of her - not Godwine's turning her son over to Harold Harefoot and his mother, where Alfred's death was certain.

Hollick seemed unsure of how to present Emma - I felt that Hollick really wanted her readers to like Emma and admire her. Most certainly, Emma was an interesting figure - though not as famous of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emma's life was as interesting. But Emma's actions and behavior towards her sons are very unlikeable and difficult to understand. While Cnut ended up becoming a great King, at the time she married him, he was anything but honorable. It turned out to be in Emma's self-interest to remain Queen - however, I did not expect the Emma of the first part of the book to be such a purely self-centered actor.

The novel is well written - at 800 pages, it was a page turner for me. I really enjoyed it and plan to read Hollick's novel about Harold Godwineson. I am also interested in learning more about Saxon England. ]]> 4.01 2004 A Hollow Crown (Saxon #2)
author: Helen Hollick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/07/26
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this look at Queen Emma of Normandy, Queen of Saxon England. I do not have strong familiarity with pre-Norman Conquest England and I was excited to begin this novel. About a month ago, I read Georgette Heyer's the Conqueror, which tells the story of pre-conquest William of Normandy and his battle for England with Harold Godwineson. A Hollow Crown deals with the generation immediately before William the Conqueror arrives on the scene (indeed towards the end of the novel, a young William was tenuously placed as Duke of Normandy and Edward the Confessor was about to become King).

The novel opens up with 13 year old Emma bartered into marriage with the much older King Aethelred. The little I knew of Aethelred stems from his nickname "The Unready" and Anya Seton's depiction of him as a spoiled child in Avalon. Hollick depicts him as a pretty awful individual who earned his nickname as "the Unready" - indecisive, cruel, with little political acumen. Emma absolutely despises Aethelred, who is either abusive towards her or indifferent, depending on his mood. Because of her hatred of her husband, she also dislikes the sons that he fathered - particularly her firstborn son Edward (later "the Confessor"). Initially, Emma hates Edward because he was conceived in rape (I wonder where the author got this from - perhaps out of a desire to explain why Emma was such a cold mother?) and later because Edward is as "ineffectual" as his father.

I intially felt sorry for Emma. However, by the end of the novel I disliked her. Based on my knowledge of history, I knew that she would marry Cnut and forsake her children. However, her actions after Aethelred's death did not fit the characterization that Hollick gave Emma. The Emma of the first half of the novel is a timid wife and impatient mother, an intelligent woman who longed for love and affection. I didn't really understand why Emma decided to marry Cnut, the cruel Viking invador who later became Emma's great love (according to Hollick). Hollick's theory is that Emma loved her crown and would do anything to keep it. I wasn't quite sure, though, why she loved it so much that she would be willing to forsake her children and condemn them to foreign exile and marry Cnut, whom I was pretty sure she thought was a murderous Viking.

Towards the end of the novel, after Harthacnut refuses to come to England to claim his throne, Emma becomes even more odious and self-centered, luring her sons Alfred and Edward to England - and to serious danger - simply because she wants her crown. Then, it seems that Emma barely mourns "ineffectual" Alfred's death, noting that he is as useless as his father. Emma's anger regarding the situation centers on Godwine's abandonment of her - not Godwine's turning her son over to Harold Harefoot and his mother, where Alfred's death was certain.

Hollick seemed unsure of how to present Emma - I felt that Hollick really wanted her readers to like Emma and admire her. Most certainly, Emma was an interesting figure - though not as famous of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emma's life was as interesting. But Emma's actions and behavior towards her sons are very unlikeable and difficult to understand. While Cnut ended up becoming a great King, at the time she married him, he was anything but honorable. It turned out to be in Emma's self-interest to remain Queen - however, I did not expect the Emma of the first part of the book to be such a purely self-centered actor.

The novel is well written - at 800 pages, it was a page turner for me. I really enjoyed it and plan to read Hollick's novel about Harold Godwineson. I am also interested in learning more about Saxon England.
]]> King Richard II 33131

The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.


Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

General Editors' Preface

Preface

Introduction

Politics

Historical Context and the Issue of Topicality

The Connection with Essex

Ideology: Competing Conceptions of Monarchy

Characterization: Attitudes towards Richard and Bolingbroke

Politics in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth- Century Stagings

Language

Style

Imagery, Major Themes, Symbolism, Patterns of Allusion

Rhetoric

Afterlife

The Date

The Relation to Edward II and Woodstock

Richard II and the Second Tetralogy

Probable Venues of Early Performance

Sources

Holinshed

Hall

The Mirror for Magistrates

Daniel

Woodstock

Froissart; Creton; Traison

Edward II

Minor Sources

Text

THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND

Longer Notes

Appendices

1 Textual Analysis

2 Doubling Chart

3 Genealogical Tables

Abbreviations and references

Abbreviations used in notes

Works by and partly by Shakespeare

Editions of Shakespeare collated or referred to

Other works

Modern stage and television productions cited

Index]]> 593 William Shakespeare 1903436338 Lauren 0 to-read 3.83 1595 King Richard II
author: William Shakespeare
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1595
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Into the Wilderness (Wilderness, #1)]]> 72854
It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered - a white man dressed like a Native American, Nathanial Booner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, she soons finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as her own family.
Interweaving the fate of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.]]> 876 Sara Donati 0553578529 Lauren 4 4.10 1998 Into the Wilderness (Wilderness, #1)
author: Sara Donati
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pendragon's Banner (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, #2)]]> 4079509 558 helen-hollick Lauren 3
The problem I had is that while I enjoyed the novel, I just didn't tear through it as quickly as I normally do. I think this is because I really don't like Arthur all that much. He's selfish and ruthless and he's a pretty terrible husband. I realize that Hollick is trying to show what Arthur may have been like, given his historical role and the context of his reign. But I wish Arthur would have been more likeable.

Notwithstanding my mixed feelings, I do intend to finish this trilogy. I think the idea of how Arthur forged his empire is fascinating. I also really like to consider what the Dark Ages may have been like. I hope, though, that the third installment is a bit more "magical" for me than this middle installment.]]> 4.13 1996 Pendragon's Banner (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, #2)
author: helen-hollick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/01/04
shelves:
review:
Pendragon's Banner is book two in this King Arthur trilogy. As often happens with the middle book in a trilogy, I just don't love it as much as the first. I guess it's because things happen, but not as many thing happen as in the first book. The characters just aren't as fresh and you know that the story hasn't reached fruition yet. That's not to say that nothing happens - there is a lot of tragedy at this point in King Arthur's reign as Arthur works tirelessly to consolidate his power and to rout out his enemies.

The problem I had is that while I enjoyed the novel, I just didn't tear through it as quickly as I normally do. I think this is because I really don't like Arthur all that much. He's selfish and ruthless and he's a pretty terrible husband. I realize that Hollick is trying to show what Arthur may have been like, given his historical role and the context of his reign. But I wish Arthur would have been more likeable.

Notwithstanding my mixed feelings, I do intend to finish this trilogy. I think the idea of how Arthur forged his empire is fascinating. I also really like to consider what the Dark Ages may have been like. I hope, though, that the third installment is a bit more "magical" for me than this middle installment.
]]> Can You Keep a Secret? 75576 357 Sophie Kinsella Lauren 5 3.75 2003 Can You Keep a Secret?
author: Sophie Kinsella
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2013/10/28
shelves:
review:
This book is hilarious! Emma, the main character, is slightly ditzy and oh so sweet as she confesses her deepest, darkest secrets to a stranger on the plane during serious turbulence. In a twist of fate, that stranger happens to be Emma's boss. Emma is a very real character with some real, relatable insecurities. I enjoyed her character very much. This book is the perfect light read.
]]> <![CDATA[Shadow Princess (Taj Mahal Trilogy, #3)]]> 6929600
With a flair and enthusiasm for history and culture, Sundaresan creates a story full of rich details that brings the reader deep into the world of the lives of Indian women and their struggles for power and consequence.]]> 352 Indu Sundaresan 1416548793 Lauren 3
The novel centers on this competition from the perspective of Jahanara and secondarily, Rohanara, Shah Jahan's second daughter. Because of Shah Jahan's increasing reliance of the wise and beautiful Jahanara, he decides that she shall never marry. For a reason unclear in the novel, Roshanara is likewise forbidden to marry. The daughters compete for supremacy by backing different contenders for the throne. Jahanara backs the eldest son Dara and Roshanara backs Aurangzeb, the sly and ambitious third son. The novel also alternates between chapters on the building of the Taj Mahal. I found the chapters on the Taj Mahal to be rather dull. It also slowed down the narrative. I also thought that the character development was rather wooden in the first half of the novel. For me, the novel really picked up in the second half, after Shah Jahan casts off his lengthy mourning and the daughters manage to weild far more power - especially Jahanara - than would be expected for a woman living in purdah in a zenana.

Overall the novel warrants 3.5 stars. The first half was rather slow, but the second half was more interesting as character development improved and the author focused a bit lest on the minutiae relating to the building of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan's ultimate demise was rather tragic - I don't want to spoil it for those who do not know who succeeds him and how that succession occurs - but I think the story of Shah Jahan and his sons shares much of the poignancy of Henry II of England and his sons in the 12th century. ]]> 3.75 2010 Shadow Princess (Taj Mahal Trilogy, #3)
author: Indu Sundaresan
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/04/13
date added: 2013/07/13
shelves:
review:
Shadow Princess is set in the Mughal Empire, at the eve of Mumtaz Mahal's death. The novel quickly delves into Shah Jahan's despair, unusual in a society where a man has multiple wives, and his contemplation of abdicating the throne for which he had fought so hard. However, after a few days, Shah Jahan emerges from seclusion with the idea of building the Taj Mahal. During Shah Jahan's mourning for his wife, the power dynamics shifted. First, in the Mughal Empire, succession wass determined by might, not primogeniture. While seemingly more fair compared to the European tradition of primogeniture, in reality, male heirs competed for the throne, first through political posturing and then through murder. Second, power shifted in the royal zehana (harem) as well. Instead of shifting to one of Shah Jahan's surviving wives, power shifted to Jahanara, the Shah's eldest daughter. Thus, both the royal sons and royal daughters feuded.

The novel centers on this competition from the perspective of Jahanara and secondarily, Rohanara, Shah Jahan's second daughter. Because of Shah Jahan's increasing reliance of the wise and beautiful Jahanara, he decides that she shall never marry. For a reason unclear in the novel, Roshanara is likewise forbidden to marry. The daughters compete for supremacy by backing different contenders for the throne. Jahanara backs the eldest son Dara and Roshanara backs Aurangzeb, the sly and ambitious third son. The novel also alternates between chapters on the building of the Taj Mahal. I found the chapters on the Taj Mahal to be rather dull. It also slowed down the narrative. I also thought that the character development was rather wooden in the first half of the novel. For me, the novel really picked up in the second half, after Shah Jahan casts off his lengthy mourning and the daughters manage to weild far more power - especially Jahanara - than would be expected for a woman living in purdah in a zenana.

Overall the novel warrants 3.5 stars. The first half was rather slow, but the second half was more interesting as character development improved and the author focused a bit lest on the minutiae relating to the building of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan's ultimate demise was rather tragic - I don't want to spoil it for those who do not know who succeeds him and how that succession occurs - but I think the story of Shah Jahan and his sons shares much of the poignancy of Henry II of England and his sons in the 12th century.
]]> The Lovely Bones 12232938
So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.]]> 372 Alice Sebold 0316166685 Lauren 4 3.87 2002 The Lovely Bones
author: Alice Sebold
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/08/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Unbillable Hours: A True Story]]> 6949673 256 Ian Graham 1607146290 Lauren 4 3.77 2010 Unbillable Hours: A True Story
author: Ian Graham
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2011/02/10
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this memoir, possibly because I could relate to the author. Ian Graham is dead on with his description fo BigLaw, right down to recruiting and the work. Some was a bit dated - discovery is now largely computer based, but still - he describes the life of a young associate. I totally recognized his description of responding to interrogatories and document requests. I also really enjoyed his discussion of his pro bono case. Like many young associates, he started working on a pro bono project due to his ambivalence about big firm work. Ian ended up immersed in it and managed to obtain an amazing result for his client. Overall, I recommend this book for anyone considering a career in law.
]]> Elizabeth Street 6589074 Elizabeth Street is a multigenerational saga that opens in an Italian village in the 1900s, and crosses the ocean to New York's Lower East Side. At the heart of the novel is Giovanna, whose family is targeted by the notorious Black Hand--the precursor to the Mafia.

Elizabeth Street brings to light a period in history when Italian immigrant neighborhoods lived in fear of Black Hand extortion and violence--a reality that defies the romanticized depiction of the Mafia.

Here, the author reveals the merciless terror of the Black Hand-and the impact their crimes had on her family. Giovanna is based on Fabiano's great-grandmother, and the book's heroes and villains - such as Lieutenant Petrosino, the crusading cop and "Lupo the Wolf," a cold-blooded criminal - are drawn from real life in this thrilling tale. While set in a dynamic historical context, Elizabeth Street is, above all, the dramatic story of the heroine, Giovanna, and how she triumphed over tragedy.]]> 410 Laurie Fabiano 1442152613 Lauren 4
I thought the novel was a bit cliched. I remember some of the descriptions of immigrant life from my own visits to Ellis Island and Little Italy as a kid - right down to the button hook eye checks. Unfortunately the novel was predictable. I really did not like the shifts in the narrative to Angelina's granddaughter/Francesca's Great Granddaughter. They spoiled key plot elements but were not long enough for the reader to develop any attachment to the granddaughter.

Based on the author's note, I think Angelina's granddaughter is the author and she is telling the story of how she learned about her family's arrival to America and adventures in Little Italy. While I appreciate the fact that the story was based on true events, I think the novel would have worked better focusing only on Francesca's perspective. ]]> 3.86 2006 Elizabeth Street
author: Laurie Fabiano
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2011/02/01
date added: 2011/02/10
shelves:
review:
Elizabeth Street was a quick read. It tells the story of Francesca, woman from Calabria, Italy and her journey to turn of the century Little Italy in New York. It starts with her life in the "Old Country" and her marriage to Nunzio, her childhood sweetheart. The story then shifts to Nunzio and discusses his attempts to make a better life in La America. It describes the tenemants in Little Italy and the horrible working conditions of the Italian immigrants building modern New York. Eventually Francesca finds her way to New York too. The novel describes her journey on the ship, her passage through Ellis Island, her growing family, and the growth of La Mano Nera - organized crime - in the immigrant community. The novel also cuts at random times to Francesca's Great Granddaughter who seeks to understand the story of Angelina, Francesca's daughter.

I thought the novel was a bit cliched. I remember some of the descriptions of immigrant life from my own visits to Ellis Island and Little Italy as a kid - right down to the button hook eye checks. Unfortunately the novel was predictable. I really did not like the shifts in the narrative to Angelina's granddaughter/Francesca's Great Granddaughter. They spoiled key plot elements but were not long enough for the reader to develop any attachment to the granddaughter.

Based on the author's note, I think Angelina's granddaughter is the author and she is telling the story of how she learned about her family's arrival to America and adventures in Little Italy. While I appreciate the fact that the story was based on true events, I think the novel would have worked better focusing only on Francesca's perspective.
]]> His Lady Mistress 1430082
When Max, Earl Blakehurst, meets Verity he sees a downtrodden servant. He doesn't recognize her as the daughter of a colonel under whom he used to serve, the girl he'd once helped years before. The life Verity's now living is untenable. So he proposes a shocking solution--he will set her up as his mistress.

It's only once that Verity's finally agreed, once Max is beginning to lose his heart to her, that he discovers her true identity. Max is taken aback; he would never have suggested this lady become his mistress. Now, to avoid scandal, they'll have to marry!]]> 299 Elizabeth Rolls 0373293720 Lauren 1
Anyway, this novel tells the story of the orphaned Verity, who is taken in by relatives and mistreated. (Cliche). She falls in love with a mystery man who helps her as a child, only to meet him again at her relative's house (Cliche). Through a series of misunderstandings, Verity and Max's marriage is a disaster (Yawn). Then, they figure out that they are meant for each other and Verity forgives Max's boorish behavior. (Cliche). ]]> 3.52 2004 His Lady Mistress
author: Elizabeth Rolls
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2004
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2010/12/21
shelves:
review:
Dreadful Kindle Freebie. This is a regency romance novel with an implausible plot and a simpering, whining heroine. If you like annoying, whiny heroines, misunderstandings as a plot device, a lack of communication, and Cinderella stories, this may be for you.

Anyway, this novel tells the story of the orphaned Verity, who is taken in by relatives and mistreated. (Cliche). She falls in love with a mystery man who helps her as a child, only to meet him again at her relative's house (Cliche). Through a series of misunderstandings, Verity and Max's marriage is a disaster (Yawn). Then, they figure out that they are meant for each other and Verity forgives Max's boorish behavior. (Cliche).
]]> Revolution 7558747
PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.
Ěý
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.]]> 472 Jennifer Donnelly 0385737637 Lauren 4
Overall, the novel was very good. As a 32 year old, I can do without some of the teenage angst, but for the intended audience it is great. Be aware that it covers some heavy topics such as alcohol and drug use as well as suicide. Andi seems to learn from her self-destructive behavior and does move on from it, which is good. The novel is also is a good learning experience as it brings history alive for a group that is often bored by history. I think this is a good read for teens ages 13-17. ]]> 4.01 2010 Revolution
author: Jennifer Donnelly
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/12/21
date added: 2010/12/21
shelves:
review:
Like many young adult novels, Revolution tells the story of an angst-ridden teenager. Andi Alpers is a privileged high school senior growing up in an affluent neighborhood in Brooklyn. She attends a fancy prep school, but drinks too much and skips classes. Her mother is a French artist, her father is an absentee geneticist who cares more about his research than his family. Her parents split up after the tragic death of Andi's brother Truman and her mother has thrown herself obsessively into her painting, ignoring Andi. On top of the family tragedy, Andi's parents don't understand her. Andi's father rejects Andi's love for music. On top of that, Andi blames herself for her brother's death. Andi is about to fail out of school and her father takes her to Paris so that she can do her senior thesis on the guitarist Malherbeau (required to graduate). While in Paris, Andi wants nothing more than to leave her father so she decides to get her outline done so she can go home early. Andi finds a mysterious diary in a guitar case and ends up becoming immersed in the writer's story - it was written during the French revolution by a girl named Alexandrine with close ties to the royal family. (Andi's French is really good). Meanwhile, Andi meets a French boy and toys with suicide. Towards the end of the novel, during a rave in the catacombs, Andi hits her head and (a) becomes unconscious and dreams that she finds herself in revolutionary France or (b) is sucked through a crack in time into the French Revolution. Andi attempts to complete Alexandrines legacy while meeting Malherbeau and making an interesting discovery about the guitarists roots. Andi managaes to get back to the future (or regain consciousness) and writes a fantastic senior thesis.

Overall, the novel was very good. As a 32 year old, I can do without some of the teenage angst, but for the intended audience it is great. Be aware that it covers some heavy topics such as alcohol and drug use as well as suicide. Andi seems to learn from her self-destructive behavior and does move on from it, which is good. The novel is also is a good learning experience as it brings history alive for a group that is often bored by history. I think this is a good read for teens ages 13-17.
]]> <![CDATA[The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England]]> 6898456 Trapped in the Wars of the Roses, one woman finds herself sister to the queen...and traitor to the crown

Katherine Woodville's sister never gave her a choice. A happy girl of modest means, Kate hardly expected to become a maker of kings. But when her sister impulsively marries King Edward IV in secret, Katherine's life is no longer hers to control...

]]> 384 Susan Higginbotham 1402237669 Lauren 5
While it is not in the same league as Sharon Penman's Sunne in Splendour, it takes a very different perspective than many other contemporary novels. The Woodvilles are not evil, they are not witches, nor are they schemers - they are simply regular people who were caught up in English politics due to an unexpected marriage. The Woodvilles are definitely flawed - they do not think clearly about the reperussions of ambitious and unconventional marriages - but they are human. Another difference is that Richard III isn't simply the misunderstood nice guy who was villified by the evil Todors. Higginbotham's Richard is arrogant and ambitious. He is driven to take the crown not by a justifiable hatred for all things Woodville, but simply because he wants to be king. Richard isn't exactly evil, but he is ruthless. I thought that Higginbotham's Richard fits well with the factual record - certain elements have never sat well for me with the Ricardian view - the pathological hatred for Woodvilles (see the Rose of York series) and his summary executions of nobles, particularly Lord Hastings. Another interesting element of this work is the portrayal of the Buckinghams. Henry Stafford, according to the Ricardian view, hated Woodvilles and resented his child bride. This view, however, does not mesh well with the fact that the Buckinghams had numerous children. There must have been some affection there, or they would not have bothered begetting more than an heir or an heir and a spare. Stafford is portrayed as foolish (meshes with facts) and Higginbotham presents a reasonable case for exonerating Stafford as the murderer of the Princes. Before reading The Stolen Crown, I leaned in favor of Stafford as the killer of the Princes, but now, I think it may well have been Richard.

Overall, The Stolen Crown is an enjoyable read. I enjoyed Higganbotham's take on a familiar story and this is a must read for anyone interested in this period of history. The only negative, to me, is that Henry Stafford may have been sugar coated a bit too much. I didn't really feel that the book created a believable story for why Stafford initially aligned himself with Richard III. Otherwise, though, the book is great.]]> 3.80 2010 The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England
author: Susan Higginbotham
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/12/02
date added: 2010/12/21
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this look at the Wars of the Roses. The Stolen Crown tells the story of the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III from the perspective of the Duke of Buckingham and his wife, Katherine Woodville (sister to Queen Elizabeth Woodville). Although Richard III and Edward IV are common subjects of novels these days - even Phillipa Gregory is writing about them - The Stolen Crown felt fresh to me. The story is familiar - no need to retell it here. Instead, in this review, I am going to point out some differences in The Stolen Crown, compared to other novels I have read.

While it is not in the same league as Sharon Penman's Sunne in Splendour, it takes a very different perspective than many other contemporary novels. The Woodvilles are not evil, they are not witches, nor are they schemers - they are simply regular people who were caught up in English politics due to an unexpected marriage. The Woodvilles are definitely flawed - they do not think clearly about the reperussions of ambitious and unconventional marriages - but they are human. Another difference is that Richard III isn't simply the misunderstood nice guy who was villified by the evil Todors. Higginbotham's Richard is arrogant and ambitious. He is driven to take the crown not by a justifiable hatred for all things Woodville, but simply because he wants to be king. Richard isn't exactly evil, but he is ruthless. I thought that Higginbotham's Richard fits well with the factual record - certain elements have never sat well for me with the Ricardian view - the pathological hatred for Woodvilles (see the Rose of York series) and his summary executions of nobles, particularly Lord Hastings. Another interesting element of this work is the portrayal of the Buckinghams. Henry Stafford, according to the Ricardian view, hated Woodvilles and resented his child bride. This view, however, does not mesh well with the fact that the Buckinghams had numerous children. There must have been some affection there, or they would not have bothered begetting more than an heir or an heir and a spare. Stafford is portrayed as foolish (meshes with facts) and Higginbotham presents a reasonable case for exonerating Stafford as the murderer of the Princes. Before reading The Stolen Crown, I leaned in favor of Stafford as the killer of the Princes, but now, I think it may well have been Richard.

Overall, The Stolen Crown is an enjoyable read. I enjoyed Higganbotham's take on a familiar story and this is a must read for anyone interested in this period of history. The only negative, to me, is that Henry Stafford may have been sugar coated a bit too much. I didn't really feel that the book created a believable story for why Stafford initially aligned himself with Richard III. Otherwise, though, the book is great.
]]> <![CDATA[The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)]]> 68527
The story is seen through the eyes of Uhtred, a dispossessed nobleman, who is captured as a child by the Danes and then raised by them so that, by the time the Northmen begin their assault on Wessex (Alfred’s kingdom and the last territory in English hands) Uhtred almost thinks of himself as a Dane. He certainly has no love for Alfred, whom he considers a pious weakling and no match for Viking savagery, yet when Alfred unexpectedly defeats the Danes and the Danes themselves turn on Uhtred, he is finally forced to choose sides. By now he is a young man, in love, trained to fight and ready to take his place in the dreaded shield wall. Above all, though, he wishes to recover his father’s land, the enchanting fort of Bebbanburg by the wild northern sea.

This thrilling adventure—based on existing records of Bernard Cornwell’s ancestors—depicts a time when law and order were ripped violently apart by a pagan assault on Christian England, an assault that came very close to destroying England.]]> 333 Bernard Cornwell 0060887184 Lauren 0 currently-reading 4.27 2004 The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)
author: Bernard Cornwell
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/21
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Half Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, and How We Both Learned to Breathe]]> 7790147 304 Alexa Stevenson 0762439467 Lauren 4
Half Baked tells the story of an anxiety ridden woman who prepared for all of the wrong disasters. Alexa was worried about getting killed by fly balls, contracting lyme disease, and the like. But she was not prepared for a 25 week micropreemie. After some painful fertility treatments (humorously described) and a miscarriage (or two), Alexa finally becomes pregnant with twins. Like many veterans of fertility treatments, she's too afraid to become attached out of fear. However, she is completely blindsided when one twin dies in utero, leaving her body at risk for infection and her surviving delivery at risk for delivery prior to viability.

Alexa chronicles her reaction to this awful news - thankfully with good humor and wittiness - and describes the horror first of anti-contraction medications, then preterm delivery, and finally life as a NICU parent. She depicts her daughters struggle to survive and the constant uncertainty - when at one moment, her daughter seems to be thriving only to be close to death a few hours later. After a while, the constant ups and downs and medical talk got tedious for this reader (hence the lower than 4 star rating). Luckily, though, Alexa does not play hide the ball and lets the reader know that Baby Simone survives her ordeal and is now a toddler.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting read. It certainly makes me appreciate the ordeal of extreme prematurity. I definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in micropreemies (I'm glad I wasn't around 25 weeks pregnant when I read it though!). Also, this is a really good read for friends and family of parents going through a similar ordeal. I have a friend who is the mother of twin micropreemies and it really helped me appreciate her ordeal and to recognize what her family and her babies likely experienced.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]]]> 4.09 2010 Half Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, and How We Both Learned to Breathe
author: Alexa Stevenson
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/11
date added: 2010/12/20
shelves:
review:
Half Baked is another one of those books that needs a 1/2 star option. It wasn't quite a 4 star read for me, but didn't deserve 3 stars either. I rounded up to 4 because I'm not really a memoir person. As far as memoirs go, though, this is a pretty good one. Like all memoirs, there's just too much narcissism there. Of course, it comes with plenty of introspection. All the same, though, memoirs are not my favorite genre, so to be fair, I didn't want to shortchange Alexa Stevenson with a three star rating.

Half Baked tells the story of an anxiety ridden woman who prepared for all of the wrong disasters. Alexa was worried about getting killed by fly balls, contracting lyme disease, and the like. But she was not prepared for a 25 week micropreemie. After some painful fertility treatments (humorously described) and a miscarriage (or two), Alexa finally becomes pregnant with twins. Like many veterans of fertility treatments, she's too afraid to become attached out of fear. However, she is completely blindsided when one twin dies in utero, leaving her body at risk for infection and her surviving delivery at risk for delivery prior to viability.

Alexa chronicles her reaction to this awful news - thankfully with good humor and wittiness - and describes the horror first of anti-contraction medications, then preterm delivery, and finally life as a NICU parent. She depicts her daughters struggle to survive and the constant uncertainty - when at one moment, her daughter seems to be thriving only to be close to death a few hours later. After a while, the constant ups and downs and medical talk got tedious for this reader (hence the lower than 4 star rating). Luckily, though, Alexa does not play hide the ball and lets the reader know that Baby Simone survives her ordeal and is now a toddler.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting read. It certainly makes me appreciate the ordeal of extreme prematurity. I definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in micropreemies (I'm glad I wasn't around 25 weeks pregnant when I read it though!). Also, this is a really good read for friends and family of parents going through a similar ordeal. I have a friend who is the mother of twin micropreemies and it really helped me appreciate her ordeal and to recognize what her family and her babies likely experienced.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]
]]> The Sixth Surrender 7530588 Read Hana Samek Norton's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.

A transporting debut novel set in thirteenth century France-a time when chivalry reigned and treachery ruled

In the last years of her eventful life, queen-duchess Aliénor of Aquitaine launches a deadly dynastic chess game to safeguard the crowns of Normandy and England for John Plantagenet, her last surviving son.

To that end, Aliénor coerces into matrimony two pawns-Juliana de Charnais, a plain and pious novice determined to regain her inheritance, and Guérin de lasalle, a cynical, war-worn mercenary equally resolved to renounce his.

The womanizing Lasalle and the proud Juliana are perfectly matched for battle not love-until spies and assassins conspire to reverse their romantic fortunes.

Populated by spirited and intelligent women and executed in flawless period detail, The Sixth Surrender is a compelling love story that heralds the arrival of a major new talent in historical fiction.]]> 468 Hana Samek Norton 0452296234 Lauren 2
Meanwhile, the novel goes through various confusing plots, some of which were political, others were the stuff of a drawn-out battle between La Salle and Juliana. To note: I found it confusing and I had significant background knowledge on the major political issues of the period - the Lusignans, Arthur of Brittany, Eleanor of Brittany, the dispute between Johna nd his Poitevin barons. I can only imagine how confusing this novel would be for someone without background knowledge!

Towards the end of the novel, Samek introduces a plot twist. She tries to redeem La Salle by having his actions appear in a different light. Still, things don't really make sense to this reader. I had no idea how Juliana figured certain things out - e.g. the identity fo Celine. I found myself skimming the last 100 pages. I just wanted to get to the end of this convoluted novel. 1.5 stars (At least I finished it!).

**Reviewed for Amazon Vine]]> 3.36 2010 The Sixth Surrender
author: Hana Samek Norton
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2010/11/22
shelves:
review:
The Sixth Surrender had some well-written moments. Unfortunately, it was also very confusing with a convoluted plot. It tells the story of Juliana, heiress to the small border viscounty of Tillieres. She intially was to become a nun. During her time as a novice at Fontrevaud, Juliana becomes a scribe for the aging Alienor (Eleanor of Aquitaine). Juliana wishes to marry instead of taking her vows. While Samek doesn't exactly make clear what Juliana expects from marriage, she certainly got something she didn't bargain for - the mysterious bad boy Guerin de La Salle. La Salle has a dark past and a nasty scar on his neck, having survived an attempted beheading during his time in Outre Mer (Israel) with the deceased Richard. Alienor decides to marry Juliana and Guerin, purportedly to secure Guerin's loyalty as Guerin is landless. However the couple does not get along. Guerin has no wish to marry and he enjoys several mistresses. Juliana adopts a holier than thou attidue and is disgusted at the idea of being a wife (begging the question of what she expected from marriage) - especially to the odious La Salle. La Salle comes across as an abusive brute.

Meanwhile, the novel goes through various confusing plots, some of which were political, others were the stuff of a drawn-out battle between La Salle and Juliana. To note: I found it confusing and I had significant background knowledge on the major political issues of the period - the Lusignans, Arthur of Brittany, Eleanor of Brittany, the dispute between Johna nd his Poitevin barons. I can only imagine how confusing this novel would be for someone without background knowledge!

Towards the end of the novel, Samek introduces a plot twist. She tries to redeem La Salle by having his actions appear in a different light. Still, things don't really make sense to this reader. I had no idea how Juliana figured certain things out - e.g. the identity fo Celine. I found myself skimming the last 100 pages. I just wanted to get to the end of this convoluted novel. 1.5 stars (At least I finished it!).

**Reviewed for Amazon Vine
]]> <![CDATA[The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou]]> 7889845 A man other than my husband sits on England's throne today.

What would happen if this king suddenly went mad? What would his queen do? Would she make the same mistakes I did, or would she learn from mine?

Margaret of Anjou, queen of England, cannot give up on her husband-even when he slips into insanity. And as mother to the House of Lancaster's last hope, she cannot give up on her son-even when England turns against them. This gripping tale of a queen forced to stand strong in the face of overwhelming odds is at its heart a tender tale of love.

]]> 345 Susan Higginbotham 1402242816 Lauren 0 to-read 3.92 2011 The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou
author: Susan Higginbotham
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)]]> 24983
But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin--barely of age herself--finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit.]]> 578 Connie Willis 0553562738 Lauren 3
So what didn't I like? Well, Willis tried to tell parallel stories of the past and future, with part of the book sent in 2054-55 and the other part in 1348. Kivrin, a history student, is sent to the middle ages to do research. See, in 2054, historians at Oxford have the monopoly on time travel. Due to an error, Kivrin ends up in 1348 instead of 1320, just in time for the plague. Kivrin finds that the middle ages isn't as romantic as she expects but adapts. Kivrin's observations are fascinating though. Makes you think twice about time travel, though the Kivrin is very well prepared for her adventure. As wonderful as the medieval sections were, the future sections were awful. They were redundant, had too many characters and didn't seem futuristic at all. They felt kind of retro. The novel was published in the early nineties and I could have sworn that the future section was sent around 1993, notwithstanding the time travel technology and compulsory vaccinations and quaranties. In Willis' 2054 people use phone booths. I found myself skimming through the future sections for the first 350 pages or so. They just weren't my cup of tea.

At least half the story is devoted to figuring out where Kivirin is - both among the future folks and for Kivrin herself. She doesn't quite know where she is and she can't find the "drop" location to go back to the future. The other half of the story shows reactions in the future and the past to epidemics. I thought this parallel was a bit overdone. It didn't help that I hated most of the future characters and I found the writing in the future parts to be somewhat repetetive.

Another issue I had was a seriously unlikely element of the story line. Yes, I know time travel is as unlikely as it gets, but here's my issue. Kivrin arrives in the past with a virus. An upper class family takes her in and cares for her in the virus. Towards the end, after it is revealed that it was the middle of the plague epidemic and it appears that the family was actually hiding from the plague, I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't leave Kivrin in the road knowing she was sick. They wouldn't have known whether or not she had the plague and given how terrified people were of plague, why would they let a sick person in their house? Clearly they didn't know of germ theory back then, but if they knew enough to flee... Speaking of germs, Kivrin threw around the word germ, as if it existed in Middle English!

Anyhow, this really was a decent read. I would have edited it down about 100 pages, mostly from the future section. But I found the medival part to be a page turner, especially the question of whether Kivrin would stay in the Middle Ages. We already knew she wouldn't get the plague as she was vaccinated! This novel really could have been excellent if it were less repetetive and the future wasn't so familiar (i.e. 1990s), but it was just ok bordering on the good.]]> 4.02 1992 Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1)
author: Connie Willis
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2010/10/22
date added: 2010/10/22
shelves:
review:
I have mixed feelings about Doomsday Book. I am a sucker for time travel and as far as that genre goes, Doomsday Book was well done. Connie Willis thought of a lot - she had time traveler Kivrin implanted with a chip to make her speak Middle English and understand. She also had her fully vaccinated for the plague. Willis did a great job describing what regular life might have been like. Her plague setting felt a bit been there, read that for me - I'm kind of bored with the plague - but she really made it hart wrenching. The medieval characters were really people I cared about.

So what didn't I like? Well, Willis tried to tell parallel stories of the past and future, with part of the book sent in 2054-55 and the other part in 1348. Kivrin, a history student, is sent to the middle ages to do research. See, in 2054, historians at Oxford have the monopoly on time travel. Due to an error, Kivrin ends up in 1348 instead of 1320, just in time for the plague. Kivrin finds that the middle ages isn't as romantic as she expects but adapts. Kivrin's observations are fascinating though. Makes you think twice about time travel, though the Kivrin is very well prepared for her adventure. As wonderful as the medieval sections were, the future sections were awful. They were redundant, had too many characters and didn't seem futuristic at all. They felt kind of retro. The novel was published in the early nineties and I could have sworn that the future section was sent around 1993, notwithstanding the time travel technology and compulsory vaccinations and quaranties. In Willis' 2054 people use phone booths. I found myself skimming through the future sections for the first 350 pages or so. They just weren't my cup of tea.

At least half the story is devoted to figuring out where Kivirin is - both among the future folks and for Kivrin herself. She doesn't quite know where she is and she can't find the "drop" location to go back to the future. The other half of the story shows reactions in the future and the past to epidemics. I thought this parallel was a bit overdone. It didn't help that I hated most of the future characters and I found the writing in the future parts to be somewhat repetetive.

Another issue I had was a seriously unlikely element of the story line. Yes, I know time travel is as unlikely as it gets, but here's my issue. Kivrin arrives in the past with a virus. An upper class family takes her in and cares for her in the virus. Towards the end, after it is revealed that it was the middle of the plague epidemic and it appears that the family was actually hiding from the plague, I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't leave Kivrin in the road knowing she was sick. They wouldn't have known whether or not she had the plague and given how terrified people were of plague, why would they let a sick person in their house? Clearly they didn't know of germ theory back then, but if they knew enough to flee... Speaking of germs, Kivrin threw around the word germ, as if it existed in Middle English!

Anyhow, this really was a decent read. I would have edited it down about 100 pages, mostly from the future section. But I found the medival part to be a page turner, especially the question of whether Kivrin would stay in the Middle Ages. We already knew she wouldn't get the plague as she was vaccinated! This novel really could have been excellent if it were less repetetive and the future wasn't so familiar (i.e. 1990s), but it was just ok bordering on the good.
]]> <![CDATA[The Time of Singing (William Marshal, #4; Bigod, #1)]]> 3021946
A captivating story of a mother's love stretched to breaking and a knight determined to rebuild his life with the royal mistress, For the King's Favor is Elizabeth Chadwick at her best. Based on a true story never before told and impeccably researched, this is a testament to the power of sacrifice and the strength of love.

When Roger Bigod, heir to the powerful earldom of Norfolk, arrives at court to settle an inheritance, he meets Ida de Tosney, young mistress to King Henry II. In Roger, Ida sees a chance for lasting love, but their decision to marry carries an agonizing price. It's a breathtaking novel of making choices, not giving up, and coping with the terrible shifting whims of the king.]]> 514 Elizabeth Chadwick 1847440975 Lauren 5
The novel portrays Henry II as a self-centered schemer. While Henry could be loving, he thinks little of other's wishes and only of what is expedient for his own purposes. The middle aged King finds young Ida attractive and essentially rapes her. Ida then becomes his mistress. Meanwhile, Henry keeps dangling Roger's inheritance in front of him, enjoying his ability to collect revenues from Roger's patrimony while also enjoying Roger's loyalty as his liege lord.

Ida, never comfortable as Henry's mistress, finds herself pregnant. Simultaneous to struggling wtih her own ambivalence and moral misgivings about her royal liaison, she decides to arrange her own marriage with Roger Bigod. Roger agrees to the match and the two marry. However, Ida's choice to marry comes with difficult consequences - Henry separates her from her son.

The remainder of the book deals with Ida and Roger battling their demons as a result of their relationships with Henry II - Ida battling her guilt over giving up her son and Roger fighting for his lands, and once he gets them back, to performing his duty as an honorable earl. Chadwick does a fantastic job making people who died approximately eight hundred years ago seem like real, living people. In her author's note, Chadwick mentions that she went to a clairvoyant to help her understand what Ida and Roger might have felt about the key events in their lives. Chadwick's strategy paid off, as she created a very well-rounded life for people about whom not a ton is known.

I think my favorite thing about this book is that the story, although familiar in the sense that it deals with the Plantagenets and William Marshall, felt new and fresh because it centered on characters I knew little about - Ida, Roger, and William Longespee - Ida's son with Henry.

5 stars.]]> 4.19 2008 The Time of Singing (William Marshal, #4; Bigod, #1)
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2010/10/18
date added: 2010/10/22
shelves:
review:
I thought "For the King's Favor" was a very enjoyable read. This book features the same troublemaking Plantagenets, Henry II and his brood of sons. This time, though, the story is told from the perspective of outsiders. Ida de Tourney is Henry's young ward. She heads to court to see what Henry decides to do about her fate. She wants to make a good impression on the King so that she is married off to a good family. Simultaneously, the novel tells the story of Roger Bigod, son of the disgraced Hugh Bigod. Roger struggles to regain his properties after they were confiscated after Hugh's support of the Young King in his failed rebellion against Henry II.

The novel portrays Henry II as a self-centered schemer. While Henry could be loving, he thinks little of other's wishes and only of what is expedient for his own purposes. The middle aged King finds young Ida attractive and essentially rapes her. Ida then becomes his mistress. Meanwhile, Henry keeps dangling Roger's inheritance in front of him, enjoying his ability to collect revenues from Roger's patrimony while also enjoying Roger's loyalty as his liege lord.

Ida, never comfortable as Henry's mistress, finds herself pregnant. Simultaneous to struggling wtih her own ambivalence and moral misgivings about her royal liaison, she decides to arrange her own marriage with Roger Bigod. Roger agrees to the match and the two marry. However, Ida's choice to marry comes with difficult consequences - Henry separates her from her son.

The remainder of the book deals with Ida and Roger battling their demons as a result of their relationships with Henry II - Ida battling her guilt over giving up her son and Roger fighting for his lands, and once he gets them back, to performing his duty as an honorable earl. Chadwick does a fantastic job making people who died approximately eight hundred years ago seem like real, living people. In her author's note, Chadwick mentions that she went to a clairvoyant to help her understand what Ida and Roger might have felt about the key events in their lives. Chadwick's strategy paid off, as she created a very well-rounded life for people about whom not a ton is known.

I think my favorite thing about this book is that the story, although familiar in the sense that it deals with the Plantagenets and William Marshall, felt new and fresh because it centered on characters I knew little about - Ida, Roger, and William Longespee - Ida's son with Henry.

5 stars.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz]]> 6431998 Based on the life of the author’s thirteenth-century ancestor, Meir ben Baruch of Rothenberg, a renowed Jewish scholar of medieval Europe, this is the richly dramatic fictional story of Rabbi Meir’s wife, Shira, a devout but rebellious woman who preserves her religious traditions as she and her family witness the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe.

Raised by her widowed rabbi father and a Christian nursemaid in Normandy, Shira is a free-spirited, inquisitive girl whose love of learning shocks the community. When Shira’s father is arrested by the local baron intent on enforcing the Catholic Church’s strictures against heresy, Shira fights for his release and encounters two men who will influence her life profoundly—an inspiring Catholic priest and Meir ben Baruch, a brilliant scholar. In Meir, Shira finds her soulmate.

Married to Meir in Paris, Shira blossoms as a wife and mother, savoring the intellectual and social challenges that come with being the wife of a prominent scholar. After witnessing the burning of every copy of the Talmud in Paris, Shira and her family seek refuge in Germany. Yet even there they experience bloody pogroms and intensifying anti-Semitism. With no safe place for Jews in Europe, they set out for Israel only to see Meir captured and imprisoned by Rudolph I of Hapsburg. As Shira weathers heartbreak and works to find a middle ground between two warring religions, she shows her children and grandchildren how to embrace the joys of life, both secular and religious.

A multi-generational novel that vividly brings to life a period rarely covered in historical fiction.
]]> 448 Michelle Cameron 1439118221 Lauren 4
The Fruit of Her Hands begins with the story of the fictional Shira of Ashkenaz, the wife of the great Jewish scholar, Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, ancestor to the author of the novel. The novel begins in Normandy, in the town of Falaise with Shira as a young girl living with her widower father, a great Rabbi. Shira studies in her father's yeshiva, an unconventional role for a girl. While at her father's yeshiva, Shira becomes swept into a debate enrapturing her community regarding the validity of Maimonedes' view that the Torah, and not the Talmud, should be the center of Jewish study by a fiery pupil named Nicholas Donin. Donin is eventually expelled from the Jewish community and Shira reencounters him in Paris, where she is living as the wife of Meir ben Baruch. Donin becomes a Franciscan monk and uses his role in the church to revenge himself on the Jews who rejected him. Ultimately, Shira's family settles in Germany where they find some peace - but not for long. The novel recounts over and over the blood myth (that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make matzoh and engage in ritual murder of Christian children). The focus becomes one of Christian-Jewish relations, which is obviously very sad and poignant.

The author does a good job of making the reader understand that the Jews were reviled outsiders, useful to nobility and the Church only as a source of fundraising and not much else. Unfortunately, the characters in the novel are not that well developed. While the author tells us that Shira is intelligent and she is well-versed in Scriptures, she was a flat character. Similary, the author tells us that Meir is a great scholar but I didn't develop a strong sense of who he was as a person until the last two chapters of the novel. The novel took large leaps in time to get from one horrible historical attack on Jews to another, with little plot or character development in between. The characters became tools to tell the story of medieval Jews rather than Shira and Meir's story. At times the plot seems contrived simply to get Shira in the "wrong place at the wrong time" (or is it the right place at the right time?) so that the author can bring up a particularly horrific account of extreme anti-semitism during the period.

I also have to comment on the poor cover art. The woman depicted on the cover is intended to be Shira, I presume. However, her clothing would never have been worn by a medieval Jew. The shoulders are virtually uncovered and the attire is immodest. Also the woman is depicted as writing, but Left to Right. Hebrew, in contrast, is written from Right to Left and the "real" Shira would have primarily written in Hebrew, not in the languages of her Christian neighbors.

Overall this is a good novel. It didn't quite rise to the level of a four star novel to me but it wasn't a three star novel either. It isn't perfect, but a good book in a rather vacant area of historical fiction.

UPDATE: My Mother read this book and LOVED it, as did all of her friends. None of them are die hard historical fiction readers like me, so they're probably less picky. But all of them are Jewish and enjoyed this look at Jews in the middle ages. If you fall into this category, I definitely think you should read this book.
***Reviewed for Amazon Vine.]]> 4.02 2009 The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz
author: Michelle Cameron
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2009/10/03
date added: 2010/10/19
shelves:
review:
I have encountered few novels that deal wholly with Jewish life in the Middle Ages. Thus, I was delighted to discover this novel, as it combines several areas of interest for me - Jewish history, the middle ages, and more generally, medieval Jewish culture. Because of this dearth of similar novels (I haven't seen too many others set at this time, other than the Rashi's daughters series) I think the book tries to do too much - tell the story of one man and his wife as well as the story of the entire Jewish community of Europe in thirteenth century Europe.

The Fruit of Her Hands begins with the story of the fictional Shira of Ashkenaz, the wife of the great Jewish scholar, Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, ancestor to the author of the novel. The novel begins in Normandy, in the town of Falaise with Shira as a young girl living with her widower father, a great Rabbi. Shira studies in her father's yeshiva, an unconventional role for a girl. While at her father's yeshiva, Shira becomes swept into a debate enrapturing her community regarding the validity of Maimonedes' view that the Torah, and not the Talmud, should be the center of Jewish study by a fiery pupil named Nicholas Donin. Donin is eventually expelled from the Jewish community and Shira reencounters him in Paris, where she is living as the wife of Meir ben Baruch. Donin becomes a Franciscan monk and uses his role in the church to revenge himself on the Jews who rejected him. Ultimately, Shira's family settles in Germany where they find some peace - but not for long. The novel recounts over and over the blood myth (that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make matzoh and engage in ritual murder of Christian children). The focus becomes one of Christian-Jewish relations, which is obviously very sad and poignant.

The author does a good job of making the reader understand that the Jews were reviled outsiders, useful to nobility and the Church only as a source of fundraising and not much else. Unfortunately, the characters in the novel are not that well developed. While the author tells us that Shira is intelligent and she is well-versed in Scriptures, she was a flat character. Similary, the author tells us that Meir is a great scholar but I didn't develop a strong sense of who he was as a person until the last two chapters of the novel. The novel took large leaps in time to get from one horrible historical attack on Jews to another, with little plot or character development in between. The characters became tools to tell the story of medieval Jews rather than Shira and Meir's story. At times the plot seems contrived simply to get Shira in the "wrong place at the wrong time" (or is it the right place at the right time?) so that the author can bring up a particularly horrific account of extreme anti-semitism during the period.

I also have to comment on the poor cover art. The woman depicted on the cover is intended to be Shira, I presume. However, her clothing would never have been worn by a medieval Jew. The shoulders are virtually uncovered and the attire is immodest. Also the woman is depicted as writing, but Left to Right. Hebrew, in contrast, is written from Right to Left and the "real" Shira would have primarily written in Hebrew, not in the languages of her Christian neighbors.

Overall this is a good novel. It didn't quite rise to the level of a four star novel to me but it wasn't a three star novel either. It isn't perfect, but a good book in a rather vacant area of historical fiction.

UPDATE: My Mother read this book and LOVED it, as did all of her friends. None of them are die hard historical fiction readers like me, so they're probably less picky. But all of them are Jewish and enjoyed this look at Jews in the middle ages. If you fall into this category, I definitely think you should read this book.
***Reviewed for Amazon Vine.
]]> <![CDATA[Lord of the Isles (Men of the Isles, #1)]]> 7295107 342 Debbie Mazzuca 1420110055 Lauren 2 ***
Methinks I should have read Misfit's review before reading this one (or reread Outlander). It's pretty terrible - I came across it on my Kindle when looking for a time travel romance like Outlander. ]]> 4.01 2010 Lord of the Isles (Men of the Isles, #1)
author: Debbie Mazzuca
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2010/10/05
date added: 2010/10/13
shelves:
review:
Well, Lord of the Isles wasn't quite as horrible as I thought it would be. But it still is in the running for one of the worst books I read in 2010. The beginning was awful, with Allie, the main character - a medical resident turned model waking up in the bed of a 16th century laird due to fairy magic. The dialogue and storyline was just idiotic! I also couldn't figure out how Allie and the castle residents would have communicated, as I'm pretty sure that 16th century highlanders almost exclusively spoke Gaelic (and even if they didn't, it would have been difficult to understand each other) and Allie was supposed to be American! Yet, despite the idiocy, I ended up getting sucked in. The book ended up being so bad that it was actually good. Hah! It's definitely no Outlander. But if you want brain candy with hunky highlanders and a 20th century heroine who manages to survive the 16th century without actually being burned for witchcraft (but comes close!), that's what you get! There's also a plot twist in there that I saw coming less than half way through the novel. I hoped that I was wrong, but yep - just about the dumbest plot twist I could think of was actually in the book.
***
Methinks I should have read Misfit's review before reading this one (or reread Outlander). It's pretty terrible - I came across it on my Kindle when looking for a time travel romance like Outlander.
]]> The Birth House 171102 The Birth House is the story of Dora Rare, the first daughter to be born in five generations of the Rare family. As a child in an isolated village in Nova Scotia, she is drawn to Miss Babineau, an outspoken Acadian midwife with a gift for healing and a kitchen filled with herbs and folk remedies. During the turbulent years of World War I, Dora becomes the midwife's apprentice. Together, they help the women of Scots Bay through infertility, difficult labors, breech births, unwanted pregnancies and even unfulfilling sex lives.

When Gilbert Thomas, a brash medical doctor, comes to Scots Bay with promises of fast, painless childbirth, some of the women begin to question Miss Babineau's methods - and after Miss Babineau's death, Dora is left to carry on alone. In the face of fierce opposition, she must summon all of her strength to protect the birthing traditions and wisdom that have been passed down to her.

Filled with details that are as compelling as they are surprising-childbirth in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion, the prescribing of vibratory treatments to cure hysteria and a mysterious elixir called Beaver Brew- The Birth House is an unforgettable tale of the struggles women have faced to maintain control over their own bodies and to keep the best parts of tradition alive in the world of modern medicine.]]> 408 Ami McKay 0676977731 Lauren 4
The novel is written in a scrap book fashion, with Dora's diary entries, thoughts, letters, newspaper clippings, home remedies, and advertisements. I really enjoyed this eclectic style. I thought Dora and Miss Babineau were great characters. She was multifaceted and passionate. Unfortunately, the male characters were charicatures and I felt that many characters were there for a reason. Aunt Fran was the outwardly straight-laced, religious character. Grace Hutner was the town slut. The Doctor was the buffoon obstetrician who served to show that home births and midwives are superior to modern medicine. Mr. Ketch was the village drunk and wife abuser. And so on. I wish the other characters were as well fleshed out.

]]> 4.00 2006 The Birth House
author: Ami McKay
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/09/28
shelves:
review:
The Birth House is an interesting look at village in Nova Scotia during World War I. Scots Bay is not quite modern. There is no electricity, everyone knows everyone, and there is no local doctor. The nearest doctor is in the larger town of Canning. The story opens with Dora Rare, the first daughter in generations of a family that is not supposed to have any girls. For this reason (and the fact that Dora was born in a caul), villagers are a bit suspicious of Dora, wondering if she has magical powers (for example, the ability to cause the birth of a three legged calf). The local midwife, an aging Acadian spinster named Miss Babineau (Miss B), takes Dora under her wing as Miss B. has selected Dora as her successor. Dora attends various births and trains in herbs and folklore in somewhat reluctant training for her future role as midwife. However, as Dora trains, a new Doctor comes on the scene. The Doctor has opened a birth facility in Canning, where he hopes the Scots Bay women can give up their primitive ways and enjoy the newfangled use of twilight birth and forceps.

The novel is written in a scrap book fashion, with Dora's diary entries, thoughts, letters, newspaper clippings, home remedies, and advertisements. I really enjoyed this eclectic style. I thought Dora and Miss Babineau were great characters. She was multifaceted and passionate. Unfortunately, the male characters were charicatures and I felt that many characters were there for a reason. Aunt Fran was the outwardly straight-laced, religious character. Grace Hutner was the town slut. The Doctor was the buffoon obstetrician who served to show that home births and midwives are superior to modern medicine. Mr. Ketch was the village drunk and wife abuser. And so on. I wish the other characters were as well fleshed out.


]]> The Birth House 1212780 385 Ami McKay 0061135879 Lauren 0 3.97 2006 The Birth House
author: Ami McKay
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/09/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Doctor and the Diva 7641662 A breathtaking novel of romantic obsession, longing and one woman's choice between motherhood and her operatic calling

It is 1903. Dr. Ravell is a young Harvard-educated obstetrician with a growing reputation for helping couples conceive. He has treated women from all walks of Boston society, but when Ravell meets Erika-an opera singer whose beauty is surpassed only by her spellbinding voice-he knows their doctor- patient relationship will be like none he has ever had.

After struggling for years to become pregnant, Erika believes there is no hope. Her mind is made up: she will leave her prominent Bostonian husband to pursue her career in Italy, a plan both unconventional and risky. But becoming Ravell's patient will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.

Lush and stunningly realized, The Doctor and the Diva moves from snowy Boston to the jungles of Trinidad to the gilded balconies of Florence. This magnificent debut is a tale of passionate love affairs, dangerous decisions, and a woman's irreconcilable desires as she is forced to choose between the child she has always longed for and the opera career she cannot live without. Inspired by the author's family history, the novel is sensual, sexy, and heart-stopping in its bittersweet beauty.

Watch a Video
]]> 432 Adrienne McDonnell 0670021881 Lauren 4
I was immediately hooked into this story line. I also greatly enjoyed the authors characterizations of Peter, Erika, and Dr. Ravell. I thought that they were all characters with positive and negative traits and flaws. None of them stood out as awful people, but none were saints either. I also found the story of early obstetrics to be interesting. I think the main flaw is that at times - especially the beginning, when the characters were not as well fleshed out (and when the author details Dr. Ravell's romantic life) - I felt that the author made the novel too "Hollywood." As I delved depper into the novel, I found that it had an Edith Wharton feel, which i really enjoyed. Also, the characters became less flat and became well rounded. They also grew as people, which I appreciated, though not always for the better. Some passages were beautifully written and the author did a really great job tying Erika's passion - music - to her expression of emotion. Some aspects of the story were predictable (I was not surprised by Dr. Ravell's chosen fertility treatment), but others were especially surprising - I think Peter surprised me the most.

All in all, the Doctor and the Diva is a good read. It has a lot going for it - various interesting settings in the early 1900s, fertility issues, the opera profession, and interesting characters. I think it would be a good pick for Book Clubs.

Reviewed for AMAZON VINE.]]> 3.31 2010 The Doctor and the Diva
author: Adrienne McDonnell
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2010/09/28
shelves:
review:
The Doctor and the Diva is set in turn of the century Boston and tells the story of a gifted amateur opera singer (Erika) and her wealthy, globe trotting husband (Peter) with a seemingly perfect life. Except, Erika and Peter had everything but a baby. At a funeral, they meet Doctor Ravell, a Harvard educated obstetrician renowned as a fertility expert, but with a weakness for women. Doctor Ravell attempts to treat Erika and Peter's infertility at a time when it is widely assumed that only women are to blame for inability to conceive. Ultimately, Erika has a child but it isn't as glamorous as she expects. Because of spoilers I won't say more about the plot, but it really isn't as trite as I make it out to be - there are many twists and turns. The novel isn't JUST about fertility either - there is romance, there are details about the opera world, there is a lot of raw emotion.

I was immediately hooked into this story line. I also greatly enjoyed the authors characterizations of Peter, Erika, and Dr. Ravell. I thought that they were all characters with positive and negative traits and flaws. None of them stood out as awful people, but none were saints either. I also found the story of early obstetrics to be interesting. I think the main flaw is that at times - especially the beginning, when the characters were not as well fleshed out (and when the author details Dr. Ravell's romantic life) - I felt that the author made the novel too "Hollywood." As I delved depper into the novel, I found that it had an Edith Wharton feel, which i really enjoyed. Also, the characters became less flat and became well rounded. They also grew as people, which I appreciated, though not always for the better. Some passages were beautifully written and the author did a really great job tying Erika's passion - music - to her expression of emotion. Some aspects of the story were predictable (I was not surprised by Dr. Ravell's chosen fertility treatment), but others were especially surprising - I think Peter surprised me the most.

All in all, the Doctor and the Diva is a good read. It has a lot going for it - various interesting settings in the early 1900s, fertility issues, the opera profession, and interesting characters. I think it would be a good pick for Book Clubs.

Reviewed for AMAZON VINE.
]]> The King's Mistress 6114600
But merchant Janyn Perrers is a good and loving husband and Alice soon learns to enjoy her marriage. Until a messenger brings news of his disappearance and she discovers that her husband had many secrets, secrets he didn't want her to know - but which have now put a price on her own head and that of her beloved daughter. Brought under the protection of King Edward III and Queen Philippa, she must dutifully embrace her fate once more - as a virtual prisoner at Court.

And when the king singles her out for more than just royal patronage, she knows she has little choice but to accept his advances. But obeying the king brings with it many burdens as well as pleasures, as she forfeits her good name to keep her daughter free from hurt.

Still a young woman and guided by her intellect and good business sense, she learns to use her gifts as wisely as she can. But as one of the king's favourites, she brings jealousy and hatred in her wake and some will stop at nothing to see her fall from grace.]]> 352 Emma Campion 0434015490 Lauren 3
Campion's Alice is a good-natured, naive daughter of a London merchant family who unwittingly finds herself living in the household of Queen Phillipa, wife to King Edward III. Alice is brought to court as a virtual prisoner due to a conspiracy involving her husband, Janyn Perrers, and King Edward's mother Isabella of France. While at court, Alice attracts the notice of the King due to her beauty and intelligence. Despite her misgivings about entering into an adulterous liaison with the King, Alice becomes his mistress. Campion notes that as a commoner, she is in no position to refuse the King. She further buttresses this point with repeated quotes from Chaucer's Troilus and Crysede - that Alice is a woman villifed in history merley for complying with what her superiors wanted her to do. Campion portrays Alice as wearing the crown jewels, controlling access to the King, and acquiring lucrative wardships, all because Edward (and in some cases, his sons) wishes it. Alice, meanwhile, hems and haws, but somehow manages to amass a fortune.

While I doubt Alice is quite as grasping as described in the chronicles, I would be surprised if there wasn't some truth to her reputation as greedy. Where Campion is likely right though is that there probably was genuine affection between Alice and the King. After all, the real Alice, like the fictional Alice, spent years at the side of an ailing, elderly King. It is unlikely that Alice would have done so had she not loved him.

Overall, this is an ok book. The first hundred pages were a bit dull, spent describing Alice's betrothal to Janyn and hinting at the Perrers family's dark secret. The book, for me, improved once Alice became the King's mistress and after the conspiracy was revealed. I didn't particularly like the conspiracy idea - I would have much preferred if Campion had brought Alice to court for a more likely reason. Indeed, the very fact that she was at court at all indicates to me that Alice was ambitious. She may not have gone to court hoping to capture the heart of the King, but she certainly had a self-interested reason for going. I think Campion tried to hard to make Alice blameless (or nearly blameless) in arousing the ire of the English population. I would have preferred a more balanced look at Alice that tried harder to examine her true motivations.

Three stars. Reviewed for Amazon VINE.]]> 3.88 2009 The King's Mistress
author: Emma Campion
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/09/27
date added: 2010/09/02
shelves:
review:
On the jacket of the King's Mistress (I had an ARC), Emma Campion describes herself as the world's foremost authority on Alice Perrers. Thus, I had great expectations for this novel in terms of historical accuracy. What I found, however, was a novel that was decidedly fiction. I do not claim to be an expert on Alice Perrers - what little I know of her is based on the unflattering references to her in Katherine. However, it is obvious that the fiction weighs more heavily than the historical in this book.

Campion's Alice is a good-natured, naive daughter of a London merchant family who unwittingly finds herself living in the household of Queen Phillipa, wife to King Edward III. Alice is brought to court as a virtual prisoner due to a conspiracy involving her husband, Janyn Perrers, and King Edward's mother Isabella of France. While at court, Alice attracts the notice of the King due to her beauty and intelligence. Despite her misgivings about entering into an adulterous liaison with the King, Alice becomes his mistress. Campion notes that as a commoner, she is in no position to refuse the King. She further buttresses this point with repeated quotes from Chaucer's Troilus and Crysede - that Alice is a woman villifed in history merley for complying with what her superiors wanted her to do. Campion portrays Alice as wearing the crown jewels, controlling access to the King, and acquiring lucrative wardships, all because Edward (and in some cases, his sons) wishes it. Alice, meanwhile, hems and haws, but somehow manages to amass a fortune.

While I doubt Alice is quite as grasping as described in the chronicles, I would be surprised if there wasn't some truth to her reputation as greedy. Where Campion is likely right though is that there probably was genuine affection between Alice and the King. After all, the real Alice, like the fictional Alice, spent years at the side of an ailing, elderly King. It is unlikely that Alice would have done so had she not loved him.

Overall, this is an ok book. The first hundred pages were a bit dull, spent describing Alice's betrothal to Janyn and hinting at the Perrers family's dark secret. The book, for me, improved once Alice became the King's mistress and after the conspiracy was revealed. I didn't particularly like the conspiracy idea - I would have much preferred if Campion had brought Alice to court for a more likely reason. Indeed, the very fact that she was at court at all indicates to me that Alice was ambitious. She may not have gone to court hoping to capture the heart of the King, but she certainly had a self-interested reason for going. I think Campion tried to hard to make Alice blameless (or nearly blameless) in arousing the ire of the English population. I would have preferred a more balanced look at Alice that tried harder to examine her true motivations.

Three stars. Reviewed for Amazon VINE.
]]> The King's Daughter 7847532 468 Christie Dickason 006197627X Lauren 0 to-read 3.44 2009 The King's Daughter
author: Christie Dickason
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Red Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #3)]]> 7148256 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

The second book in Philippa's stunning new trilogy, The Cousins' War, brings to life the story of Margaret Beaufort, a shadowy and mysterious character in the first book of the series - The White Queen - but who now takes centre stage in the bitter struggle of The War of the Roses.

The Red Queen tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England.

Through collaboration with the dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret agrees to a betrothal between Henry and Elizabeth's daughter, thereby uniting the families and resolving the Cousins War once and for all by founding of the Tudor dynasty.]]> 412 Philippa Gregory 1416563725 Lauren 0 to-read 3.81 2010 The Red Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #3)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/08/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kingmaking (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, #1)]]> 938087 422 Helen Hollick 190623664X Lauren 4
In addition to Hollick's recounting of the chaotic Fifth Century political arena, I greatly appreciated her recounting of religion and the spread of Christianity. She depicts Christianity as a new religion slowly replacing the pagan "old ways." While some characters were devoted Christians, many swayed with the wind, embracing some aspects of Chrstianity while adhering to the old gods. I think this adds wonderful color to the novel as a work of historical fiction.

The Kingmaking left me with my mouth open, so wonderful was the conclusion with Hollick making realistic the Excalibur - drawn from a Saxon (in her author's note, she explains that saxo is stone, but could also be Saxon with a notation over the "o.") I so greatly enjoyed Hollick's attempt to make the Arthur myth real and to place it within history. Be forewarned, though, that if you want an untarnished image of Arthur or if bloody, brutal descriptions of battle turn you off, this isn't the book for you. The Kingmaking is a gritty novel - you won't find any sugar coating or romanticization of the Dark Ages here. This novel includes stinking latrines, rape, pillaging, decapitations, wenching (often by Arthur) and other unsavory aspects of the period.

I couldn't give this novel 5 stars (for me it hovered above 4 stars, though) because I didn't really enjoy the beginning. It starts out with Uthr Pendragon, Arthur's father, joining with Guinevere's father Cunedda of Gwynedd to push Vortigern and the Saxons from Britain. Arthur and Guinevere are children and I just did not find their childish perspectives to be all that interesting. For me, the novel "clicked" and started moving quickly when Uthr died and Arthur's true parentage as Uthr's son was revealed. Before then, I just could not get into the story. Thus, the first part of the book (around 15% - I read the Kindle version) was uninspiring. The remainder of the book was phenomenal, however, and I'm very excited to read the rest of the trilogy. ]]> 3.89 1994 The Kingmaking (Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, #1)
author: Helen Hollick
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2010/08/01
date added: 2010/08/01
shelves:
review:
This is the first installment of Helen Hollick's Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, about the legendary King Arthur. Except, this isn't the King Arthur you're familiar with from Mort D'Artur and other legends. Here, there are are no knights in shining armor, no Merlin the magician, and no chivalry. Instead, Hollick creates a window into the brutal Fifth Century, a time where Rome has left Britain and created a power vacuum where the native British and the Saxons fight for supremacy. Arthur was said to live in such a time, so Hollick creates a character with the attributes most likely to prevail in these Dark Ages. Hollick's Arthur is charming but also a brute, not afraid to go for what he wants, a Machiavellian to the core. Be prepared to admire and loathe him, for he rapes and pillages and is not afraid to raise a hand to a woman - mainly his wife Winifred. Similarly, Hollick's, Guinievere (spelled the Welsh way) is no damsel in distress. She has a dagger and knows how to use it, trained in the arts of war from a young age (unlike the more Romanized women of the period). In addition to Arthur and Guinevere, the remaining characters are marvelous, three dimensional products of the Dark Ages, from the selfish Morgause to the scheming Queen Rowena and Princess Winifred.

In addition to Hollick's recounting of the chaotic Fifth Century political arena, I greatly appreciated her recounting of religion and the spread of Christianity. She depicts Christianity as a new religion slowly replacing the pagan "old ways." While some characters were devoted Christians, many swayed with the wind, embracing some aspects of Chrstianity while adhering to the old gods. I think this adds wonderful color to the novel as a work of historical fiction.

The Kingmaking left me with my mouth open, so wonderful was the conclusion with Hollick making realistic the Excalibur - drawn from a Saxon (in her author's note, she explains that saxo is stone, but could also be Saxon with a notation over the "o.") I so greatly enjoyed Hollick's attempt to make the Arthur myth real and to place it within history. Be forewarned, though, that if you want an untarnished image of Arthur or if bloody, brutal descriptions of battle turn you off, this isn't the book for you. The Kingmaking is a gritty novel - you won't find any sugar coating or romanticization of the Dark Ages here. This novel includes stinking latrines, rape, pillaging, decapitations, wenching (often by Arthur) and other unsavory aspects of the period.

I couldn't give this novel 5 stars (for me it hovered above 4 stars, though) because I didn't really enjoy the beginning. It starts out with Uthr Pendragon, Arthur's father, joining with Guinevere's father Cunedda of Gwynedd to push Vortigern and the Saxons from Britain. Arthur and Guinevere are children and I just did not find their childish perspectives to be all that interesting. For me, the novel "clicked" and started moving quickly when Uthr died and Arthur's true parentage as Uthr's son was revealed. Before then, I just could not get into the story. Thus, the first part of the book (around 15% - I read the Kindle version) was uninspiring. The remainder of the book was phenomenal, however, and I'm very excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
]]> <![CDATA[The White Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #2)]]> 5971165
Elizabeth Woodville, a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition, secretly marries the newly crowned boy king. While she rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become the central figures in a famous unsolved mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the lost princes in the Tower of London.

They ruled England before the Tudors, and now internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings the Plantagenets to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women.]]> 415 Philippa Gregory 1416563687 Lauren 3
- Elizabeth Woodville practiced witchcraft (she gives her the sight - which makes me wonder how she ended up losing three of her sons and in some awful predicaments). Also Elizabeth is oddly open about her spells and curses, which would have been VERY dangerous for a woman in the 14th century.
- Elizabeth and Edward IV's relationship was due, in part, to Elizabeth and her mother's witchcraft
- Perkin Warbeck really was Elizabeth and Edward's second son and an imposter was sent to take young Richard's place in the tower
- Richard III had some sort of deformity affecting his sword arm (apparently caused by Elizabeth's witchcraft)
- Richard III had evil/greedy intentions in taking the throne
- Edward's brother George really drowned in a vat of malmsey
- Richard III had a romantic liaison with Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville's daughter with Edward IV and the future wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII
- Richard III married Anne Neville purely from self-interest
- Elizabeth descends from Melusina (i.e. "The Little Mermaid")

This is of course a sampling of the myths that Gregory takes as true. However, coupled with this adoption of myth, Gregory somehow paints Elizabeth Woodville as a popular queen (really!!!) who is generally liked by her subjects - basically liked by everyone except for Edward's family, Warwick, and the Lancastrians. She treats as good-natured fun the Woodville's ability to marry every heiress in the kingdom and downgrades the broad unpopularity of Elizabeth's Woodville kin. For anyone familiar with the story of Edward IV, this is certainly not the typical tale of Elizabeth Woodville.

Is it believable? I think that it is not. Unfortunately, Gregory is very loose with facts. She cuts out huge swaths of history and the shifting loyalties that characterize the Wars of the Roses and Edward IV's reign. She makes little to no mention of Edward's inability to inspire trust in his vassals, leaving out completely the story of John Neville, Richard's brother. Elizabeth goes well into Richard III's reign but leaves out the Battle of Bosworth. She rushes through important events in the Wars of the Roses only to devote an inordinate amount of time to the myth of Melusina and its similarity to Elizabeth's own life.

I could look past the lack of historical depth if it were a good novel. Unfortunately, the storytelling is weak too. One of the big mysteries of Elizabeth Woodville's life is why Edward IV married her of all people. She was not an heiress, she was the widow of a Lancastrian knight, she already had two children, she was significantly older - she brought nothing to the relationship. I expected sparks here. What I got were some simpering school-girl passages of longing followed by a secret wedding. There was no analysis of Edward's own motivations and the romance was so lukewarm that it is hard to believe that Edward was so driven by passion that he would destabilize his relationship with Warwick, the "kingmaker" who helped him become king. This is compounded by an oddity in the story Gregory makes it seem as if Edward made a habit of marrying irresistible women in order to bed them and then pretending that the marriage never occurred. This is odd for several reasons. First, if it was well known, it compromised the legitimacy of any heirs to the throne because Edward would be a bigamist. There is no evidence in the historical record that I am aware of that this was so. It certainly would have endangered Edward's prospects on the foreign marriage market, which was very important for an eligible "bachelor" king. Second, later in the novel, Gregory attributes the main rationale for Richard's claiming of the throne in the Titulus Regius as Elizabeth's use of witchcraft to lure Edward into marriage, making the marriage invalid. Gregory doesn't even mention Eleanor Butler - Edward's precontract with Butler is given as the reason (in the Middle Ages, precontract made a person ineligible to marry someone else). Given Edward's purported reputation for luring women into marriage in order to sleep with them, I thought for sure that Gregory would mention Butler. This is an odd choice. Adding to the oddness of the plot, Gregory treats as true the myth that Richard III intended to marry Elizabeth of York. In reality, this is doubtful. Richard's entire claim to the throne rests on the proposition that Edward IV had no legitimate issue. Marriage to Elizabeth of York would have called that into question.

I noticed some minor historical oddities as well. Gregory repeatedly referred to Edward's favorite mistress as Elizabeth Shore even though she was widely known as Jane Shore - a merchant's daughter who did not offer land. Not sure why she changed the name except maybe to create another symbol or comparison to Elizabeth Woodville and what she would have become had Edward not married her?

Overall, this is neither a great work of fiction nor a great look at history. Fans of romantic novels set at this time should look at The Innocent and its sequels, written by Posie Graeme Evans. They are somewhat historically accurate but very entertaining. If you want a serious look at the Wars of the Roses (and also great fiction), look to Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. The White Queen is a rather dull historical fiction lightweight.]]> 3.96 2009 The White Queen (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels, #2)
author: Philippa Gregory
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/03
date added: 2010/07/31
shelves:
review:
I pre-ordered this book because I am very interested in the Wars of the Roses. However, I am not a big Philippa Gregory fan because she is generally too loose with facts, treats sensational rumers as true, and is not thorough in separating fact from fiction in her authors notes (and is guilty of this in this novel as well). Similar to The Other Boleyn Girl, Gregory plays a bit of "what if" in this novel, basically treating the myths surrounding Elizabeth Woodville as if they were true. Well, all of them but one. More specifically, Gregory treats as true that:

- Elizabeth Woodville practiced witchcraft (she gives her the sight - which makes me wonder how she ended up losing three of her sons and in some awful predicaments). Also Elizabeth is oddly open about her spells and curses, which would have been VERY dangerous for a woman in the 14th century.
- Elizabeth and Edward IV's relationship was due, in part, to Elizabeth and her mother's witchcraft
- Perkin Warbeck really was Elizabeth and Edward's second son and an imposter was sent to take young Richard's place in the tower
- Richard III had some sort of deformity affecting his sword arm (apparently caused by Elizabeth's witchcraft)
- Richard III had evil/greedy intentions in taking the throne
- Edward's brother George really drowned in a vat of malmsey
- Richard III had a romantic liaison with Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville's daughter with Edward IV and the future wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII
- Richard III married Anne Neville purely from self-interest
- Elizabeth descends from Melusina (i.e. "The Little Mermaid")

This is of course a sampling of the myths that Gregory takes as true. However, coupled with this adoption of myth, Gregory somehow paints Elizabeth Woodville as a popular queen (really!!!) who is generally liked by her subjects - basically liked by everyone except for Edward's family, Warwick, and the Lancastrians. She treats as good-natured fun the Woodville's ability to marry every heiress in the kingdom and downgrades the broad unpopularity of Elizabeth's Woodville kin. For anyone familiar with the story of Edward IV, this is certainly not the typical tale of Elizabeth Woodville.

Is it believable? I think that it is not. Unfortunately, Gregory is very loose with facts. She cuts out huge swaths of history and the shifting loyalties that characterize the Wars of the Roses and Edward IV's reign. She makes little to no mention of Edward's inability to inspire trust in his vassals, leaving out completely the story of John Neville, Richard's brother. Elizabeth goes well into Richard III's reign but leaves out the Battle of Bosworth. She rushes through important events in the Wars of the Roses only to devote an inordinate amount of time to the myth of Melusina and its similarity to Elizabeth's own life.

I could look past the lack of historical depth if it were a good novel. Unfortunately, the storytelling is weak too. One of the big mysteries of Elizabeth Woodville's life is why Edward IV married her of all people. She was not an heiress, she was the widow of a Lancastrian knight, she already had two children, she was significantly older - she brought nothing to the relationship. I expected sparks here. What I got were some simpering school-girl passages of longing followed by a secret wedding. There was no analysis of Edward's own motivations and the romance was so lukewarm that it is hard to believe that Edward was so driven by passion that he would destabilize his relationship with Warwick, the "kingmaker" who helped him become king. This is compounded by an oddity in the story Gregory makes it seem as if Edward made a habit of marrying irresistible women in order to bed them and then pretending that the marriage never occurred. This is odd for several reasons. First, if it was well known, it compromised the legitimacy of any heirs to the throne because Edward would be a bigamist. There is no evidence in the historical record that I am aware of that this was so. It certainly would have endangered Edward's prospects on the foreign marriage market, which was very important for an eligible "bachelor" king. Second, later in the novel, Gregory attributes the main rationale for Richard's claiming of the throne in the Titulus Regius as Elizabeth's use of witchcraft to lure Edward into marriage, making the marriage invalid. Gregory doesn't even mention Eleanor Butler - Edward's precontract with Butler is given as the reason (in the Middle Ages, precontract made a person ineligible to marry someone else). Given Edward's purported reputation for luring women into marriage in order to sleep with them, I thought for sure that Gregory would mention Butler. This is an odd choice. Adding to the oddness of the plot, Gregory treats as true the myth that Richard III intended to marry Elizabeth of York. In reality, this is doubtful. Richard's entire claim to the throne rests on the proposition that Edward IV had no legitimate issue. Marriage to Elizabeth of York would have called that into question.

I noticed some minor historical oddities as well. Gregory repeatedly referred to Edward's favorite mistress as Elizabeth Shore even though she was widely known as Jane Shore - a merchant's daughter who did not offer land. Not sure why she changed the name except maybe to create another symbol or comparison to Elizabeth Woodville and what she would have become had Edward not married her?

Overall, this is neither a great work of fiction nor a great look at history. Fans of romantic novels set at this time should look at The Innocent and its sequels, written by Posie Graeme Evans. They are somewhat historically accurate but very entertaining. If you want a serious look at the Wars of the Roses (and also great fiction), look to Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman. The White Queen is a rather dull historical fiction lightweight.
]]> <![CDATA[The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy]]> 6249195
Lady Jane Grey is an iconic figure in English history. Misremembered as the â€Nine Days Queenâ€�, she has been mythologized as a child-woman destroyed on the altar of political expediency. Behind the legend, however, was an opinionated and often rebellious adolescent who died a passionate leader, not merely a victim. Growing up in Jane’s shadow, her sisters Katherine and Mary would have to tread carefully to survive.

The dramatic lives of the younger Grey sisters remain little known, but under English law they were the heirs � and rivals � to the Tudor monarchs Mary and Elizabeth I. The beautiful Katherine ignored Jane’s dying request that she remain faithful to her beliefs, changing her religion to retain Queen Mary’s favour only to then risk life and freedom in a secret marriage that threatened Queen Elizabeth’s throne.

While Elizabeth’s closest adviser fought to save Katherine, her younger sister Mary remained at court as the queen’s Maid of Honour. Too plain to be considered significant, it seemed that Lady Mary Grey, at least, would escape the burden of her royal blood. But then she too fell in love, and incurred the queen’s fury.

Exploding the many myths of Lady Jane’s life and casting fresh light onto Elizabeth’s reign, acclaimed historian Leanda de Lisle brings the tumultuous world of the Grey sisters to life, at a time when a royal marriage could gain you a kingdom or cost you everything.

â€Leanda de Lisle brings the story of nine daysâ€� queen, Lady Jane Grey and her forgotten sisters, the rivals of Elizabeth I, to vivid life in her fascinating biographyâ€� Philippa Gregory]]> 384 Leanda de Lisle 0345491351 Lauren 0 to-read 3.85 2009 The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy
author: Leanda de Lisle
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/07/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Katherine 33609 ]]> 500 Anya Seton 155652532X Lauren 5 currently-reading 4.19 1954 Katherine
author: Anya Seton
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/07/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:
This is one of the best books I ever read. While the novel is about the romance between Katherine Swynford (this sister-in-law of Geoffrey Chaucer) and John of Gaunt, the novel is also a great historical novel. It is historically accurate with respect to the events surrounding John and Katherine. Because little is known about Katherine, other than records related to John of Gaunt, Anya Seton must guess as to Katherine's motivations. In doing so, Seton creates a very realistic character who is not romanticized and is likeable - particularly considering the fact that she was so controversial in the 14th century. Aside from the fascinating romance between John and Katherine, this novel discusses the Wat Tyler rebellion, the 100 years war, and creates a fascinating peek into life for gentry and nobility in the high middle ages.
]]> O, Juliet 6642709

Before Juliet Capelletti lie two futures: a traditionally loveless marriage to her father's business partner, or the fulfillment of her poetic dreams, inspired by the great Dante. Unlike her beloved friend Lucrezia, who looks forward to her arranged marriage into the Medici dynasty, Juliet has a wild, romantic imagination that takes flight in the privacy of her bedchamber and on her garden balcony.

Her life and destiny are forever changed when Juliet meets Romeo Monticecco, a soulful young man seeking peace between their warring families. A dreamer himself, Romeo is unstoppable, once he determines to capture the heart of the remarkable woman foretold in his stars.

Watch a Video

]]> 338 Robin Maxwell 0451229150 Lauren 2
Maxwell's O Juliet is set in Florence instead of Verona. The plot is similar, of course, to the Bard's telling. However, Juliet is 18, as is Romeo. They are brought together by a love of poetry - specifically Dantee - not just love at first sight. In Maxwell's version, the feuding Capelleti and Monticecco clans are close to reconciling their ancient feud thanks to the efforts of Romeo the peacemaker.

In this version, Juliet is destined to be betrothed to the loathesome Jacopo Strozzi. He is not only unatttractive, with a nasal voice and yellow teeth, but also an evil villain. Juliet is no wallflower, but a highly assertive intellectual, close friends with Lucrezia Tuornaboni, who marries into the Medici family. Maxwell's Juliet does not ring true. Her assertiveness (called boldness in the novel) is anachronistic.

Similarly, Romeo does not ring true either. He simply is too good to be true, too perfect. Romeo and Juliet were annoying, compounded by terrible writing. I had read a book by Maxwell in the past (Mademoiselle Boleyn) and I didn't remember her being such a cliche writer. But this novel was beyond "cheesy" - I think Maxwell was trying overly hard to be poetic.

Frankly, I came away from this novel wondering why it even existed. Better to leave Shakespeare's version of Romeo and Juliet alone. Unlike other plays (for example, the plays about the English Kings), there really was no true story to uncover. O Juliet simply was an overly romantic and overly sexualized version fo a classic.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE]]> 3.61 2009 O, Juliet
author: Robin Maxwell
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2010/05/23
date added: 2010/06/28
shelves:
review:
Robin Maxwell sets out to tell the "real" story behind Romeo and Juliet. Based on the meager author's note and the Q&A, it's clear that this "real" story is actually a highly fictionalized version of Romeo and Juliet. Why tamper with a good story? Didn't Shakespeare tell it best?

Maxwell's O Juliet is set in Florence instead of Verona. The plot is similar, of course, to the Bard's telling. However, Juliet is 18, as is Romeo. They are brought together by a love of poetry - specifically Dantee - not just love at first sight. In Maxwell's version, the feuding Capelleti and Monticecco clans are close to reconciling their ancient feud thanks to the efforts of Romeo the peacemaker.

In this version, Juliet is destined to be betrothed to the loathesome Jacopo Strozzi. He is not only unatttractive, with a nasal voice and yellow teeth, but also an evil villain. Juliet is no wallflower, but a highly assertive intellectual, close friends with Lucrezia Tuornaboni, who marries into the Medici family. Maxwell's Juliet does not ring true. Her assertiveness (called boldness in the novel) is anachronistic.

Similarly, Romeo does not ring true either. He simply is too good to be true, too perfect. Romeo and Juliet were annoying, compounded by terrible writing. I had read a book by Maxwell in the past (Mademoiselle Boleyn) and I didn't remember her being such a cliche writer. But this novel was beyond "cheesy" - I think Maxwell was trying overly hard to be poetic.

Frankly, I came away from this novel wondering why it even existed. Better to leave Shakespeare's version of Romeo and Juliet alone. Unlike other plays (for example, the plays about the English Kings), there really was no true story to uncover. O Juliet simply was an overly romantic and overly sexualized version fo a classic.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE
]]> <![CDATA[The Queen's Pawn (An Eleanor of Aquitaine Novel)]]> 6641196 373 Christy English 0451229231 Lauren 1
The Queen's Pawn is set largely from 1172-73 and is narrated in the first person, alternating from Eleanor's and Alais' perspectives. Eleanor (who, incidentally, brags about her many affairs - including with her uncle Raymond - while married to Louis of France) adopts Alais as her own daughter after Alais' arrival to England from France in anticipation of Alais's marriage to Prince Richard. Notwithstanding Eleanor's love for the beautiful, convent-schooled Princess Alais, she finds herself jealous when 14 year old Richard seems to love his betrothed. Alais also loves Richard but is shocked to find herself attracted to King Henry. She initially resists this attraction (and Henry's advances) but after both Richard and Eleanor betray her, 14 year old Alais decides to seduce King Henry for the good of France. Yes, you read this correctly - the good of France! Alais thinks that Henry will divorce Eleanor for her and make her Queen. Alais and Henry engage openly in an affair, Henry treats Alais as if she were Queen and Henry petitions the Pope for an annulment. Alais ends up pregnant and then realizes that Henry will never treat her as an equal, so she inexplicably betrays Henry and ends up convent-caged - but not before a sugary reunion with Eleanor.

I don't think the novel presents a plausible scenario for a romance between Alais and Henry. Not only was the romance most likely after Henry's sons rebelled - if it occurred at all - there is NO WAY that Henry openly engaged in an affair with a Princess of France. While there are many practical reasons why they may not have had an affair, lust can trump reason. However, it would have been incredibly reckless of Henry to openly debauch a 14 year old Princess left in his care. Moreover, had the relationship been so open, we would have greater certainty about whether the relationship occurred in both the English and French chronciles. Louis certainly would have known of it and would have protested loudly.

Aside from the problems with the plot, I also didn't feel that the characters were well-developed. They did not seem to be living, breathing people. I barely got a sense of who they might have been and they just seemed to be cardboard. In addition to the poor characterization, the writing was overly sappy (and overly-sexualized at points) - to the point that I almost put it down.

1 star.]]> 3.75 2010 The Queen's Pawn (An Eleanor of Aquitaine Novel)
author: Christy English
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2010/06/28
date added: 2010/06/28
shelves:
review:
I rarely give one star reviews. I approached The Queen's Pawn expecting to like it because a fellow Duke grad wrote it. Unfortunately, however, my Blue Devil pride could not get me to enjoy this poorly written novel about Eleanor of Aquitaine and Alais of France. I think this book might be ok for someone who doesn't mind Phillipa Gregory fact bending (and in English's defense, she includes an author's note to inform her readers that she changed most known facts in her plot) and bodice ripper style romance - assuming you don't worry about whether the plot is plausible. However, The Queen's Pawn is a poor choice for devotees of factually accurate historical fiction (e.g. readers of Sharon Kay Penman or Elizabeth Chadwick). Historical fiction IS fiction, but I do believe that writers have a responsibility to be factually accurate when possible and when the facts are not known, to at least present a plausible version of events.

The Queen's Pawn is set largely from 1172-73 and is narrated in the first person, alternating from Eleanor's and Alais' perspectives. Eleanor (who, incidentally, brags about her many affairs - including with her uncle Raymond - while married to Louis of France) adopts Alais as her own daughter after Alais' arrival to England from France in anticipation of Alais's marriage to Prince Richard. Notwithstanding Eleanor's love for the beautiful, convent-schooled Princess Alais, she finds herself jealous when 14 year old Richard seems to love his betrothed. Alais also loves Richard but is shocked to find herself attracted to King Henry. She initially resists this attraction (and Henry's advances) but after both Richard and Eleanor betray her, 14 year old Alais decides to seduce King Henry for the good of France. Yes, you read this correctly - the good of France! Alais thinks that Henry will divorce Eleanor for her and make her Queen. Alais and Henry engage openly in an affair, Henry treats Alais as if she were Queen and Henry petitions the Pope for an annulment. Alais ends up pregnant and then realizes that Henry will never treat her as an equal, so she inexplicably betrays Henry and ends up convent-caged - but not before a sugary reunion with Eleanor.

I don't think the novel presents a plausible scenario for a romance between Alais and Henry. Not only was the romance most likely after Henry's sons rebelled - if it occurred at all - there is NO WAY that Henry openly engaged in an affair with a Princess of France. While there are many practical reasons why they may not have had an affair, lust can trump reason. However, it would have been incredibly reckless of Henry to openly debauch a 14 year old Princess left in his care. Moreover, had the relationship been so open, we would have greater certainty about whether the relationship occurred in both the English and French chronciles. Louis certainly would have known of it and would have protested loudly.

Aside from the problems with the plot, I also didn't feel that the characters were well-developed. They did not seem to be living, breathing people. I barely got a sense of who they might have been and they just seemed to be cardboard. In addition to the poor characterization, the writing was overly sappy (and overly-sexualized at points) - to the point that I almost put it down.

1 star.
]]> The Ginger Tree 338749
A bestseller in England, this bittersweet story of love and betrayal in the Far East is the source of the Masterpiece Theatre miniseries.]]> 312 Oswald Wynd 0907871038 Lauren 0 to-read 3.97 1977 The Ginger Tree
author: Oswald Wynd
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine]]> 7076074 478 Alison Weir 0345511875 Lauren 0 to-read 3.79 2010 Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine
author: Alison Weir
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/06/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Exile of Sara Stevenson 7099333 386 Darci Hannah 0345520548 Lauren 3
The novel is about a young woman, daughter of a famed lighthouse designer, who finds herself in an awkward predicament for a wealthy 19th century woman from a Calvinist family: she is pregnant and unmarried. The romantic Sara falls in love with a penniless sailor, notwithstanding her family's likely disapproval, but finds herself pregnant and abandoned by her lover after they make plans to elope. Sara finds herself banished to the lighthouse, along with her companion Kate (who betrayed her to her parents), Kate's husband, and William Campbell, the mysterious lighthouse keeper. The novel enters into a "fish out of water" story, as Sara struggles to adapt to her new life, far from Edinburgh and without the trappings of privilege. Simultaneously, she tries to figure out what happened to her beloved Thomas Chrichton, refusing to accept that he used her and abandoned her. The mystery is heightened after Sara receives a mysterious package and letter from an English stranger, leaving open the questions of whether Thomas was alive or dead and whether Thomas used and debauched Sara. Through her correspondence with this stranger, Sara tries to come to terms with her feelings about Thomas and her predicament. She also tries to come to terms with her companions, with whom she is often in conflict.

Unfortunately, the plot degenerated in the last quarter of the book. I had predicted Thomas Chrichton' whereabouts pretty early on as well as certain other plot developments relating to Sara's ultimate happiness. The predictability, for me, was not the most disappointing part of the last hundred pages, however. Instead, I really did not enjoy the supernatural element of the story. I don't want to elaborate on this to avoid spoiling the ending. Suffice it to say, though, that I felt that it came out of nowhere (in a contrived way, not in a good way) and didn't really add much to the plot. I also did not think it was particlarly well-executed.

Overall, The Exile of Sara Stevenson is a good read, though not a great one. I think readers of Historical Romance should enjoy this novel, notwithstanding the disappointing ending. 3.5 stars.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE.]]> 3.56 2010 The Exile of Sara Stevenson
author: Darci Hannah
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/15
date added: 2010/06/15
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of The Exile of Sara Stevenson. It's not high literature nor is it a particularly informative work of historical fiction - I'd classify it as a historical romance. However, I enjoyed the picturesque setting of the coastal Scottish Highlands of the early 19th Century.

The novel is about a young woman, daughter of a famed lighthouse designer, who finds herself in an awkward predicament for a wealthy 19th century woman from a Calvinist family: she is pregnant and unmarried. The romantic Sara falls in love with a penniless sailor, notwithstanding her family's likely disapproval, but finds herself pregnant and abandoned by her lover after they make plans to elope. Sara finds herself banished to the lighthouse, along with her companion Kate (who betrayed her to her parents), Kate's husband, and William Campbell, the mysterious lighthouse keeper. The novel enters into a "fish out of water" story, as Sara struggles to adapt to her new life, far from Edinburgh and without the trappings of privilege. Simultaneously, she tries to figure out what happened to her beloved Thomas Chrichton, refusing to accept that he used her and abandoned her. The mystery is heightened after Sara receives a mysterious package and letter from an English stranger, leaving open the questions of whether Thomas was alive or dead and whether Thomas used and debauched Sara. Through her correspondence with this stranger, Sara tries to come to terms with her feelings about Thomas and her predicament. She also tries to come to terms with her companions, with whom she is often in conflict.

Unfortunately, the plot degenerated in the last quarter of the book. I had predicted Thomas Chrichton' whereabouts pretty early on as well as certain other plot developments relating to Sara's ultimate happiness. The predictability, for me, was not the most disappointing part of the last hundred pages, however. Instead, I really did not enjoy the supernatural element of the story. I don't want to elaborate on this to avoid spoiling the ending. Suffice it to say, though, that I felt that it came out of nowhere (in a contrived way, not in a good way) and didn't really add much to the plot. I also did not think it was particlarly well-executed.

Overall, The Exile of Sara Stevenson is a good read, though not a great one. I think readers of Historical Romance should enjoy this novel, notwithstanding the disappointing ending. 3.5 stars.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE.
]]> Hugh and Bess: A Love Story 6308679 Just as walls break down and love begins to grow, the merciless plague endangers all whom the couple holds dear, threatening the life and love they have built.

Award-winning author Susan Higginbotham's impeccable research will delight avid historical fiction readers, and her enchanting characters will surely capture every reader's heart. Fans of her first novel, The Traitor's Wife, will be thrilled to find that this story follows the next generation of the Despenser family.]]> 287 Susan Higginbotham 1402215274 Lauren 4
To me, the biggest strength of Hugh and Bess is Higginbotham's excellent characterization of the main characters. Higginbotham created a believable response to the trauma that Hugh experienced as the son and grandson of traitors and the difficulty he faced in simultaneously mourning his family while also seeking to re-enter English society after a long imprisonment as a person worthy of status and respect - i.e. proving that he is nothing like his grasping father. Hugh is a very real character - both deeply connected to his time, but also highly introspective and passionate. Similarly, Bess is a very real character too. Like Hugh, she is well rooted in her time period, but also has very realistic emotional responses and insecurities to her position as the wife of Hugh Le Despenser.

Hugh and Bess is definitely a historical romance but is also well rooted in historical fact. Higginbotham strives to remain true to the factual record and provides a comprehensive author's note to detail deviations. The main characters are not particularly important, but they are interesting nonetheless and provide a good window into medieval society.

I recommend this book for its romantic appeal and as a character study. While none of the main characters were particularly historically important (compared to The Traitor's Wife, which centered on the downfall of Edward II, the ruthless Queen Isabella and Mortimer, and King Edward's favorites) it was a worthy sequel and an interesting novel in it's own right. While Hugh and Bess can be read as a stand alone novel, I think it is best appreciated when read along with The Traitor's Wife. Four stars.]]> 3.78 2007 Hugh and Bess: A Love Story
author: Susan Higginbotham
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/18
date added: 2010/06/10
shelves:
review:
Hugh and Bess is the sequel to The Traitor's Wife. It is a much lighter novel than The Traitor's Wife however, focusing on the efforts of Hugh Le Despenser to overcome the stigma of being the son and grandson of traitors. After years of striving to prove his loyalty to the crown, Hugh becomes engaged to the teenaged Elizabeth de Montacute (Bess). Bess is horrified to learn about her betrothed's family history and is forced to marry him against her will. Against the odds, Bess learns to love her husband and to forgive him for his unsavory family history.

To me, the biggest strength of Hugh and Bess is Higginbotham's excellent characterization of the main characters. Higginbotham created a believable response to the trauma that Hugh experienced as the son and grandson of traitors and the difficulty he faced in simultaneously mourning his family while also seeking to re-enter English society after a long imprisonment as a person worthy of status and respect - i.e. proving that he is nothing like his grasping father. Hugh is a very real character - both deeply connected to his time, but also highly introspective and passionate. Similarly, Bess is a very real character too. Like Hugh, she is well rooted in her time period, but also has very realistic emotional responses and insecurities to her position as the wife of Hugh Le Despenser.

Hugh and Bess is definitely a historical romance but is also well rooted in historical fact. Higginbotham strives to remain true to the factual record and provides a comprehensive author's note to detail deviations. The main characters are not particularly important, but they are interesting nonetheless and provide a good window into medieval society.

I recommend this book for its romantic appeal and as a character study. While none of the main characters were particularly historically important (compared to The Traitor's Wife, which centered on the downfall of Edward II, the ruthless Queen Isabella and Mortimer, and King Edward's favorites) it was a worthy sequel and an interesting novel in it's own right. While Hugh and Bess can be read as a stand alone novel, I think it is best appreciated when read along with The Traitor's Wife. Four stars.
]]> The Last Queen 2367495
The third child of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain, Juana is born amid her parents' ruthless struggle to unify their kingdom, bearing witness to the fall of Granada and Columbus' discoveries. At the age of sixteen, she is sent to wed Philip, the archduke of Flanders, as part of her parents' strategy to strengthen Spain, just as her youngest sister, Catherine of Aragon, is sent to England to become the first wife of Henry VIII.

Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her handsome young husband, the sole heir to the Habsburg Empire. At first she is content with her children and her life in Flanders. But when tragedy strikes and she inherits the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a battle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe. Besieged by foes on all sides, her intelligence and pride used as weapons against her, Juana vows to secure her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it could cost her everything.

With brilliant, lyrical prose, novelist and historian C. W. Gortner conjures Juana through her own words, taking the reader from the somber majesty of Spain to the glittering and lethal courts of Flanders, France, and Tudor England. The Last Queen brings to life all the grandeur and drama of an incomparable era, and the singular humanity of this courageous, passionate princess whose fight to claim her birthright captivated the world.]]> 368 C.W. Gortner 0345501845 Lauren 4 4.04 2006 The Last Queen
author: C.W. Gortner
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/08
date added: 2010/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Page from a Tennessee Journal 7477229
In this remarkable first novel, as bracingly original as it is exquisitely rendered, Francine Howard tells a moving story of American desire and ambition and the tragic, slippery boundaries of race under Jim Crow.]]> 288 Francine Thomas Howard 0982555067 Lauren 4
The novel starts out with Annalaura trying to bring in the tobacco crop on the McNaughton's land after her husband Joe has run off without a word. Annalaura is left caring for her four children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 without enough food and in deplorable accomodations. Alex is initially motivated to kick Annalaura and her family off of the land, but finds himself physically attracted to her and rapes her. The novel is romantic in a sense - Alex has no idea that he is doing anything wrong because in his society's standards, a white man has the right to any single black woman - and he actually treats Annalaura well (other than raping her, of course). Meanwhile, Annalaura is plagued with guilt and fear as to her husband's reaction, if he ever returns. However, she learns an important lesson: there is nothing she can do because if a white man sets his sights on a black woman, the black woman has to give the white man what he wants. Alex's wife Eula is suspicious about her husband's increasing expenditures, but knows to never question her husband. Ultimately she also learns an important lesson: a white woman can never question her husband's affair with a black woman. She simply must accept it.

Tennessee life is harsh at this time. It is difficult, at times, to read such overt racism and mysogeny. But Howard does an amazing thing. The characters are all well-rooted in their social and historical context and no character is evil. They simply behave as they are expected to behave in 1913 Tennessee given their social position.

Page From a Tennessee Journal is a difficult read at times, but well worth it. The novel certainly does not romanticize the time, it leaves a realistic picture of what life must have been like and serves as a reminder of how far we have come as a society. 4.5 stars.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]]]> 3.71 2010 Page from a Tennessee Journal
author: Francine Thomas Howard
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/29
date added: 2010/05/29
shelves:
review:
Page from a Tennessee Journal tells the story of race and gender relations in 1913 Tennessee through the parallel but intersecting stories of two couples - white landowners Eula and Alex McNaughton and black sharecroppers Annalaura and Joe Welles. The story was emotional, brutal, and tender, highlighting the social structure of the South in that era. The story was more complex than your typical race relations novel because it looked not only at the black-white dynamic and the racism that pervaded the South 100 years ago, but also women's role in that society. Life was hard for black women, but it wasn't so easy for white women either, who were similarly forced to be subservient to white men and to never ask questions (though they weren't treated as chattel in the same way that black women were treated).

The novel starts out with Annalaura trying to bring in the tobacco crop on the McNaughton's land after her husband Joe has run off without a word. Annalaura is left caring for her four children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 without enough food and in deplorable accomodations. Alex is initially motivated to kick Annalaura and her family off of the land, but finds himself physically attracted to her and rapes her. The novel is romantic in a sense - Alex has no idea that he is doing anything wrong because in his society's standards, a white man has the right to any single black woman - and he actually treats Annalaura well (other than raping her, of course). Meanwhile, Annalaura is plagued with guilt and fear as to her husband's reaction, if he ever returns. However, she learns an important lesson: there is nothing she can do because if a white man sets his sights on a black woman, the black woman has to give the white man what he wants. Alex's wife Eula is suspicious about her husband's increasing expenditures, but knows to never question her husband. Ultimately she also learns an important lesson: a white woman can never question her husband's affair with a black woman. She simply must accept it.

Tennessee life is harsh at this time. It is difficult, at times, to read such overt racism and mysogeny. But Howard does an amazing thing. The characters are all well-rooted in their social and historical context and no character is evil. They simply behave as they are expected to behave in 1913 Tennessee given their social position.

Page From a Tennessee Journal is a difficult read at times, but well worth it. The novel certainly does not romanticize the time, it leaves a realistic picture of what life must have been like and serves as a reminder of how far we have come as a society. 4.5 stars.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]
]]> <![CDATA[The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette (Young Royals, #6)]]> 6505696 History paints her as a shallow party girl, a spoiled fashionista, a callous ruler. Perhaps no other royal has been so maligned� and so misunderstood� as Marie-Antoinette.

From the moment she was betrothed to the dauphin of France at age fourteen, perfection was demanded of Marie-Antoinette. She tried to please everyone: courtiers, her young husband, the king, the French people, but often fell short of their expectations. Desperate for affection and subjected to constant scrutiny, this spirited young woman can't help but want to let loose with elaborate parties, scandalous fashions, and unimaginable luxuries. But as Marie-Antoinette's lifestyle gets ever-more recklessly extravagant, the peasants of France are suffering from increasing poverty, and becoming outraged. They want to make the queen pay.

In this latest installment of her acclaimed Young Royals series, Carolyn Meyer reveals the dizzying rise and horrific downfall of the last queen of France. Includes historical notes, an author’s note, and a bibliography.

]]> 420 Carolyn Meyer 0152063765 Lauren 4
Ultimately, the novel shows how Marie Antoniette sought to fill her empty life with merry-making, parties, and gambling. Once she becomes Queen, she frivolously spends millions on her pleasure, refashioning the Comtesse Du Barry's Petit Trianon as a private escape from the rigorous rules of Versailles. She becomes more and more out of touch with reality, failing to understand the impact of her spending habits on her reputation (both among the aristocrats she excludes from her lavish parties at Petit Trianon as well as the population in general). Her mother warns her repeatedly, but Marie Antoinette, who never ventures further from Versailles than the Paris Opera, doesn't quite comprehend France's declining economic situation and the public perception of her lifestyle. Even after she has her long-awaited children, Antoinette does not curb her spending, instead building the very expensive Le Hameau, where she pretends to be a common woman.

The novel is like watching a train wreck. Everyone knows that Louis and Antoinette ultimately meet their ends at the Guillotine. Antoinette, despite her lack of passion for Louis stays by Louis' side in the face of danger, never fully comprehending how the French Revolution came to be or why the people despise her so much. The last hundred pages are written from the perspective of Antoinette and Louis' daughter Marie-Therese, as she is the only one who survives the reign of terror.

The novel is told in the first person. The benefit of this perspective is that the reader comprehends what might have been going through Antoinette's mind and why she behaved as she did. However, because it was in the first person, the view of French politics and Louis' reign is very limited. I really enjoyed the novel, but found that I would have preferred it from a third person narrative in order to better incorporate politics and to better understand how Louis himself understood the socio-politico climate at the time he called the Estates General. Clearly, Louis miscalculated the climate, but why was he so out of touch? The Bad Queen is certainly an incomplete look at the French Revolution. It is great, though, for what it is - a look at Marie Antoinette. She certainly was not evil, at least as portrayed in the novel (which is heavily fact based and well researched). She was, however, frivolous, out of touch, and lonely. Neither she nor Louis deserved to lose their heads.

As a final comment, this novel is classified as Young Adult. I would say that the appeal is much broader than that. As an adult, I enjoyed the novel very much. There are also some mature themes - for example adultery as well as Louis' failure to consummate his marriage to Antoinette for 7 years. The author leaves a lot to the imagination - there are no love scenes and it is unclear whether Marie Antoinette actually has a physical relationship (as opposed to a largely emotional one) with Axel von Fersen, the Swedish count who was possibly her lover. I think the novel is appropriate for ages 14+. 4.5 stars.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE]]> 3.94 2010 The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie-Antoinette (Young Royals, #6)
author: Carolyn Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/27
date added: 2010/05/27
shelves:
review:
Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated French Queen, is famous for purportedly responding to the starvation and poverty of her subjects "Let them eat Cake!" However, this line is apparently myth and Marie Antoinette was subject to a smear campaign, which this novel seeks to rectify. The Bad Queen begins in Austria with young Marie Antoinette - the fifteenth daughter of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa - learning that she will marry Louis Auguste, Dauphin of France. Each chapter is short, organized according to a rule that Antoniette must learn in order to embark on her new life as Dauphine and later as Queen of France. This set up is clever in the beginning, as it makes clear that young Antoinette has a lot to learn. The Hapsburg court is much more informal and much less decadent than the Bourbon court, with rigid rules set up a century earlier by Louis XIV. The young Antoinette is a charming girl. She's no great brain, no intellectual. She is largely interested in dancing, music, dolls, and gowns, not reading, writing, or politics. Once Antoinette arrives in France, things don't go as smoothly as she had hoped. Antoinette struggles to balance the approval of her overbearing mother (who is kept well apprised of Antoinette's antics by her ambassador as well as Antoinette herself), the French aristocracy, the French populace (who is suspicious of Austrians), and her shy husband. Most disappointingly, Louis Auguste has little interest in his young bride and the novel really shows Antoinette's dispair in being unable to conceive an heir - her prime duty as Dauphine - through no fault of her own.

Ultimately, the novel shows how Marie Antoniette sought to fill her empty life with merry-making, parties, and gambling. Once she becomes Queen, she frivolously spends millions on her pleasure, refashioning the Comtesse Du Barry's Petit Trianon as a private escape from the rigorous rules of Versailles. She becomes more and more out of touch with reality, failing to understand the impact of her spending habits on her reputation (both among the aristocrats she excludes from her lavish parties at Petit Trianon as well as the population in general). Her mother warns her repeatedly, but Marie Antoinette, who never ventures further from Versailles than the Paris Opera, doesn't quite comprehend France's declining economic situation and the public perception of her lifestyle. Even after she has her long-awaited children, Antoinette does not curb her spending, instead building the very expensive Le Hameau, where she pretends to be a common woman.

The novel is like watching a train wreck. Everyone knows that Louis and Antoinette ultimately meet their ends at the Guillotine. Antoinette, despite her lack of passion for Louis stays by Louis' side in the face of danger, never fully comprehending how the French Revolution came to be or why the people despise her so much. The last hundred pages are written from the perspective of Antoinette and Louis' daughter Marie-Therese, as she is the only one who survives the reign of terror.

The novel is told in the first person. The benefit of this perspective is that the reader comprehends what might have been going through Antoinette's mind and why she behaved as she did. However, because it was in the first person, the view of French politics and Louis' reign is very limited. I really enjoyed the novel, but found that I would have preferred it from a third person narrative in order to better incorporate politics and to better understand how Louis himself understood the socio-politico climate at the time he called the Estates General. Clearly, Louis miscalculated the climate, but why was he so out of touch? The Bad Queen is certainly an incomplete look at the French Revolution. It is great, though, for what it is - a look at Marie Antoinette. She certainly was not evil, at least as portrayed in the novel (which is heavily fact based and well researched). She was, however, frivolous, out of touch, and lonely. Neither she nor Louis deserved to lose their heads.

As a final comment, this novel is classified as Young Adult. I would say that the appeal is much broader than that. As an adult, I enjoyed the novel very much. There are also some mature themes - for example adultery as well as Louis' failure to consummate his marriage to Antoinette for 7 years. The author leaves a lot to the imagination - there are no love scenes and it is unclear whether Marie Antoinette actually has a physical relationship (as opposed to a largely emotional one) with Axel von Fersen, the Swedish count who was possibly her lover. I think the novel is appropriate for ages 14+. 4.5 stars.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE
]]> Ali and Nino 474078 Dr. Zhivago and Romeo and Juliet.ĚýĚýIts mysterious author was recently the subject of a feature article in the New Yorker, which has inspired a forthcoming biography. Out of print for nearly three decades until the hardcover re-release last year, Ali and Nino is Kurban Said's masterpiece. It is a captivating novel as evocative of the exotic desert landscape as it is of the passion between two people pulled apart by culture, religion, and war.

It is the eve of World War I in Baku, Azerbaijan, a city on the edge of the Caspian Sea, poised precariously between east and west.ĚýĚýAli Khan Shirvanshir, a Muslim schoolboy from a proud, aristocratic family, has fallen in love with the beautiful and enigmatic Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl with distinctly European sensibilities.ĚýĚý To be together they must overcome blood feud and scandal, attempt a daring horseback rescue, and travel from the bustling street of oil-boom Baku, through starkly beautiful deserts and remote mountain villages, to the opulent palace of Ali's uncle in neighboring Persia.ĚýĚýUltimately the lovers are drawn back to Baku, but when war threatens their future, Ali is forced to choose between his loyalty to the beliefs of his Asian ancestors and his profound devotion to Nino.ĚýĚýCombining the exotic fascination of a tale told by Scheherazade with the range and magnificence of an epic, Ali and Nino is a timeless classic of love in the face of war.]]> 282 Kurban Said 0385720408 Lauren 0 to-read 3.93 1937 Ali and Nino
author: Kurban Said
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1937
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Heretic's Daughter 3181953 Kathleen Kent is a tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier. She paints a haunting portrait, not just of Puritan New England, but also of one family's deep and abiding love in the face of fear and persecution.]]> 332 Kathleen Kent 0316037532 Lauren 0 to-read 3.79 2008 The Heretic's Daughter
author: Kathleen Kent
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All the Queen's Players 6719054
When she becomes a junior lady of Queen Elizabeth’s bedchamber, Rosamund is instructed by her cousin, the brilliant and devious secretary of state Sir Francis Walsingham, to record everything she observes. Her promised a chance at a good marriage. But through her brother Thomas, Rosamund finds herself drawn to the forbidden, rough-and-tumble world of theatre, and to Thomas’s friend, the dramatic, impetuous playwright Christopher Marlowe. And then Rosamund meets Will Creighton—a persuasive courtier, poet, and would-be playwright who is the embodiment of an unsuitable match.



The unsanctioned relationship between Rosamund and Will draws the wrath of Elizabeth, who prides herself on being the Virgin Queen. Rosamund is sent in disgrace to a remote castle that holds Elizabeth’s cousin Mary Stuart, the imprisoned Queen of Scots. Here, Walsingham expects Rosamund to uncover proof of a plot against Elizabeth. But surely, nothing good can come of putting an artless girl in such close proximity to so many seductive players and deceptive games. Unless, of course, Rosamund can discover an affinity for passion and intrigue herself. . . .

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jane Feather conspires with history to tell this dazzling story about two very real, very wily queens� and one impassioned young woman whose life they change forever.]]> 400 Jane Feather 1416525548 Lauren 3
Ultimately, Rosamund - who is rather innocent - finds herself in the midst of a plot straight out of Chaderlos de Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons and finds herself banished from court. As punishment, she is sent to Mary Stuart to spy for her uncle as he engages in counter-intelligence operations to get rid of the Queen of Scots. Through Rosamund's eyes - with brief mentions of Thomas Walsingham (her brother) and Will Creighton, the reader sees the Babington plot unfold and sees Mary careen towards her execution. Ultimately, Rosamund finds contentment, having managed to find redemption through marriage.

All the Queen's Players turned out to be a more entertaining read than I expected. The back cover seemed promising, but the first 100 pages or so were very dull. The novel took a while to "get going" and I had a hard time becoming interested in the spy games. Further, it was uncertain how the different plot lines were connected. I found the second part of the novel to be far superior to the first half.

The novel was too much of a bodice ripper at times - it certainly could have done without the Dangerous Liaisons copycat plot. (I found myself mentally referring to cetain characters as Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil instead of the names used in All the Queen's Players.) I also noticed in the beginning of the novel that the fork made an untimely appearance - earlier than forks were available in England. It automatically led me to question the authenticity of the novel. This was only heightened by Rosamund's rather anachronistic views of sexuality (the author "told" us that she was an innocent, but she was no Cecile de Volanges either, as evidenced by her frank conversations and flirtatious ways and her easy - and anachronistic -acceptance of her brother's homosexuality). In short, Rosamund did not ring true to me as a sixteenth century character. While the author seems to "excuse" this due to Rosamund's lack of a mother, she seemed a bit "freer" than a teenage 16th century girl. I don't want to spoil the conclusion, but certain actions described in the 1593 section seemed anachronistic for the 16th century landed man.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE.]]> 3.19 2010 All the Queen's Players
author: Jane Feather
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/05/14
date added: 2010/05/14
shelves:
review:
All the Queen's Players tells the story of life in the court of an aging Queen Elizabeth I and the demise of Mary Queen of Scots, through the eyes of Rosamund Walsingham, neice of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. The first hundred pages or so of All the Queen's Players was rather dull. The novel begins with Rosamund witnessing Mary Stuart's execution. Then it flashes back to Rosamund's removal from the country into a life of intrigue and court life. Rosamund, who lived a quiet, fairly isolated existence in her family's Sussex estate, travels to London at the request of her uncle Sir Francis. She is accompanied by her brother Thomas, also a spy, and his lover Christopher Marlowe, the playright. Once in London, she discovers that she is to be sent to court as a maid of honor to the Queen while also working for her uncle, reporting on the Queen's moods as well as observing interactions amongst the courtiers. At this point in the novel, the focus is largely on Rosamund with chapters on Will Creighton, a courtier who becomes Rosamund's love interest, and the sexually adventurous Agathe, Lady Leinster and her lover Arnaud de Vaugiras. It is uncertain for those first 150 pages or so why the novel spends any time on Agathe and Arnaud.

Ultimately, Rosamund - who is rather innocent - finds herself in the midst of a plot straight out of Chaderlos de Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons and finds herself banished from court. As punishment, she is sent to Mary Stuart to spy for her uncle as he engages in counter-intelligence operations to get rid of the Queen of Scots. Through Rosamund's eyes - with brief mentions of Thomas Walsingham (her brother) and Will Creighton, the reader sees the Babington plot unfold and sees Mary careen towards her execution. Ultimately, Rosamund finds contentment, having managed to find redemption through marriage.

All the Queen's Players turned out to be a more entertaining read than I expected. The back cover seemed promising, but the first 100 pages or so were very dull. The novel took a while to "get going" and I had a hard time becoming interested in the spy games. Further, it was uncertain how the different plot lines were connected. I found the second part of the novel to be far superior to the first half.

The novel was too much of a bodice ripper at times - it certainly could have done without the Dangerous Liaisons copycat plot. (I found myself mentally referring to cetain characters as Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil instead of the names used in All the Queen's Players.) I also noticed in the beginning of the novel that the fork made an untimely appearance - earlier than forks were available in England. It automatically led me to question the authenticity of the novel. This was only heightened by Rosamund's rather anachronistic views of sexuality (the author "told" us that she was an innocent, but she was no Cecile de Volanges either, as evidenced by her frank conversations and flirtatious ways and her easy - and anachronistic -acceptance of her brother's homosexuality). In short, Rosamund did not ring true to me as a sixteenth century character. While the author seems to "excuse" this due to Rosamund's lack of a mother, she seemed a bit "freer" than a teenage 16th century girl. I don't want to spoil the conclusion, but certain actions described in the 1593 section seemed anachronistic for the 16th century landed man.

Reviewed for Amazon VINE.
]]> <![CDATA[The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation]]> 7331828 --Jennifer Ludden, NPR Why life is harder on American families than it's been in decades—the book that takes the blame away from moms and puts it where it really belongs Pressed for time and money, unable to find decent affordable daycare, wracked with guilt at falling short of the mythic supermom ideal-working and non-working American mothers alike have it harder today than they have in decades, and they are worse off than many of their peers around the world. Why? Because they're raising their kids in a family-unfriendly nation that virtually sets them up to fail. The War on Moms exposes the stress put on families by an outdated system still built around the idea that women can afford not to work. It tells the truth that overworked, stressed-out American moms need to hear—that they're not alone, and they're not to blame.]]> 224 Sharon Lerner 0470177098 Lauren 3
Predictably, the book says that if you think the elites have it bad, just look at those folks with regular jobs. Lerner focuses on the lack of real maternity leave benefits, lack of affordable childcare options, poor health insurance, stringent abortion regulations in the poorest states (this book is decidedly pro-choice), gender inequalities at home, and general discrimination towards women in the workplace for having children as placing working mothers at a high risk for poverty and debt just for having a child. It makes the decision to have a child look insane!

Unsuprisingly, Europe is held up as the ideal. It certainly is in some senses, offering far superior health benefits, childcare benefits, and maternity leave benefits (but with significantly higher taxes that come along with it). However the book doesn't answer one key question: with these great benefits, why is it that Europeans aren't really having babies? The birth rate in America is much higher. The book tries to answer this question unconvincingly, by focusing largely on the European tendency to marry later and "blaming" America's high birthrate on Hispanic immigrants. But most Americans - including non-Hispanic - seem to have 2 or 3 kids based on my time on Mommy message boards as well as people I know in real life. I don't think a society that can't even reach replacement levels is an ideal either. Ultimately, I think the women's lib movement made a false promise - women really can't have it all - even in Europe. Even if the European goverment pays for 12 months of maternity leave, those are 12 months out of the work force - and I suspect that women can't "afford" to take that leave more than once. At the end of the day, women still compete with men and are at a disadvantage because pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding shifts the burden primarily towards women. While we can quibble with how much help men can offer overall, in reality, women are the ones who pay the price for childbearing and the workplace discriminates against this... Moreover, Europe has a higher overall cost of living compared to the US.

I don't really think a government solution is a panacea. Yes, better benefits WOULD be great - certainly everyone should have some level of paid maternity benefits. However, that does come at a price (both political tradeoffs and increased taxes - so really people pay for these benefits anyway).

I do think the lack of paid maternity benefits in this country is a valid issue. But overall, I think that the women's lib movement and commentators forget that as much as we try, women are at a biological disadvantage compared to men. Growing babies is hard work - it takes a good two years starting from conception for women (particularly those who breastfeed) to feel like "themselves" after having a child. Rightly or wrongly, it causes a competetive disadvantage in the work place. This is an important issue, but I still feel that it hasn't adequately been adressed how to reconcile the promises of the women's lib movement with the realities of the workplace.

*Reviewed for Amazon VINE.]]> 3.68 2010 The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation
author: Sharon Lerner
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2010/05/11
shelves:
review:
The War on Moms claims to be different from other looks at women in the workplace - specifically mothers - because it focuses on the working class rather than the "elites." The book takes a classist view, noting that the plight of the working class is not representative of women in America as a whole. That may be true, but of course if women in the so-called elites (you know, the ones with ivy league degrees and white shoe careers) are having trouble piercing the glass ceiling and "opt out" (i.e. are forced out of the workplace) then really, is there any hope for anyone else? I'm not sure it makes sense to write off the struggles of the elite as unrepresentative as the elites are the ones who ought to be fulfilling the promise of women's lib, but only seem able to do it when eschewing motherhood altogether.

Predictably, the book says that if you think the elites have it bad, just look at those folks with regular jobs. Lerner focuses on the lack of real maternity leave benefits, lack of affordable childcare options, poor health insurance, stringent abortion regulations in the poorest states (this book is decidedly pro-choice), gender inequalities at home, and general discrimination towards women in the workplace for having children as placing working mothers at a high risk for poverty and debt just for having a child. It makes the decision to have a child look insane!

Unsuprisingly, Europe is held up as the ideal. It certainly is in some senses, offering far superior health benefits, childcare benefits, and maternity leave benefits (but with significantly higher taxes that come along with it). However the book doesn't answer one key question: with these great benefits, why is it that Europeans aren't really having babies? The birth rate in America is much higher. The book tries to answer this question unconvincingly, by focusing largely on the European tendency to marry later and "blaming" America's high birthrate on Hispanic immigrants. But most Americans - including non-Hispanic - seem to have 2 or 3 kids based on my time on Mommy message boards as well as people I know in real life. I don't think a society that can't even reach replacement levels is an ideal either. Ultimately, I think the women's lib movement made a false promise - women really can't have it all - even in Europe. Even if the European goverment pays for 12 months of maternity leave, those are 12 months out of the work force - and I suspect that women can't "afford" to take that leave more than once. At the end of the day, women still compete with men and are at a disadvantage because pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding shifts the burden primarily towards women. While we can quibble with how much help men can offer overall, in reality, women are the ones who pay the price for childbearing and the workplace discriminates against this... Moreover, Europe has a higher overall cost of living compared to the US.

I don't really think a government solution is a panacea. Yes, better benefits WOULD be great - certainly everyone should have some level of paid maternity benefits. However, that does come at a price (both political tradeoffs and increased taxes - so really people pay for these benefits anyway).

I do think the lack of paid maternity benefits in this country is a valid issue. But overall, I think that the women's lib movement and commentators forget that as much as we try, women are at a biological disadvantage compared to men. Growing babies is hard work - it takes a good two years starting from conception for women (particularly those who breastfeed) to feel like "themselves" after having a child. Rightly or wrongly, it causes a competetive disadvantage in the work place. This is an important issue, but I still feel that it hasn't adequately been adressed how to reconcile the promises of the women's lib movement with the realities of the workplace.

*Reviewed for Amazon VINE.
]]> The Lute Player 2019141 465 Norah Lofts 9997412621 Lauren 5
Throughout the novel, Richard is mysterious and unapproachable, though Blondel gets to know Richard quite well. The novel finds its own answers to the question of why Berengaria and Richard never had children, why Berengaria and Richard were estranged, and why Berengaria was the only English Queen to never set foot in England. The novel is fact-centered with respect to Richard and the Crusade. With respect to Berengaria, however, there are few facts that are known, leaving Ms. Lofts with significant leeway to craft a personality for Berengaria. The author's note is helpful in parsing fact from fiction.

I think the Lute Player is a very enjoyable novel - I especially enjoyed the sections on the crusades. As a modern Jewish woman, I instinctually think of the crusades as a repugnant period of history, but Lofts did a great job of presenting them from a medieval perspective and it is hard not to admire the bravery of the men who set off to the unknown Outremer in pursuit of an ideal. Although the novel has been around for a while (since the 1950s, I think), the writing itself doesn't seem all that dated. In fact, it covers some "scandalous" topics - including Henry II's rumored love affair with Alys and Richards rumored homosexuality. ]]> 3.82 1951 The Lute Player
author: Norah Lofts
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1951
rating: 5
read at: 2010/05/06
date added: 2010/05/10
shelves:
review:
I greatly enjoyed this story of Richard the Lionhearted, as told through the eyes of Blondel the lute player, Anna the fictional hunchbacked sister of Berengaria of Navarre, and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The story begins with Blondel as a young boy raised in a monestary and promised to the church who finds that the monastic order does not agree with his moral sensibilities. Ultimately (the novel doesn't exactly explain how), Blondel appears in Pamplona, Navarre several years later, playing the lute with a dancing bear. Blondel attracts the attention of Anna, sister of Berengaria, and he is brought into Berengaria's household. Berengaria is lovesick after seeing Richard Plantagenet in a tournament. However, her love seems hopeless, as Richard is betrothed to another, the Princess Alys of France. Meanwhile, Blondel finds himself in love with Bernegaria, which is (or seems) equally as hopeless as Berengaria's love for Richard. However, Richard's betrothal to Alys is not to be and Berengaria's dream of marrying Richard comes true, thanks to her father King Sancho's generous dowry, which enables Richard to finance his crusade in the Holy Land (called Palestine in this novel, rather than Outremer, the common medieval term for the area).

Throughout the novel, Richard is mysterious and unapproachable, though Blondel gets to know Richard quite well. The novel finds its own answers to the question of why Berengaria and Richard never had children, why Berengaria and Richard were estranged, and why Berengaria was the only English Queen to never set foot in England. The novel is fact-centered with respect to Richard and the Crusade. With respect to Berengaria, however, there are few facts that are known, leaving Ms. Lofts with significant leeway to craft a personality for Berengaria. The author's note is helpful in parsing fact from fiction.

I think the Lute Player is a very enjoyable novel - I especially enjoyed the sections on the crusades. As a modern Jewish woman, I instinctually think of the crusades as a repugnant period of history, but Lofts did a great job of presenting them from a medieval perspective and it is hard not to admire the bravery of the men who set off to the unknown Outremer in pursuit of an ideal. Although the novel has been around for a while (since the 1950s, I think), the writing itself doesn't seem all that dated. In fact, it covers some "scandalous" topics - including Henry II's rumored love affair with Alys and Richards rumored homosexuality.
]]> The Concubine 688975 358 Norah Lofts 075243943X Lauren 0 to-read 3.98 1963 The Concubine
author: Norah Lofts
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Defy a King (William Marshal, #5; Bigod, #2)]]> 7103352 520 Elizabeth Chadwick 1847442366 Lauren 0 to-read 4.15 2010 To Defy a King (William Marshal, #5; Bigod, #2)
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Vanishing Point 79381
Bright and inquisitive, Hannah Powers was raised by a father who treated her as if she were his son. While her beautiful and reckless sister, May, pushes the limits of propriety in their small English town, Hannah harbors her own secret: their father has given her an education forbidden to women. But Hannah’s secret serves her well when she journeys to colonial Maryland to reunite with May, who has been married off to a distant cousin after her sexual misadventures ruined her marriage prospects in England.

As Hannah searches for May, who has disappeared, she finds herself falling in love with her brother-in-law. Alone in a wild, uncultivated land where the old rules no longer apply, Hannah is freed from the constraints of the society that judged both her and May as dangerous � too smart, too fearless, and too hungry for life. But Hannah is also plagued by doubt, as her quest for answers to May’s fate grows ever more disturbing and tangled.]]> 369 Mary Sharratt 0618462333 Lauren 4
I don't want to give too much away, as the novel is punctuated by mysteries and plot twists relating to May's ultimate fate in the New World. To convey the story, the narrative switches often between Hannah, May, Gabriel (May's husband) and once to Adele, May's servant/slave. I found The Vanishing Point to be an engrossing read. In addition to the engaging plot, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Maryland (my home state) as a wilderness. Four stars.]]> 3.70 2006 The Vanishing Point
author: Mary Sharratt
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2010/04/20
date added: 2010/04/20
shelves:
review:
The Vanishing Point is an enjoyable historical romance about two sisters, the beautiful and promiscuous May and the plain and intelligent Hannah. In the late 1680s, May sets off from her native England to Maryland to marry a distant cousin who lives on a tabacco plantation. May has ruined her prospects for marriage in her own village because of her promiscuous behavior. Hannah stays behind in England to tend to their ailing father. After their father dies, Hannah travels to the colonies to join her sister. Once in the colonies, Hannah discovers that nothing is as she expects - and it was not as May expected either.

I don't want to give too much away, as the novel is punctuated by mysteries and plot twists relating to May's ultimate fate in the New World. To convey the story, the narrative switches often between Hannah, May, Gabriel (May's husband) and once to Adele, May's servant/slave. I found The Vanishing Point to be an engrossing read. In addition to the engaging plot, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Maryland (my home state) as a wilderness. Four stars.
]]> <![CDATA[Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages]]> 6899964 The daughter of a papermaker in a small French village in the year 1320, mute from birth and forced to shun normal society, young Auda finds solace and escape in the wonder of the written word. Believed to be cursed by those who embrace ignorance and superstition, Auda's very survival is a testament to the strength of her spirit. But this is an age of Inquisition and intolerance, when difference and defiance are punishable "sins" and new ideas are considered damnable heresy. When darkness descends upon her world, Auda, newly grown to womanhood, is forced to flee, setting off on a remarkable quest to discover love and a new sense of self . . . and to reclaim her heritage and the small glory of her father's art.

]]> 331 Vanitha Sankaran 0061849278 Lauren 0 to-read 3.48 2010 Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages
author: Vanitha Sankaran
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/04/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method]]> 723122 HypnoBirthing, your pregnancy and childbirth will become the gentle, life-affirming process it was meant to be.
In this easy-to-understand guide, HypnoBirthing founder Marie F. Mongan explodes the myth of pain as a natural accompaniment to birth. She proves through sound medical information that it is not our bodies but our culture that has made childbirth a moment of anguish, and that when we release the fear of birth, a fear that is keeping our bodies tense and closed, we will also release the pain
HypnoBirthing is nature, not manipulation. It relaxes the mind in order to let the body work as it is designed. The HypnoBirthing exercises - positive thinking, relaxation, visualization, breathing and physical preparation � will lead to a happy and comfortable pregnancy, even if you are currently unsure of an intervention-free birth. Your confidence, trust and happy anticipation will in turn lead to the peaceful, fulfilling and bonding birth that is your right as a mother.
More than 10,000 happy couples have had their lives changed for the better by HypnoBirthing.
More than 500 news organizations � including Good Morning America, The Today Show, Dateline, The Richard & Judy Show, Time, Newsweek, Parenting and Better Homes & Gardens � have joined the movement for better birthing.
Why is HypnoBirthing changing the way the world gives birth? That's simple. Because it works.]]> 302 Marie F. Mongan 0757302661 Lauren 4
I found Mongan's CD and ideas to be very helpful in releasing much of this fear. I recall most of my labor as being painless. My baby was posterior, which I was taught during Bradley would be accompanied by painful back labor. I remember thinking to myself that the bed was a bit uncomfortable for my back but I had no idea I was experiencing back labor because my deep relaxation caused the contractions to feel like tightening sensations. There was no pain. Unlike my first delivery, I approached labor with enthusiasm rather than as a marathon event that I had to work through. Hypnobirthing REALLY WORKS, but you have to be committed to it. You need to practice relaxation every single day.

With my hypnobirthing delivery in 2006, I started out with this book and listened to the CD that came with it every night. However, I felt that I needed more and turned to a great CD from Giuditta Tornetta. As I got closer to the birth, I also bought the Come Out Baby CD from Hypnobabies. This CD and Tornetta's (I alternated them to avoid boredom) enabled me to relax deeply. I then used the Come Out Baby CD during labor and had a pain free labor until 8 cm. Unfortunately, I ended up losing my concentration due to some interventions from the hospital - I hadn't fully released my fear of pitocin - and could not reestablish my deep relaxation.

Now that I am pregnant again, I have turned to hypnobirthing for the second time. This time, I find that I am responding very well yet again to Mongan's CDs. I have also ordered her Rainbow Relaxation CD from her website to add to my repertoire of CDs. One thing I learned though: This book is not enough by itself. You really need to work with a partner and make sure that they know how to help you to find your deep relaxation if you lose your concentration. Birth is a difficult process and while reading the book leaves the impression that HypnoBirthing can be done on your own, I found that I lacked a partner.

For this third delivery, I plan to work more with my husband so that he can help me deeply relax if my concentration is lost. I have also looked on youtube and watched videos of HypnoBirths to give myself a sense of how the partner can play a role in delivery. There is a marked contrast between HypnoBirthing deliveries and other natural births - for people who really practice, delivery is very peaceful. However, for this to happen a good coach or doula is very important.]]> 3.73 1998 HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method
author: Marie F. Mongan
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2010/04/17
date added: 2010/04/17
shelves:
review:
This is the fourth or fifth time I have read this book. I first encountered it in preparation for the birth of my second child. I turned to Hypnobirthing after a very fast and painful first labor and delivery. I had used the Bradley Method and found that it left me with a profound fear of hospital birth and intervention and taught that birth is excrutiatingly painful. I was terrified by my delivery and when I was pregnant for the second time, I did some research online and found Mongan's book. I wanted a different perspective on labor and delivery and I wanted my second child to be born in peace not fear.

I found Mongan's CD and ideas to be very helpful in releasing much of this fear. I recall most of my labor as being painless. My baby was posterior, which I was taught during Bradley would be accompanied by painful back labor. I remember thinking to myself that the bed was a bit uncomfortable for my back but I had no idea I was experiencing back labor because my deep relaxation caused the contractions to feel like tightening sensations. There was no pain. Unlike my first delivery, I approached labor with enthusiasm rather than as a marathon event that I had to work through. Hypnobirthing REALLY WORKS, but you have to be committed to it. You need to practice relaxation every single day.

With my hypnobirthing delivery in 2006, I started out with this book and listened to the CD that came with it every night. However, I felt that I needed more and turned to a great CD from Giuditta Tornetta. As I got closer to the birth, I also bought the Come Out Baby CD from Hypnobabies. This CD and Tornetta's (I alternated them to avoid boredom) enabled me to relax deeply. I then used the Come Out Baby CD during labor and had a pain free labor until 8 cm. Unfortunately, I ended up losing my concentration due to some interventions from the hospital - I hadn't fully released my fear of pitocin - and could not reestablish my deep relaxation.

Now that I am pregnant again, I have turned to hypnobirthing for the second time. This time, I find that I am responding very well yet again to Mongan's CDs. I have also ordered her Rainbow Relaxation CD from her website to add to my repertoire of CDs. One thing I learned though: This book is not enough by itself. You really need to work with a partner and make sure that they know how to help you to find your deep relaxation if you lose your concentration. Birth is a difficult process and while reading the book leaves the impression that HypnoBirthing can be done on your own, I found that I lacked a partner.

For this third delivery, I plan to work more with my husband so that he can help me deeply relax if my concentration is lost. I have also looked on youtube and watched videos of HypnoBirths to give myself a sense of how the partner can play a role in delivery. There is a marked contrast between HypnoBirthing deliveries and other natural births - for people who really practice, delivery is very peaceful. However, for this to happen a good coach or doula is very important.
]]> By Fire, By Water 7057397
Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.]]> 284 Mitchell James Kaplan 1590513525 Lauren 5
While the novel is told from both perspectives, Luis de Santangel is the key character and the novel centers on his own personal struggles with maintaining the delicate balance of his high position while also shielding himself from any suspicion of Judaizing which surrounds all conversos. This constant suspicion draws Santangel into learning about the faith his grandparents cast aside, leading him to take greivous steps to avoid the glare of the New Inquisition. However, this very act designed to protect his family draws them more deeply into the clutches of Chief Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada than he ever would have expected. Through the novel, it is a mystery of whether Santangel - incidentally, he was a real person - would escape the clutches of the Inquisition. His path is fascinating, as are his internal struggles.

Judith's character is less interesting to me than Santangel's character because unlike Santangel, she doesn't struggle with faith. She is secure in her identity and is perfectly accustomed to living on the margins. She does not seek to inject herself into a position of power or feel any shame about her family's religious background. Her position as the Jew drawn into Spain and quickly cast out, however, is very important to the story of the unification of Spain.

Ultimately, the novel leaves open a question: Which path was easier, that of the converso who sought to assimilate with Spanish society, or that of the Jew who was cast out of her home and homeland and denied all wordly posessions to pursue a new life on foreign shores? Both paths were perilous but ultimately it seems that only Judith could ever live in peace because she was the only one who was not playacting in a theater in which she was not truly welcome. 5 stars.

For readers looking for other novels about the Spanish Inquisition, I also really liked The Last Jew, by Noah Gordon.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]]]> 3.73 2010 By Fire, By Water
author: Mitchell James Kaplan
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/04/17
date added: 2010/04/17
shelves:
review:
By Fire, By Water is a wonderful and devastating look at the unification of Spain in the late 15th Century. The novel centers on the growth of the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholic conquest of the Islamic kingdom of Granada, and the discovery of the New World, told through the perspective of two disparate characters. Luis de Santangel is the Aragonese chancellor of King Fernando and Queen Ysabel of Spain, los Reyes Catolicos. He looks to be prosperous and powerful, yet he cannot shake the stigma of being a converso. Though Luis de Santangel was never Jewish, his grandparents were. Thus, as far as Spanish society is concerned, his Catholicism is suspect. The second main character is Judith Migdal, a Jewish silversmith of Spanish descent living in Granada. While the Jews in Granada live in their own quarter as minorities in the Islamic kingdom, their lives are truly turned upside down when the Catholics prevail in Granada and impose exile in 1492. These unlikely characters intersect, as Luis de Santangel finds himself drawn to Judith and curiosity about the religion his grandparents cast aside.

While the novel is told from both perspectives, Luis de Santangel is the key character and the novel centers on his own personal struggles with maintaining the delicate balance of his high position while also shielding himself from any suspicion of Judaizing which surrounds all conversos. This constant suspicion draws Santangel into learning about the faith his grandparents cast aside, leading him to take greivous steps to avoid the glare of the New Inquisition. However, this very act designed to protect his family draws them more deeply into the clutches of Chief Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada than he ever would have expected. Through the novel, it is a mystery of whether Santangel - incidentally, he was a real person - would escape the clutches of the Inquisition. His path is fascinating, as are his internal struggles.

Judith's character is less interesting to me than Santangel's character because unlike Santangel, she doesn't struggle with faith. She is secure in her identity and is perfectly accustomed to living on the margins. She does not seek to inject herself into a position of power or feel any shame about her family's religious background. Her position as the Jew drawn into Spain and quickly cast out, however, is very important to the story of the unification of Spain.

Ultimately, the novel leaves open a question: Which path was easier, that of the converso who sought to assimilate with Spanish society, or that of the Jew who was cast out of her home and homeland and denied all wordly posessions to pursue a new life on foreign shores? Both paths were perilous but ultimately it seems that only Judith could ever live in peace because she was the only one who was not playacting in a theater in which she was not truly welcome. 5 stars.

For readers looking for other novels about the Spanish Inquisition, I also really liked The Last Jew, by Noah Gordon.

[Reviewed for Amazon VINE:]
]]> Savage Lands 6626720
Auguste, a poor cabin boy from Rochefort, must also adjust to a startlingly unexpected future. Abandoned in a remote native village, he is charged by the colony’s governor with mastering the tribe’s strange language while reporting back on their activities. It is there that he is befriended by Elisabeth’s husband as he begins the slow process of assimilation back into life among the French.

The love Elisabeth and Auguste share for Jean-Claude changes both of their lives irrevocably. When in time he betrays them both, they find themselves bound together in ways they never anticipated.

With the same compelling prose and vividly realized characters thatĚýwon herĚýwidespread acclaim forĚýTHE GREAT STINK and THE NATURE OF MONSTERS, Clare Clark takes us deep into the heart of colonial French Louisiana.]]> 384 Clare Clark 0151014736 Lauren 1 abandoned, maybe-later
The book centers on two main characters. Elisabeth is one of the girls who travels to France and falls in love - the author tells us this, but never shows us - despite her skepticism about her prospects in New France. It jumps from portraying Elisabeth as a reluctant participant in the venture to a snotty, love-sick wife. The book also deals with Auguste, a young French boy who travels to New France and ends up living with the Native Americans.

I just got so bored with Elisabeth's whining and disatissfaction. She alienates everyone around her. I also could not enjoy her infatuation wtih her husband as it came out of nowhere. Auguste's parts were really boring and I just didn't care about him.

Thus, I did something I rarely do and abandoned the book.]]> 3.04 2010 Savage Lands
author: Clare Clark
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.04
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2010/04/01
date added: 2010/04/15
shelves: abandoned, maybe-later
review:
This book had a lot of promise. The plot sounded interesting, as it is premised on French women traveling to the New World to marry colonists. Unfortunately, only the premise was interesting. The execution was terrible and I could only bear to read about half of it before I decided to read something else. Life is too short to waste on a bad book!

The book centers on two main characters. Elisabeth is one of the girls who travels to France and falls in love - the author tells us this, but never shows us - despite her skepticism about her prospects in New France. It jumps from portraying Elisabeth as a reluctant participant in the venture to a snotty, love-sick wife. The book also deals with Auguste, a young French boy who travels to New France and ends up living with the Native Americans.

I just got so bored with Elisabeth's whining and disatissfaction. She alienates everyone around her. I also could not enjoy her infatuation wtih her husband as it came out of nowhere. Auguste's parts were really boring and I just didn't care about him.

Thus, I did something I rarely do and abandoned the book.
]]> The Falcons of Montabard 397654
Upon his eventual return to England, Sabin is given the opportunity to rebuild his career and salvage his reputation: The knight Edmund Strongfist is leaving for the Holy Land to offer his sword and services to the King of Jerusalem, and he wants Sabin to join him.

Accompanying Strongfist is his young, beautiful, convent-educated daughter Annais. Sabin, he warns, is to keep away from her. Being grateful for the chance that Strongfist has given him, Sabin does so, but not without a feeling of regret as he observes her spirit and courage, and enjoys her beautiful harp playing.

The Holy Land brings its own shares of trials for Sabin. If he succeeds in keeping his distance from Annais, he has less success with Strongfist's new wife, and the consequences prove to be painful. The land is suffering from constant warfare and following the capture of the King, Sabin is forced to take command of the fortress of Montabard and marry its recently widowed chatelaine. Now there is all to play for...and all to lose.]]> 473 Elizabeth Chadwick 075153272X Lauren 4
Although Anais and Strongfist are fictional and little is known about the real Sabin, the novel is rooted in fact, centering on the politics between the Muslims and Europeans relating to the Crusades and the capture of King Baldwin of Jerusalem. Falcons of Montabard is definitely an interesting look at this period of history.

For me, though, the best part of the novel was Chadwick's ability to create a human Sabin who was able to grow and change, despite his faults, into a loving father and husband and a loyal subject of King Baldwin. Sabin really was a great character. Anais was interesting too - she grew a lot in the novel, starting out as a somewhat dull, convent-raised young girl and blossoming into a brave and sensual woman. I also thought Chadwick did a great job giving the reader a glimpse into Outremer society and social mores.

Overall, I thought this was a 4.5 star read.
]]> 4.06 2003 The Falcons of Montabard
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2010/04/06
date added: 2010/04/06
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed Falcons of Montalbard. It opens with a hedonistic young knight, Sabin, caught in a compromising position with a favored mistress of King Henry I of England on the eve of the departure of the White Ship. What appears at first to be misfortunte saves Sabin's life. Sabin's dissolute lifestyle leads his family to send him to Outremer (modern Israel) on Crusade to redeem himself and to avoid further embarassment at home. Sabin travels to Outremer with the beautiful, convent-raised Anais and her father Edmund Strongfist, where they encounter substantial danger and adventure as they seek to make a life for themselves in Outremer.

Although Anais and Strongfist are fictional and little is known about the real Sabin, the novel is rooted in fact, centering on the politics between the Muslims and Europeans relating to the Crusades and the capture of King Baldwin of Jerusalem. Falcons of Montabard is definitely an interesting look at this period of history.

For me, though, the best part of the novel was Chadwick's ability to create a human Sabin who was able to grow and change, despite his faults, into a loving father and husband and a loyal subject of King Baldwin. Sabin really was a great character. Anais was interesting too - she grew a lot in the novel, starting out as a somewhat dull, convent-raised young girl and blossoming into a brave and sensual woman. I also thought Chadwick did a great job giving the reader a glimpse into Outremer society and social mores.

Overall, I thought this was a 4.5 star read.

]]> <![CDATA[The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II]]> 6047149
Young Eleanor, niece of King Edward II, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella's household. But before long, Eleanor realizes that her beloved Uncle Edward is not the mighty ruler his kingdom-or his queen-expected.

Hugh's unbridled ambition and his intimate relationship with Edward arouse widespread resentment, even as Eleanor remains fiercely loyal to her husband and to her king. However, her allegiance may cost her dearly.

From the battlefield to the bedchamber and through hope and despair, treachery and fidelity, The Traitor's Wife is a tale of an extraordinary woman living in an extraordinary time.]]> 499 Susan Higginbotham 1402217870 Lauren 4 3.75 2005 The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II
author: Susan Higginbotham
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2010/03/25
date added: 2010/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Secret Daughter 6905012
The same year in India, a poor mother makes the heartbreaking choice to save her newborn daughter's life by giving her away. It is a decision that will haunt Kavita for the rest of her life, and cause a ripple effect that travels across the world and back again.

Asha, adopted out of a Mumbai orphanage, is the child that binds the destinies of these two women. We follow both families, invisibly connected until Asha's journey of self-discovery leads her back to India.

Compulsively readable and deeply touching, SECRET DAUGHTER is a story of the unforeseen ways in which our choices and families affect our lives, and the indelible power of love in all its many forms.]]> 339 Shilpi Somaya Gowda 0061922315 Lauren 4
The novel covers many themes, most particularly infertility, intercultural marriage, poverty, the “two Indias� (i.e. the rich India of the Thakkars and the poor India of the Merchants), and adoption. What distinguishes this novel from others, I think, is Asha’s perspective � that of an adoptee into a wealthy Indian family who discovers that she was very lucky to have been adopted.

I thought the best part of Secret Daughter was the second half, when Asha travels to India. I could very much relate to Asha’s perspective of India, having spent several months living in Bombay. I remember encountering many of the same things she did and I thought the perspective of the long-term outsider was dead on. The novel was thought provoking � while I sympathized with Kavita for having to give up her daughter, it was hard not to feel that Asha was much better off with the Thakkars. Fortunately, the novel did a good job of pointing out that Asha was also lucky compared to the other children in the orphanage, as most find themselves on the streets at 16 with little to no prospects for the future.

In sum, Secret Daughter was a good read. It is a good addition to the growing genre of ABCD (American Born, Confused Desi) fiction.

**Reviewed ARC for Amazon Vine
]]> 3.99 2010 Secret Daughter
author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/03/17
date added: 2010/03/19
shelves:
review:
Secret Daughter is a sprawling novel, spanning 25 years in the lives of two families. The Merchants are an impoverished family living in India. The Thakkars are a wealthy family living in San Francisco. These two families' lives intersect in an unlikely way � they share a daughter. The Merchants are too poor to afford a daughter (and her future dowry) so Kavita Merchant, the illiterate wife of Jasu, decides to clandestinely bring her newborn daughter Usha to a Bombay orphanage in order to save the baby's life from infanticide. Somer and Krishnan Thakkar are both Stanford educated doctors who seem to have everything except fertility. Indian-born Krishnan convinces his American wife Somer to adopt a baby from an Indian orphanage after the couple receives devastating news that Somer will never be able to have biological children. The Thakkars adopt Usha � renamed Asha by the orphanage � and give her a privileged life in America. Meanwhile, the Merchants struggle in India to better themselves, despite their rural origins, illiteracy, and poverty. As the years pass, Asha struggles with her identity, having been shielded from India and often wondering where she gets her unusual eyes. She feels that her family does not understand her and wonders if it is because they are not biologically related. Ultimately Asha travels to India on scholarship while the lives of the Thakkars and Merchants unravel and the parents � Kavita and Jasu Merchant and Somer and Krishnan Thakkar � seek self-awareness as they reach middle age and their children become adults.

The novel covers many themes, most particularly infertility, intercultural marriage, poverty, the “two Indias� (i.e. the rich India of the Thakkars and the poor India of the Merchants), and adoption. What distinguishes this novel from others, I think, is Asha’s perspective � that of an adoptee into a wealthy Indian family who discovers that she was very lucky to have been adopted.

I thought the best part of Secret Daughter was the second half, when Asha travels to India. I could very much relate to Asha’s perspective of India, having spent several months living in Bombay. I remember encountering many of the same things she did and I thought the perspective of the long-term outsider was dead on. The novel was thought provoking � while I sympathized with Kavita for having to give up her daughter, it was hard not to feel that Asha was much better off with the Thakkars. Fortunately, the novel did a good job of pointing out that Asha was also lucky compared to the other children in the orphanage, as most find themselves on the streets at 16 with little to no prospects for the future.

In sum, Secret Daughter was a good read. It is a good addition to the growing genre of ABCD (American Born, Confused Desi) fiction.

**Reviewed ARC for Amazon Vine

]]> The Love Knot 1306847 At Bristol, Catrin meets Ethel, a wise woman and midwife, who begins to train her in the healing arts and is instrumental in bringing Oliver and Catrin together as lovers. But the endurance of that love is threatened by the perils of injury in battle, the danger of childbirth, the upheaval of continuing civil war, and the risk of loving in exchange for nothing but heartbreak. In the end Catrin must decide where her true loyalties lie.

]]> 474 Elizabeth Chadwick 0751525227 Lauren 4
The Love Knot centers on the story of the love between Catrin and Oliver. The storyline itself was rather predictable - it certainly did not help that the cover of the book reveals taht Catrin mistakenly believed herself to be a widow. I would have preferred not to have known this from the outset, as it left out any real possibility of a plot twist. Fortunately, for such a character driven plot, the main characters were likeable.

Based on other reviews, I expected a lot of detail about childbirth in the middle ages. There really wasn't much detail at all - just some mention of "travail," amniotic fluid, and the placenta. I would say that most births mentioned (Catrin was a midwife) took a page to describe at most. I think some readers might be a little too squeamish, particularly since the historical fiction drama describes battles and gore (much more grotesque than childbirth) with much regularity!

Overall, The Love Knot was a pleasant, light read. I've read better historical fiction novels, but The Love Knot kept me interested.]]> 4.05 1998 The Love Knot
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2010/03/14
date added: 2010/03/14
shelves:
review:
I found The Love Knot to be an easy read. It's a historical romance set during the war of succession between Stephen and Matilda. While the romance hews close to historical facts, it treats the conflict itself and politics in broad strokes. It does not approach the level of detail about the conflict that is covered in Sharon Kay Penman's While Christ and His Saint's Slept. I would say that the level of detail was more similar to Pillars of the Earth, but The Love Knot's portrayal of medieval life seemed more accurate. In The Love Knot, the women wore braids and wimples - no billowing, long hair in women. Also, Chadwick was careful not to use anachronism.

The Love Knot centers on the story of the love between Catrin and Oliver. The storyline itself was rather predictable - it certainly did not help that the cover of the book reveals taht Catrin mistakenly believed herself to be a widow. I would have preferred not to have known this from the outset, as it left out any real possibility of a plot twist. Fortunately, for such a character driven plot, the main characters were likeable.

Based on other reviews, I expected a lot of detail about childbirth in the middle ages. There really wasn't much detail at all - just some mention of "travail," amniotic fluid, and the placenta. I would say that most births mentioned (Catrin was a midwife) took a page to describe at most. I think some readers might be a little too squeamish, particularly since the historical fiction drama describes battles and gore (much more grotesque than childbirth) with much regularity!

Overall, The Love Knot was a pleasant, light read. I've read better historical fiction novels, but The Love Knot kept me interested.
]]> Devil Water 252502 DEVIL WATER is the true story of Charles Radcliffe, who escaped from Newgate prison in 1715 after his brother's execution, and of his daughter Jenny. Jenny was the child of a secret marriage; father and daughter share a strong and abiding affection.

When Jenny immigrates to America, she and her father suffer years of separation. The themes of this book are loyalty and courage.

Like all of Seton's books, this one combines thoroughly documented history with superb storytelling.

]]> 526 Anya Seton 1556526598 Lauren 0 to-read 3.90 1961 Devil Water
author: Anya Seton
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Green Darkness 36254 591 Anya Seton 1556525761 Lauren 4
The novel then turns to Tudor times, beginning with the reign of Edward VI and ending with the early part of Elizabeth I's reign. It explores the forbidden relationship of the orphaned Celia de Bohun and the Monk, Brother Stephen Marsdon against a backdrop of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation as well as strict Tudor social mores. Romance readers might complain that the romantic moments between Celia and Stephen are few and far between. However, in the context of a forbidden relationship in the 16th century, I don't think the scarcity of romantic encounters is all that surprising. I think a lesser writer would have given them a torrid affair lasting years, but Seton created a relationship that bordered on obsession, with Celia's unwillingness to control her longing for Steven, the one man she really couldn't (or shouldn't) have. For much of the novel, the relationship is a backdrop and drives key events in Celia's life. Towards the end of the Tudor section, Celia's recklessness in pursuing her relationship with Stephen leads to tragedy and torment for both herself and Stephen, which causes the unhappiness of the modern Celia and Richard. After the tragic ending of the Tudor story (which is well-foreshadowed in the first part of the book), the novel returns to 1968 and the conflict between the modern Richard and Celia is neatly resolved.

It took me a while to sink into the novel. I would give the first portion of the book only 2 or 2.5 stars. The Tudor section, however, is fantastic. I felt that in the Tudor part of the book, Seton found her comfort zone as a writer of historical fiction. The action moved swiftly, the historical settings were well created, the characters believable and human, each with real flaws. I would give that section (the bulk of the novel) 5 stars. The return to the present - the last 40 or so pages of the novel - felt like an after thought and in my mind, the story I cared about already ended with the section on the Tudor period.

I think I would have liked the novel better without the element of reincarnation. At least for me, I couldn't really develop an attachment to the modern characters and I really didn't care what happened to them. On the other hand, Green Darkness would have been less unique and perhaps less memorable - perhaps like a Tudor version of The Thorn Birds. Perhaps the novel would have been more effective had the first 1968 section been shorter and the medical crisis situation cut out - maybe having Celia revisit her past through hypnotherapy? - with brief interludes cutting into the Tudor period to remind the readers about the modern cast of characters and reinforce the reincarnation element. Although Seton does cut into the Tudor element by giving Celia de Bohun visions into her future self 400 years later, those brief reminders don't really enhance the broader plot.

All in all, Green Darkness as a whole might be my least favorite Anya Seton novel (I've also read Avalon, Katherine, and The Winthrop Woman). However, the Tudor portion of the novel was very good, and that section alone was nearly as enjoyable to me as Katherine.]]> 3.95 1972 Green Darkness
author: Anya Seton
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2010/03/10
date added: 2010/03/10
shelves:
review:
The storyline and narrative structure of Green Darkness are very different from other books I have read. Green Darkness starts out in 1968 with a house party. The hosts, Sir Richard and Lady Celia Marsdon are newlyweds but their relationship is anything but blissful, as Richard has turned cold towards his new wife in recent months. Several strange events lead Celia to enter into a catatonic state. One of the guests, an Indian doctor, realizes that Celia and Richard had known each other in a past life and the only way to rescue Celia is to revisit that past life so that she can resolve old conflicts.

The novel then turns to Tudor times, beginning with the reign of Edward VI and ending with the early part of Elizabeth I's reign. It explores the forbidden relationship of the orphaned Celia de Bohun and the Monk, Brother Stephen Marsdon against a backdrop of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation as well as strict Tudor social mores. Romance readers might complain that the romantic moments between Celia and Stephen are few and far between. However, in the context of a forbidden relationship in the 16th century, I don't think the scarcity of romantic encounters is all that surprising. I think a lesser writer would have given them a torrid affair lasting years, but Seton created a relationship that bordered on obsession, with Celia's unwillingness to control her longing for Steven, the one man she really couldn't (or shouldn't) have. For much of the novel, the relationship is a backdrop and drives key events in Celia's life. Towards the end of the Tudor section, Celia's recklessness in pursuing her relationship with Stephen leads to tragedy and torment for both herself and Stephen, which causes the unhappiness of the modern Celia and Richard. After the tragic ending of the Tudor story (which is well-foreshadowed in the first part of the book), the novel returns to 1968 and the conflict between the modern Richard and Celia is neatly resolved.

It took me a while to sink into the novel. I would give the first portion of the book only 2 or 2.5 stars. The Tudor section, however, is fantastic. I felt that in the Tudor part of the book, Seton found her comfort zone as a writer of historical fiction. The action moved swiftly, the historical settings were well created, the characters believable and human, each with real flaws. I would give that section (the bulk of the novel) 5 stars. The return to the present - the last 40 or so pages of the novel - felt like an after thought and in my mind, the story I cared about already ended with the section on the Tudor period.

I think I would have liked the novel better without the element of reincarnation. At least for me, I couldn't really develop an attachment to the modern characters and I really didn't care what happened to them. On the other hand, Green Darkness would have been less unique and perhaps less memorable - perhaps like a Tudor version of The Thorn Birds. Perhaps the novel would have been more effective had the first 1968 section been shorter and the medical crisis situation cut out - maybe having Celia revisit her past through hypnotherapy? - with brief interludes cutting into the Tudor period to remind the readers about the modern cast of characters and reinforce the reincarnation element. Although Seton does cut into the Tudor element by giving Celia de Bohun visions into her future self 400 years later, those brief reminders don't really enhance the broader plot.

All in all, Green Darkness as a whole might be my least favorite Anya Seton novel (I've also read Avalon, Katherine, and The Winthrop Woman). However, the Tudor portion of the novel was very good, and that section alone was nearly as enjoyable to me as Katherine.
]]> Island of the Swans 7198883 581 Ciji Ware 1402222688 Lauren 0 to-read 3.75 1989 Island of the Swans
author: Ciji Ware
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Confessions of Catherine de Medici]]> 6801454 Ěý
So reveals Catherine de Medici in this brilliantly imagined novel about one of history’s most powerful and controversial women. To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter into the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power.Ěý

ĚýThe last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.
Ěý
Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons. She allies herself with the enigmatic Protestant leader Coligny, with whom she shares an intimate secret, and implacably carves a path toward peace, unaware that her own dark fate looms before her—a fate that, if she is to save France, will demand the sacrifice of her ideals, her reputation, and the passion of her embattled heart.Ěý

From the fairy-tale châteaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
Ěý]]> 397 C.W. Gortner 0345501861 Lauren 0 to-read 3.97 2010 The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
author: C.W. Gortner
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Between Two Queens (Secrets of the Tudor Court, #2)]]> 6335232 "RICH AND LUSHLY DETAILED, TEEMING WITH PASSION
AND INTRIGUE," SAID ROMANTIC TIMES. NOW TALENTED
KATE EMERSON CONTINUES A SAGA AS DRAMATIC
AND SEDUCTIVE AS THE COURT ITSELF.

Pretty, flirtatious, and ambitious. Nan Bassett hopes that an appointment at the court of King Henry VIII will bring her a grand marriage. But soon after she becomes a maid of honor to Queen Jane, the queen dies in childbirth. As the court plunges into mourning, Nan sets her sights on the greatest match in the land...for the king has noticed her. After all, it wouldn't be the first time King Henry has chosen to wed a maid of honor. And in newly Protestant England, where plots to restore the old religion abound, Nan may be the only one who can reassure a suspicious king of her family's loyalty. But the favor of a king can be dangerous and chancy, not just for Nan, but for her family as well...and passionate Nan is guarding a secret, one that could put her future -- and her life -- in grave jeopardy should anyone discover the truth.

Based on the life of the real Anne Bassett and her family, and drawing extensively from letters and diaries of the time, Between Two Queens is an enthralling picture of the dangers and delights of England's most passionate era.]]> 384 Kate Emerson 1416583270 Lauren 3
In my mind, I kept comparing this novel to Phillipa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance, as it covers much of the same period of Henry VIII's life. This novel is definitely superior, as it is less repetitive while also getting the point across about Henry's degeneration from a handsome King into a cruel and nasty fat old man with an oozing, pussy leg. Also interesting, this novel takes the point of view of a courtier and paints a clear picture of Henry's despotism and the odd dynamic by which the ambitious needed to ingratiate themselves to the King in order to advance financially and socially while also risking at any moment making a comment or acting in a way that could displease the King and cost them their heads. Nan herself becomes dependant on her position as a courtier, as Henry imprisons her family for treason (this is historical fact, and not a spoiler IMO), leaving her with few prospects and no way of attracting a noble, wealthy husband without somehow staying at court in an attempt to somehow prod Henry into freeing them. Between Two Queens is much more subtle than The Boleyn Inheritance in portraying the terror that courtiers must have felt at this period in Henry's life, but is very effective in conveying the undercurrent of fear that surely must have influenced behavior, thoughts, and actions of the nobility.

This novel, while good in many ways, was not amazing. To me, it was a 3.5 star novel. In the first half of the novel, in particular, Nan is portrayed as extremely self-centered and unlikeable. The author also gives Nan a "secret" which seems rather unrealistic - and I tend to be uncomfortable with character assassinations of real people when they are not grounded in fact. Later on in the novel, I think Nan becomes more sympathetic as she seems to lose much of her conceit and pride when she loses her social status/position due to her family's troubles with treason. The first half of the novel was very fluffy, but the second half of the novel was substantially better as a study of court life. I was much less interested in the author's invention of the skeleton's in Nan's closet compared to Nan's observations of the Queens whom she served, of Henry and his courtiers, and of a country run by a despotic, megalomaniac King.

** Reviewed for Amazon Vine ** ]]> 3.81 2009 Between Two Queens (Secrets of the Tudor Court, #2)
author: Kate Emerson
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/03/05
date added: 2010/03/05
shelves:
review:
Between Two Queens loosely tells the story of Anne "Nan" Basset, who arrives at the court of King Henry VIII at the age of 16 with the hopes of serving as maid of honor to his third queen, Jane Seymour, and of catching a wealthy titled husband in the process. Nan and her sister Catherine compete for the position of maid of honor and the King selects Nan because she is very beautiful. Nan's position of Maid of Honor to Queen Jane doesn't last long, as the Queen famously dies shortly after giving birth to her son, the future King Edward VI. Because King Henry VIII is attracted to Nan, Nan is ultimately extended a position to return to court as maid of honor for his fourth queen. In the meantime, Nan finds herself in some trouble and chooses to continue on her path of attracting a wealthy husband with a title rather than a possibly happy and contented life as the wife of a common man without wealth. The novel follows Nan's trials and tribulations as maid of honor to Anne of Cleves and then to the ill-fated Catherine Howard with brief mention of her time in the service of Katheryn Parr.

In my mind, I kept comparing this novel to Phillipa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance, as it covers much of the same period of Henry VIII's life. This novel is definitely superior, as it is less repetitive while also getting the point across about Henry's degeneration from a handsome King into a cruel and nasty fat old man with an oozing, pussy leg. Also interesting, this novel takes the point of view of a courtier and paints a clear picture of Henry's despotism and the odd dynamic by which the ambitious needed to ingratiate themselves to the King in order to advance financially and socially while also risking at any moment making a comment or acting in a way that could displease the King and cost them their heads. Nan herself becomes dependant on her position as a courtier, as Henry imprisons her family for treason (this is historical fact, and not a spoiler IMO), leaving her with few prospects and no way of attracting a noble, wealthy husband without somehow staying at court in an attempt to somehow prod Henry into freeing them. Between Two Queens is much more subtle than The Boleyn Inheritance in portraying the terror that courtiers must have felt at this period in Henry's life, but is very effective in conveying the undercurrent of fear that surely must have influenced behavior, thoughts, and actions of the nobility.

This novel, while good in many ways, was not amazing. To me, it was a 3.5 star novel. In the first half of the novel, in particular, Nan is portrayed as extremely self-centered and unlikeable. The author also gives Nan a "secret" which seems rather unrealistic - and I tend to be uncomfortable with character assassinations of real people when they are not grounded in fact. Later on in the novel, I think Nan becomes more sympathetic as she seems to lose much of her conceit and pride when she loses her social status/position due to her family's troubles with treason. The first half of the novel was very fluffy, but the second half of the novel was substantially better as a study of court life. I was much less interested in the author's invention of the skeleton's in Nan's closet compared to Nan's observations of the Queens whom she served, of Henry and his courtiers, and of a country run by a despotic, megalomaniac King.

** Reviewed for Amazon Vine **
]]> The Queen's Lover 6753630 578 Vanora Bennett 0061945749 Lauren 3
Nearly half the novel details the degeneration of France as a consequence of King Charles' madness and Queen Isabeau's unpleasant temperament. I think this section should have been cut down a bit, as I found it to be somewhat dull at times. (However, it does form an interesting foreshadowing of the instability that England would experience during the reign of Catherine and Henry V's son, King Henry VI, due to his own battles with mental illness.) The novel initially appeared well researched to me (although I am not sure whether there was any historical foundation for the portrayal of Katherine and her brother Charles as neglected and half starved children). Unfortunately, Bennett is unable to sustain a believable portrayal of Catherine de Valois.

In the novel, there are four scenes/events in particular that were not believable and seriously damaged the credibility of the novel. I will detail them below but in this paragraph, I would like to say that the scenes/events are incongruous with medieval behavior and almost made me stop reading the novel, as I am a reader who prefers factually based historical fiction. Unfortunately, Vanora Bennett author's note is inadequate, briefly summarizing the remainder of Owain Tudor's and Catherine's lives without clarifying which sections of the novel were left to her imagination or pointing out which sections of the novel were controversial and laying out the supporting evidence for her story. She also does not include a bibliography.

The four scenes that struck me as particularly outrageous are enumerated as follows:

[CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!!]

First, the novel presents Katherine and Owain Tudor as knowing each other as teenagers (possible but unlikely) and having a sexual relationship (highly improbable).

Second, the novel presents Catherine and Henry V as consummating their relationship prior to the finalization of marriage negotiations with Queen Isabeau's encouragemeent. This would never ever happen, particularly given Katherine's value on the marriage market.

Third, the novel portrays Catherine as supporting Joan of Arc (unlikely, as supporting Joan of Arc runs counter to Katherine's son's interests) and visiting Joan in the tower in Rouen to bring her clothing in order to avoid her execution for heresy (highly unlikely).

Fourth, the novel portrays Catherine and Owain Tudor as having a clandestine sexual relationship outside of marriage (possible but unlikely) and as marrying after Isabeau lies to the the English court and states that Owain and Catherine had secretly married (highly unlikely).

[END OF SPOILERS:]

Overall this is a three star novel. Some points were better than three stars, others were one star. It is unfortunate that the novel was not better, as Catherine and Owain's relationship was both interesting and important to the course of English history. Bennett clearly did a lot of research but she seems to have forgotten her bearings in the middle ages and created anachronistic plot twists.

** Reviewed an ARC from Amazon Vine ** ]]> 3.08 2009 The Queen's Lover
author: Vanora Bennett
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/03/02
date added: 2010/03/02
shelves:
review:
The Queen's Lover is a historical fiction novel set in France and England, centering on Catherine de Valois, the fifteenth century French Princess and great grandmother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. The novel begins with Katherine's tumultuous childhood as a "poor little rich girl," living unloved and neglected in the shadows of her shrewish, promiscuous mother, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria and her mad father King Charles VI of France. As a royal princess, Catherine is a valuable commodity and she views a possible marriage to English King Henry V as a means of escape from the political chaos plaguing France as well as the lack of family harmony due to her father's mental illness and her mother's inability to get along with her siblings.

Nearly half the novel details the degeneration of France as a consequence of King Charles' madness and Queen Isabeau's unpleasant temperament. I think this section should have been cut down a bit, as I found it to be somewhat dull at times. (However, it does form an interesting foreshadowing of the instability that England would experience during the reign of Catherine and Henry V's son, King Henry VI, due to his own battles with mental illness.) The novel initially appeared well researched to me (although I am not sure whether there was any historical foundation for the portrayal of Katherine and her brother Charles as neglected and half starved children). Unfortunately, Bennett is unable to sustain a believable portrayal of Catherine de Valois.

In the novel, there are four scenes/events in particular that were not believable and seriously damaged the credibility of the novel. I will detail them below but in this paragraph, I would like to say that the scenes/events are incongruous with medieval behavior and almost made me stop reading the novel, as I am a reader who prefers factually based historical fiction. Unfortunately, Vanora Bennett author's note is inadequate, briefly summarizing the remainder of Owain Tudor's and Catherine's lives without clarifying which sections of the novel were left to her imagination or pointing out which sections of the novel were controversial and laying out the supporting evidence for her story. She also does not include a bibliography.

The four scenes that struck me as particularly outrageous are enumerated as follows:

[CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!!]

First, the novel presents Katherine and Owain Tudor as knowing each other as teenagers (possible but unlikely) and having a sexual relationship (highly improbable).

Second, the novel presents Catherine and Henry V as consummating their relationship prior to the finalization of marriage negotiations with Queen Isabeau's encouragemeent. This would never ever happen, particularly given Katherine's value on the marriage market.

Third, the novel portrays Catherine as supporting Joan of Arc (unlikely, as supporting Joan of Arc runs counter to Katherine's son's interests) and visiting Joan in the tower in Rouen to bring her clothing in order to avoid her execution for heresy (highly unlikely).

Fourth, the novel portrays Catherine and Owain Tudor as having a clandestine sexual relationship outside of marriage (possible but unlikely) and as marrying after Isabeau lies to the the English court and states that Owain and Catherine had secretly married (highly unlikely).

[END OF SPOILERS:]

Overall this is a three star novel. Some points were better than three stars, others were one star. It is unfortunate that the novel was not better, as Catherine and Owain's relationship was both interesting and important to the course of English history. Bennett clearly did a lot of research but she seems to have forgotten her bearings in the middle ages and created anachronistic plot twists.

** Reviewed an ARC from Amazon Vine **
]]> Ramona the Brave (Ramona, #3) 91248 160 Beverly Cleary 0192751077 Lauren 5
As a grown up, there were some laugh out loud moments in Ramona the Brave. I love the scene where Ramona, in a spunky mood, finds herself confronted with a big dog on her way to school. Ramona tosses her shoe at the dog and ends up walking to school with 1 shoe and 1 sock foot. Poor Ramona finally gets selected to be the flag holder and assumes a flamingo pose to hide the sock foot. Ramona then finds a creative solution to avoid wearing the ugly brown boots from the "extras" pile in her classroom.

While I think Ramona the Pest is my favorite (I'll never forget Ramona's obsession with Susan's boing boing curls), Ramona the Brave is great too. I am really pleased that the Ramona books have withstood the test of time and are as funny and insightful ans I remember. I loved them 20+ years ago and I am really enjoying revisiting them now - this time from the perspective of a parent. ]]> 4.12 1975 Ramona the Brave (Ramona, #3)
author: Beverly Cleary
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2010/02/28
date added: 2010/03/01
shelves:
review:
My five year old and I just finished Ramona the Brave. This time, Ramona's in first grade. She has said farewell to the beloved Miss Binney, who understood her and now has Mrs. Griggs as her first grade teacher. Mrs. Griggs is a no nonsense teacher. Does she have patience for Ramona and her antics?

As a grown up, there were some laugh out loud moments in Ramona the Brave. I love the scene where Ramona, in a spunky mood, finds herself confronted with a big dog on her way to school. Ramona tosses her shoe at the dog and ends up walking to school with 1 shoe and 1 sock foot. Poor Ramona finally gets selected to be the flag holder and assumes a flamingo pose to hide the sock foot. Ramona then finds a creative solution to avoid wearing the ugly brown boots from the "extras" pile in her classroom.

While I think Ramona the Pest is my favorite (I'll never forget Ramona's obsession with Susan's boing boing curls), Ramona the Brave is great too. I am really pleased that the Ramona books have withstood the test of time and are as funny and insightful ans I remember. I loved them 20+ years ago and I am really enjoying revisiting them now - this time from the perspective of a parent.
]]> Blood Royal 6114605 580 Vanora Bennett 0007281935 Lauren 3 3.67 2009 Blood Royal
author: Vanora Bennett
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2010/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Ramona the Pest (Ramona, #2) 78039 192 Beverly Cleary 0192750976 Lauren 5
I hadn't read Ramona the Pest in more than 20 years and I still remembered the episodes where Ramona pulls Susan's "boing boing" curls. Whenever I see spiral curls, I think of Ramona so many years later. Ramona seems to have made an impression on my 5 year old and 3.5 year old. Both know that Ramona is very naughty (and they insist that they are far better behaved than Ramona) but get a huge kick out of Ramona's misbehavior. I think they live vicariously through Ramona, with her lenient parents and her absolute lack of impulse control. I use some of the antics as reminders about good behavior.

Because my 5 year old adores Ramona, we've already made a big dent in Ramona the Brave. We love that one too! ]]> 4.07 1968 Ramona the Pest (Ramona, #2)
author: Beverly Cleary
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1968
rating: 5
read at: 2010/02/17
date added: 2010/02/25
shelves:
review:
My revisiting of Ramona Quimby continues... I really enjoyed Ramona #2 - I prefer it to Beezus and Ramona as 5 year old Ramona is a lot less annoying/bratty than 4 year old Ramona. Beverly Cleary's view of kids is clever - she has Ramona, at one point, wondering why her friend Howie doesn't just throw a "big noisy fuss" just to get his way. Ramona is a little manipulator!

I hadn't read Ramona the Pest in more than 20 years and I still remembered the episodes where Ramona pulls Susan's "boing boing" curls. Whenever I see spiral curls, I think of Ramona so many years later. Ramona seems to have made an impression on my 5 year old and 3.5 year old. Both know that Ramona is very naughty (and they insist that they are far better behaved than Ramona) but get a huge kick out of Ramona's misbehavior. I think they live vicariously through Ramona, with her lenient parents and her absolute lack of impulse control. I use some of the antics as reminders about good behavior.

Because my 5 year old adores Ramona, we've already made a big dent in Ramona the Brave. We love that one too!
]]> <![CDATA[Gildenford (Norman Quartet, #1)]]> 2242776 392 Valerie Anand 068414896X Lauren 0 to-read 4.16 1977 Gildenford (Norman Quartet, #1)
author: Valerie Anand
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Disputed Crown (Norman Quartet, #3)]]> 2242777 297 Valerie Anand 0684176297 Lauren 0 to-read 4.21 1982 The Disputed Crown (Norman Quartet, #3)
author: Valerie Anand
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Norman Pretender (Norman Quartet, #2)]]> 1141473 410 Valerie Anand 0684160994 Lauren 0 to-read 4.10 1979 The Norman Pretender (Norman Quartet, #2)
author: Valerie Anand
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of the Wood (Norman Quartet, #4)]]> 176628 In A.D. 1100 King William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, was killed during a hunt. Although no one knows who shot the fatal arrow, Anand provides an intriguing story of what might have been. William Rufus faced opposition from his two brothers and numerous lords under his dominion in England and France. He drew the condemnation of Church authorities for his homosexual liaisons. He ignored the grievances of his impoverished subjects, many of whom continued to practice ancient fertility rituals in the hope of improving their economic lot. Anand pulls seemingly unrelated subplots tighter and tighter as the novel progresses, drawing the principal characters together to the fateful day of the king's death. In the process she masterfully re-creates the chaos and passion of a turbulent time.]]> 480 Valerie Anand 0747231486 Lauren 5
The novel deals with the end of William the Conqueror's reign and the relationships of his three surviving sons, William Rufus ("the red"), Robert Curthose, and Henry. The three sons have a tumultuous and competitive relationship, reminiscent of the relationships between the four sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. After William I's death, Curthose becomes Duke of Normandy and Rufus becomes King of England. Henry gets nothing and must rely on his brothers for any social position.

Rufus is a pleasure loving King and finds himself in conflict wtih the church due to his lack of faith in God and in his open homosexuality. His heavy hand at taxation also makes him unpopular among the peasantry, who are faced with difficult harvests and poor weather. Ralph des Aix initially finds himself central to Rufus' court after arriving at England. He achieves his goal of owning land, the humble Chenna's Tun, but in gaining independence, he alienates the King and lives in virtual poverty with his wife Sybil. In an attempt to escape starvation, the peasants of Chenna's Tun turn to a pagan cult in the hopes of making the earth fertile and to poaching deer in violation of forest laws. Sybil and Ralph become wrapped up in this practice, which ultimately leads to Rufus' death in a "hunting accident" in the woods.

Anand's story is very interesting. I found the novel to be a page turner, although it is not action packed. Anand does a great job of creating a sense of place in this long ago period. She also has an interesting theory for why Rufus died in the woods. Anand's characters are complex and real. I would say that this novel is on par in quality with Sharon Kay Penman's work. ]]> 3.90 1988 King of the Wood (Norman Quartet, #4)
author: Valerie Anand
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2010/02/12
date added: 2010/02/13
shelves:
review:
King of the Wood is an extremely well written historical fiction novel set in Eleventh Century England and Normandy. The book tracks several main characters: William Rufus, the third son of William the Conqueror and later, King William II; Ralph des Aix, a second son from a modest family who traveled from Maine to England with the hopes of becoming a knight and owning his own land; Sybil of Fallowdene, the wild and beautiful youngest daughter of a landholding family in England; Richard of Fallowdene and his wife Alice, Sybil's brother and sister-in-law; Princess Edith of Scotland; and Henry, the youngest son of William the Conqueror and later, King Henry I. In the beginning, it is a bit difficult to see how the different characters fit together. However, by the middle of the novel, they become brought together and all interact with each other. Thankfully, Anand does a good job of making clear which characters are central to each chapter.

The novel deals with the end of William the Conqueror's reign and the relationships of his three surviving sons, William Rufus ("the red"), Robert Curthose, and Henry. The three sons have a tumultuous and competitive relationship, reminiscent of the relationships between the four sons of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. After William I's death, Curthose becomes Duke of Normandy and Rufus becomes King of England. Henry gets nothing and must rely on his brothers for any social position.

Rufus is a pleasure loving King and finds himself in conflict wtih the church due to his lack of faith in God and in his open homosexuality. His heavy hand at taxation also makes him unpopular among the peasantry, who are faced with difficult harvests and poor weather. Ralph des Aix initially finds himself central to Rufus' court after arriving at England. He achieves his goal of owning land, the humble Chenna's Tun, but in gaining independence, he alienates the King and lives in virtual poverty with his wife Sybil. In an attempt to escape starvation, the peasants of Chenna's Tun turn to a pagan cult in the hopes of making the earth fertile and to poaching deer in violation of forest laws. Sybil and Ralph become wrapped up in this practice, which ultimately leads to Rufus' death in a "hunting accident" in the woods.

Anand's story is very interesting. I found the novel to be a page turner, although it is not action packed. Anand does a great job of creating a sense of place in this long ago period. She also has an interesting theory for why Rufus died in the woods. Anand's characters are complex and real. I would say that this novel is on par in quality with Sharon Kay Penman's work.
]]> <![CDATA[Beezus and Ramona (Ramona, #1)]]> 91244 160 Beverly Cleary 0192750968 Lauren 4
Not surprisingly my daughter loves Ramona. She thinks she's hilarious and laughs at Ramona's antics. However, she is very appreciative that her 3.5 year old sister is way As a Mom, I like the books less as an adult compared to as a child. Yes, Ramona is still hilarious. But as a Mom, I can't help but think that Ramona could use more discipline and better supervision. Mrs. Quimby relies too much on 9 year old Beezus. And under Beezus' not so watchful eye, Ramona manages to get into loads of trouble.

Of course the book is somewhat dated, with 50s language, but to me that is part of the charm. My daughter had no trouble following the storyline even with some dated words. I think Beezus and Ramona withstands the test of time. The only reasons for my 4 star rating are (1) the fact that Ramona is simply TOO impossible to be real and (2) Ramona's wininess got in my nerves. She is like several naughty pre-schoolers all packed into one!]]> 4.02 1955 Beezus and Ramona (Ramona, #1)
author: Beverly Cleary
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1955
rating: 4
read at: 2010/02/10
date added: 2010/02/10
shelves:
review:
My five year old and I just finished Beezus and Ramona, the first book in the Ramona series. I remember loving these books as a child and I could not wait to share them with my daughter.

Not surprisingly my daughter loves Ramona. She thinks she's hilarious and laughs at Ramona's antics. However, she is very appreciative that her 3.5 year old sister is way As a Mom, I like the books less as an adult compared to as a child. Yes, Ramona is still hilarious. But as a Mom, I can't help but think that Ramona could use more discipline and better supervision. Mrs. Quimby relies too much on 9 year old Beezus. And under Beezus' not so watchful eye, Ramona manages to get into loads of trouble.

Of course the book is somewhat dated, with 50s language, but to me that is part of the charm. My daughter had no trouble following the storyline even with some dated words. I think Beezus and Ramona withstands the test of time. The only reasons for my 4 star rating are (1) the fact that Ramona is simply TOO impossible to be real and (2) Ramona's wininess got in my nerves. She is like several naughty pre-schoolers all packed into one!
]]> <![CDATA[Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1)]]> 8337
Little House in the Big Woods takes place in 1871 and introduces us to four-year-old Laura, who lives in a log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. She shares the cabin with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their lovable dog, Jack.

Pioneer life isn’t easy for the Ingalls family, since they must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But they make the best of every tough situation. They celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do their spring planting, bring in the harvest in the fall, and make their first trip into town. And every night, safe and warm in their little house, the sound of Pa’s fiddle lulls Laura and her sisters into sleep.

The nine books in the timeless Little House series tell the story of Laura’s real childhood as an American pioneer, and are cherished by readers of all generations. They offer a unique glimpse into life on the American frontier, and tell the heartwarming, unforgettable story of a loving family.]]> 224 Laura Ingalls Wilder 0060885378 Lauren 0 4.21 1932 Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1)
author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1932
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/02/09
shelves: currently-reading, maybe-later
review:

]]> Charlotte’s Web 24178 Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, is a classic of children's literature that is "just about perfect." This high-quality paperback features vibrant illustrations colorized by Rosemary Wells!

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. This edition contains newly color illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.]]> 184 E.B. White 0064410935 Lauren 5
As I'm sure everyone knows, Charlotte's web tells the story of Wilbur, the runt of the litter. Fern Arable rescues Wilbur from death at the hands of her father. Wilbur is then sold to Fern's uncle Homer Zuckerman, where he meets an interesting array of barnyard characters. Wilbur is very naive and is shocked to find out that Zuckerman plans to turn him into hams and bacom. At this point, Wilbur meets Charlotte A. Cavatica, a clever spider who "weaves" a plan to save Wilbur's life by proving that Wilbur is no ordinary pig.

My daughter enjoyed the story a lot, chuckling at many of the same places I remember laughing at when I was 5. She especially liked the way the gees talked - certainly ertainly ertanly! The language is sophisticated, as Charlotte has an extensive vocabulary. However, Wilbur's inquisitiveness keeps the definitions clear. The novel made my five year old more aware of mortality - and where meat comes from. She also has a new appreciation for spiders!

Charlotte's Web is a 5 star children's novel and great for reading aloud.]]> 4.20 1952 Charlotte’s Web
author: E.B. White
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1952
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2010/02/09
shelves:
review:
Charlotte's Web is the first chapter book I read, way back in 1983. I just read this one again with my 5 year old daughter. The story is still clever and witty, just as I remember it.

As I'm sure everyone knows, Charlotte's web tells the story of Wilbur, the runt of the litter. Fern Arable rescues Wilbur from death at the hands of her father. Wilbur is then sold to Fern's uncle Homer Zuckerman, where he meets an interesting array of barnyard characters. Wilbur is very naive and is shocked to find out that Zuckerman plans to turn him into hams and bacom. At this point, Wilbur meets Charlotte A. Cavatica, a clever spider who "weaves" a plan to save Wilbur's life by proving that Wilbur is no ordinary pig.

My daughter enjoyed the story a lot, chuckling at many of the same places I remember laughing at when I was 5. She especially liked the way the gees talked - certainly ertainly ertanly! The language is sophisticated, as Charlotte has an extensive vocabulary. However, Wilbur's inquisitiveness keeps the definitions clear. The novel made my five year old more aware of mortality - and where meat comes from. She also has a new appreciation for spiders!

Charlotte's Web is a 5 star children's novel and great for reading aloud.
]]> Pope Joan 27252 A world-wide bestseller, major motion picture and upcoming "Director's Cut" TV mini-series exclusively for the U.S!

For a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die�Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Donna Woolfolk Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.

Brilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn. When her brother is brutally killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak–and his identity–and enters the monastery of Fulda. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest office in Christendom–wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But such power always comes at a price . . .

In this international bestseller, Cross brings the Dark Ages to life in all their brutal splendor and shares the dramatic story of a woman whose strength of vision led her to defy the social restrictions of her day.]]> 422 Donna Woolfolk Cross 0345416260 Lauren 4
As you can see, the back story is very interesting. The execution was quite entertaining but it could have been better in my opinion. On the positive side, I thought Pope Joan was a page turner. I also thought that she got the basic premise of who Joan must have been right. She must have been the child of a learned family, perhaps a Priest, as she would not have had any exposure to literacy at all. Nearly everyone was illiterate in those days. She also must have had brothers and must have listened in on their lessons. Joan must have come from an isolated background and must have been an outsider, as it would have been difficult for a woman from a well known family to rise in the Church disguised as a man. Similarly, as Cross surmises, she likely came from a home where the father was abusive (common in those days), as she would have had significant motivation not to marry and have children of her own. Further, a real Pope Joan must have believed that women were equal to men in all but body, as a woman who believed the contemporary wisdom that women were less capable and less intelligent would have been content with marriage and childbirth.

Unfortunately, however, Cross made the mistake of including too much action, too many near death situations, too many close calls. The story became difficult to believe and detracted from the story. SPOLER ALERT...Further I was a bit disappointed that the novel had Joan give birth at the end. While I understand that was part of the legend, I would think that such an ending would have been added later to add credence to the idea that women will sin and will behave improperly when given power - i.e. an attempt to turn Pope Joan into a morality tale that reinforces contemporary views about female inferiority. Perhaps, if Joan existed, she would have died of natural causes (completely plausible for a woman in her 40s) and would have been discovered upon medical examination after death. Or Joan would have been ill and her doctors would have discovered that she was a female during medical treatment. Unfortunately, I think the giving birth to a premature baby while on the streets of Rome just when her lover dies was both far-fetched and incorporated an unnecessary misogynistic undertone.

Overall, Pope Joan was an enjoyable novel. It definitely left me thinking and for that I rate it four stars. ]]> 4.08 1996 Pope Joan
author: Donna Woolfolk Cross
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2010/02/05
date added: 2010/02/05
shelves:
review:
Pope Joan tells the story of a young girl who rose to become Pope. The story is based on a forgotten medieval legend. It is uncertain whether or not Pope Joan actually existed, with the main argument against her existence being that the contemporary church did not acknowledge her as a Pope. Of course, history depends on who tells the story and if the Catholic Church - the institution with the motive to obliterate a female pope from histoty - tells the story (which it would, in this instance, as there is little surviving contemporary documentation from the Dark Ages), it is possible that she did in fact exist and after it was discovered that she was a woman, she was simply erased from memory. From the Church's perspective, the election of a female pope would be invalid ab initio, as a woman could not rise to such an office. Thus, it would make sense to simply not record her in the catalog of Popes since, in God's eyes (and the Church's eyes) she could never have been Pope, even if she acted in that capacity for a period of time. Compound that with the fact that a female Pope would fly in the face of the "common knowledge" of female inferiority and would also present difficult questions about the validity of important religious services that she would have performed both as Monk, Priest and Pope, the Catholic Church would have many incentives to engage in a cover up. Indeed, Cross points out in her author's notes presents circumstancial evidence of Joan's existence, the most powerful being a chair with a hole in the bottom (kind of like a birthing chair) used for approximately 600 years to confirm that the Pope was in fact male. Why do this if there was no female Pope?

As you can see, the back story is very interesting. The execution was quite entertaining but it could have been better in my opinion. On the positive side, I thought Pope Joan was a page turner. I also thought that she got the basic premise of who Joan must have been right. She must have been the child of a learned family, perhaps a Priest, as she would not have had any exposure to literacy at all. Nearly everyone was illiterate in those days. She also must have had brothers and must have listened in on their lessons. Joan must have come from an isolated background and must have been an outsider, as it would have been difficult for a woman from a well known family to rise in the Church disguised as a man. Similarly, as Cross surmises, she likely came from a home where the father was abusive (common in those days), as she would have had significant motivation not to marry and have children of her own. Further, a real Pope Joan must have believed that women were equal to men in all but body, as a woman who believed the contemporary wisdom that women were less capable and less intelligent would have been content with marriage and childbirth.

Unfortunately, however, Cross made the mistake of including too much action, too many near death situations, too many close calls. The story became difficult to believe and detracted from the story. SPOLER ALERT...Further I was a bit disappointed that the novel had Joan give birth at the end. While I understand that was part of the legend, I would think that such an ending would have been added later to add credence to the idea that women will sin and will behave improperly when given power - i.e. an attempt to turn Pope Joan into a morality tale that reinforces contemporary views about female inferiority. Perhaps, if Joan existed, she would have died of natural causes (completely plausible for a woman in her 40s) and would have been discovered upon medical examination after death. Or Joan would have been ill and her doctors would have discovered that she was a female during medical treatment. Unfortunately, I think the giving birth to a premature baby while on the streets of Rome just when her lover dies was both far-fetched and incorporated an unnecessary misogynistic undertone.

Overall, Pope Joan was an enjoyable novel. It definitely left me thinking and for that I rate it four stars.
]]> <![CDATA[The Rose of York: Love & War (The Rose of York Trilogy, #1)]]> 829962 340 Sandra Worth 0975126407 Lauren 0 to-read 3.73 2003 The Rose of York: Love & War (The Rose of York Trilogy, #1)
author: Sandra Worth
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lady of the Roses: A Novel of the Wars of the Roses]]> 1307013 During her short time as a ward in Queen Marguerite's Lancastrian court, fifteen-year-old Isobel has had many suitors ask for her hand, but the spirited beauty is blind to all but Yorkist Sir John Neville. It is nothing short of a miracle when the Queen allows Isobel's marriage to the enemy, albeit at a hefty price.

All around Isobel and John rages a lawless war. It is only their passion that can see them through theĚýviolent madness of Queen Marguerite and the devolution of Isobel's meek uncle into the Butcher of England. For theirs is an everlasting love that fears not the scratch of thorns, from either the Red Rose or the White.]]> 404 Sandra Worth 0425219143 Lauren 3
Anyhow, Lady of the Roses was an interesting read for two reasons. First, it is from a different perspective from most other novels in this period than I have encountered. The main character is the the little known Isobel, wife of John Neville, brother of Warwich the Kingmaker. Isobel is a real historical figure, but given histories tendency to not record the stories of women, except as they are linked to men, much of the character development is fiction, as there is little to go on, except for references in the historical record that specifically relate to John Neville.

Second, this novel presents a somewhat different view of Edward IV than many other novels I have read. I have seen Edward idolized. I have also seen him presented as a generally good king who made some errors, but laying the blame largely on Warwick for the brief restoration of Henry and the bloodshed that follows. Worth is critical of Edward and his reign in this novel, moreso than other "Yorkist" pieces. This is not to say that Warwick is sympathetically portrayed. However, his "betrayal" of Edward is more understandable in this novel, compared to other renditions. Warwick did not come across largely as a power hungry control freak. He came across as power hungry, to be sure, but to have had some legitimate grievances against Edward, even though his solution (i.e. rebellion) may have been drastic.

This novel, unfortunately, never rose to the level of a great novel for me. Despite the interesting premise of telling the story of the Yorks and Lancasters from the Neville perspective, the novel was too sappy for my tastes. The romance between John and Isobel was too heavy handed, which hampered the plot development. Additionally, given the perspective of a wife, much of the politics was told in a second hand manner, which detracts from the flow of the story. Aside from romance and periodic references to pregnancy, there simply wasn't much depth to Isobel's story.

I think Sharon Kay Penman's Sunne in Splendour is the best of the Wars of the Roses novels. To be honest, I have found no other novels set in this period to be as complete, complex, and interesting. ]]> 3.82 2008 Lady of the Roses: A Novel of the Wars of the Roses
author: Sandra Worth
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2010/02/04
shelves:
review:
Lady of the Roses is yet another novel set during the Wars of the Roses and the tumultuous reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV. I had previously read Sandra Worth's Richard III trilogy. It wasn't amazing, but was readable enough and decided to follow up with Rose of York.

Anyhow, Lady of the Roses was an interesting read for two reasons. First, it is from a different perspective from most other novels in this period than I have encountered. The main character is the the little known Isobel, wife of John Neville, brother of Warwich the Kingmaker. Isobel is a real historical figure, but given histories tendency to not record the stories of women, except as they are linked to men, much of the character development is fiction, as there is little to go on, except for references in the historical record that specifically relate to John Neville.

Second, this novel presents a somewhat different view of Edward IV than many other novels I have read. I have seen Edward idolized. I have also seen him presented as a generally good king who made some errors, but laying the blame largely on Warwick for the brief restoration of Henry and the bloodshed that follows. Worth is critical of Edward and his reign in this novel, moreso than other "Yorkist" pieces. This is not to say that Warwick is sympathetically portrayed. However, his "betrayal" of Edward is more understandable in this novel, compared to other renditions. Warwick did not come across largely as a power hungry control freak. He came across as power hungry, to be sure, but to have had some legitimate grievances against Edward, even though his solution (i.e. rebellion) may have been drastic.

This novel, unfortunately, never rose to the level of a great novel for me. Despite the interesting premise of telling the story of the Yorks and Lancasters from the Neville perspective, the novel was too sappy for my tastes. The romance between John and Isobel was too heavy handed, which hampered the plot development. Additionally, given the perspective of a wife, much of the politics was told in a second hand manner, which detracts from the flow of the story. Aside from romance and periodic references to pregnancy, there simply wasn't much depth to Isobel's story.

I think Sharon Kay Penman's Sunne in Splendour is the best of the Wars of the Roses novels. To be honest, I have found no other novels set in this period to be as complete, complex, and interesting.
]]> Cleopatra's Daughter 6340471
Selene's legendary parents are gone. Her country taken, she has been brought to the city of Rome in chains, with only her twin brother, Alexander, to remind her of home and all she once had.

Living under the watchful eyes of the ruling family, Selene and her brother must quickly learn how to be Roman � and how to be useful to Caesar. She puts her artistry to work, in the hope of staying alive and being allowed to return to Egypt. Before long, however, she is distracted by the young and handsome heir to the empire...

When the elusive â€Red Eagle' starts calling for the end of slavery, Selene and Alexander are in grave danger. Will this mysterious figure bring their liberation, or their demise?]]> 429 Michelle Moran Lauren 3
The novel begins in Alexandria with the famous Queen Cleopatra and her children � Kleopatra Selene (“Selene�), Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy � awaiting word of the outcome of Marc Antony’s battle with the Roman leader Octavian (I’m not sure what his title was before he became the Emperor Augustus). The battle goes badly and Egypt becomes subjugated by the Romans. Marc Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide. Octavian remains in Egypt for several months and then takes the three children to Rome to parade in chains during his victory celebration.

Life in Rome as captives is not too bad. Selene and Alexander are not enslaved � the novel makes clear how lucky they are by providing the contrasting character of Gallia, a Princess from Gaul who becomes the slave of the Octavian’s sister Octavia, notwithstanding her royal blood. Instead, Selene and Alexander are embraced by Octavia and her family � even though Marc Antony and Octavia were married and had children together, at least before Marc Antony left Octavia for Cleopatra. Selene and Alexander become friendly with Octavia’s son Marcellus and Octavian’s daughter Julia, attend school and become wrapped up in Roman life. Selene wishes to go back to Egypt and also becomes sympathetic to the plight of slaves. The novel includes a side plot about a fictional hero “The Red Eagle� who champions the cause of the slaves and takes on Octavian, nearly losing his life in the process. Towards the end of the novel, it turns out that the children’s transition to Roman life becomes a bit shaky as they enter adulthood. Yet, Selene ends up marrying and becomes a Queen � albeit of a different kingdom.

Overall, the novel was not “great.� At the end, the author includes tidbits about what happens to each of the characters. The main characters actually had fascinating adult lives. Unfortunately, the novel read like a “Young Adult� novel. I would have liked it better as a teenager. Cleopatra’s Daughter would have been so much more exciting without having to read lengthy passages about 13 year old girls pining for Marcellus or plotting to wear makeup! Further, I felt that the novel tried too hard to educate the reader about ancient Rome. The novel would include details about the barbaric games and gladiators, chariot races, about slave trials and rebellions, and the like in a way that distracted from the story of Cleopatra’s children. I would have preferred the novel to cover a longer span of time, but with less cramming of needless information. I didn’t care for the Red Eagle side plot � I would have preferred the novel to have taken the children further into adulthood.

3.5 stars

* Reviewed for Amazon VINE]]> 4.13 2009 Cleopatra's Daughter
author: Michelle Moran
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/01/21
date added: 2010/01/21
shelves:
review:
Cleopatra’s Daughter is a first for me � I haven’t ever read a novel set in Ancient Rome. My knowledge of Ancient Rome is limited to high school history class, so I cannot review historical accuracy.

The novel begins in Alexandria with the famous Queen Cleopatra and her children � Kleopatra Selene (“Selene�), Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy � awaiting word of the outcome of Marc Antony’s battle with the Roman leader Octavian (I’m not sure what his title was before he became the Emperor Augustus). The battle goes badly and Egypt becomes subjugated by the Romans. Marc Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide. Octavian remains in Egypt for several months and then takes the three children to Rome to parade in chains during his victory celebration.

Life in Rome as captives is not too bad. Selene and Alexander are not enslaved � the novel makes clear how lucky they are by providing the contrasting character of Gallia, a Princess from Gaul who becomes the slave of the Octavian’s sister Octavia, notwithstanding her royal blood. Instead, Selene and Alexander are embraced by Octavia and her family � even though Marc Antony and Octavia were married and had children together, at least before Marc Antony left Octavia for Cleopatra. Selene and Alexander become friendly with Octavia’s son Marcellus and Octavian’s daughter Julia, attend school and become wrapped up in Roman life. Selene wishes to go back to Egypt and also becomes sympathetic to the plight of slaves. The novel includes a side plot about a fictional hero “The Red Eagle� who champions the cause of the slaves and takes on Octavian, nearly losing his life in the process. Towards the end of the novel, it turns out that the children’s transition to Roman life becomes a bit shaky as they enter adulthood. Yet, Selene ends up marrying and becomes a Queen � albeit of a different kingdom.

Overall, the novel was not “great.� At the end, the author includes tidbits about what happens to each of the characters. The main characters actually had fascinating adult lives. Unfortunately, the novel read like a “Young Adult� novel. I would have liked it better as a teenager. Cleopatra’s Daughter would have been so much more exciting without having to read lengthy passages about 13 year old girls pining for Marcellus or plotting to wear makeup! Further, I felt that the novel tried too hard to educate the reader about ancient Rome. The novel would include details about the barbaric games and gladiators, chariot races, about slave trials and rebellions, and the like in a way that distracted from the story of Cleopatra’s children. I would have preferred the novel to cover a longer span of time, but with less cramming of needless information. I didn’t care for the Red Eagle side plot � I would have preferred the novel to have taken the children further into adulthood.

3.5 stars

* Reviewed for Amazon VINE
]]> <![CDATA[The Greatest Knight (William Marshal, #2)]]> 414641 552 Elizabeth Chadwick 0751536601 Lauren 5
William proves to rise high, notwithstanding his relatively humble family position as a younger son with few prospects. William is a star on the tourney circuit and his feirce loyalty and military prowess attracts the attention of the middle aged Eleanor of Aquitaine. William becomes Eleanor's household knight and plays a role in the military education of her sons. Eventually William is promoted to become a household knight of the "young King," Henry and Eleanour's eldest son, who is crowned king during Henry II's life, in the French fashion.

The novel tells the familiar story of the warring Plantagenet sons, Henry, Geoffrey, Richard, and John and their feuding with King Henry II. Despite the familiar ground, this novel was very interesting. It followed most closely the Young King's story, as William resided with the Young King. It also is rather thought-provoking. William is seen as steadfastly loyal and rewarded for that loyalty, which is of paramount importance in feudal society. Yet, it is pretty clear to the modern reader that the Young King was not worthy of loyalty. As a 21st century reader, it is hard to imagine giving such loyalty to a man who is so impetuous, self-centered, bitter, narcissistic, and unstable.

The Greatest Knight is well-written. Unlike many novels centered on royals, this is the novel of a noble who has to work hard to secure his prosperity and independence. The "second son" is not often a central character. I enjoyed the Greatest Knight a lot and I look forward to reading the sequel.

]]> 4.12 2005 The Greatest Knight (William Marshal, #2)
author: Elizabeth Chadwick
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2010/12/24
date added: 2010/01/10
shelves:
review:
This novel tells the story of William Marshall. Not surprisingly (for those familiar with Marshall's story), it begins with a flashback of 5 year old William as a hostage of King Stephen during the war between Steven and the Empress Matilda. Stephen magnanimously (or foolishly?) decides to spare William's life, despite telling his father that William would be executed for failure to keep faith. William's father notoriously replies that he has the hammer and anvils to fashion more sons. Under that backdrop, we are introduced to William, the penniless younger son and hearth knight.

William proves to rise high, notwithstanding his relatively humble family position as a younger son with few prospects. William is a star on the tourney circuit and his feirce loyalty and military prowess attracts the attention of the middle aged Eleanor of Aquitaine. William becomes Eleanor's household knight and plays a role in the military education of her sons. Eventually William is promoted to become a household knight of the "young King," Henry and Eleanour's eldest son, who is crowned king during Henry II's life, in the French fashion.

The novel tells the familiar story of the warring Plantagenet sons, Henry, Geoffrey, Richard, and John and their feuding with King Henry II. Despite the familiar ground, this novel was very interesting. It followed most closely the Young King's story, as William resided with the Young King. It also is rather thought-provoking. William is seen as steadfastly loyal and rewarded for that loyalty, which is of paramount importance in feudal society. Yet, it is pretty clear to the modern reader that the Young King was not worthy of loyalty. As a 21st century reader, it is hard to imagine giving such loyalty to a man who is so impetuous, self-centered, bitter, narcissistic, and unstable.

The Greatest Knight is well-written. Unlike many novels centered on royals, this is the novel of a noble who has to work hard to secure his prosperity and independence. The "second son" is not often a central character. I enjoyed the Greatest Knight a lot and I look forward to reading the sequel.


]]> <![CDATA[1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezon of Castile (Jewish Latin America Series)]]> 72051
"In 1492, the Catholic rulers, Ferdinand and Isabella, expelled the Jews from Spain. In Homero Aridjis' novel, the great saga of the expulsion comes to life with both historical and poetic resonance. A great Mexican poet, Aridjis embraces history and fiction with the warmth and insight of the lyrical vision."--Carlos Fuentes

"In this highly readable novel which deals with a special and painful chapter in history, Homero Aridjis combines erudition, sensitivity and poetic imagination. I recommend it warmly."--Elie Wiesel

"A novel of literary subtlety and sensibility. Few contemporary writers have captured so profoundly and with such style this era marked by three essential events: the establishment of the Catholic sovereigns, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and the discovery of America."--"El Pais" (Madrid)

"Among worldwide bestsellers, 1492 is the most similar to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose; both are concerned with the trials of heretics and the violence employed against the dissident. Aridjis gives an encyclopedic vision of catastrophic times."--"La Jornada" (Mexico City) "]]> 294 Homero Aridjis 0826330967 Lauren 0 to-read 3.41 1985 1492: The Life and Times of Juan Cabezon of Castile (Jewish Latin America Series)
author: Homero Aridjis
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The French Blue 6903031 584 Richard W. Wise 0972822364 Lauren 5
The novel begins with Jean Baptiste Tavernier as a little boy. He meets a Portuguese sailor who tells him a fantastic story about a sea voyage to Australia and a horrific counter with the aborigines. Jean Baptiste develops the ambition to see the world. Jean Baptiste becomes a gem trader, traveling to Persia, India, Burma, and other exotic locales. He meets fantastic historical figures, from the cardinal Mazarin to Louis XIV as a young boy/man to Shah Jehan of the Mogul Empire to the Shah of Persia. The novel includes plenty of intrigue, with Jean Baptiste going to great lengths to find the sources of pearls, rubies, and diamonds, facing danger along the way from pirates, religious fanatics, authoritarian monarchs, and other fascinating characters. The novel also features romance in the form of the daughter of the Shah of Persia and a French courtesan, who becomes Jean Baptiste's lifelong love interest as well as Jean Baptiste's liaisons with a married Countess as well as Shah Jehan's daughter. Ultimately, the novel is the "back story" of the stone that eventually was cut into the Hope Diamond.

Wise is a great writer. He has a gift for transporting his readers to both faraway places and faraway times. Sometimes, historical novels are not fully divorced from modernity, with excessively modern protagonists with modern ideas. Wise's Jean Baptiste Tavernier is decidedly not modern. Jean Baptiste's accounts of his encounters with the natives often smack of ethnocentrism. However, this is a great strength, as a seventeenth century man - even one as worldly as Tavernier - would have viewed the world through a mindset of European superiority.

In short, this novel is so much more than a novel about the gem trade. It is a novel about the growth of colonialism, about empires that no longer exist, about travel and ambition and fearlessness. Jean Baptiste Tavernier was an amazing man - each of his six voyages to the east took several years, requiring arduous treks through mountains, across the dessert, across the sea and through jungles. As is clear from the novel, Europeans often did not survive in the tropical climates of India and Indonesia, yet Jean Baptiste pressed on, filled with ambition to find the most valuable stone known to Europe. While gemology is clearly Wise's passion, gemology itself is secondary to the story of Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the adventurer

* The author sent me a review copy of this novel.]]> 3.77 2009 The French Blue
author: Richard W. Wise
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2009/12/04
date added: 2009/12/04
shelves:
review:
The French Blue is a fascinating debut historical fiction novel. It is about Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the son of a cartographer, who finds his fortune as a gem trader. The novel is drawn from Tavernier's own memoirs of his travels, mixed with knowledge of gemstones, genuine historical research, and some imaginative storytelling to tie together Tavernier's life and fill in gaps in the historical record. It is quite lengthy, but grabbed me in instantaneously, thanks to marvelous prose and electrifying storytelling.

The novel begins with Jean Baptiste Tavernier as a little boy. He meets a Portuguese sailor who tells him a fantastic story about a sea voyage to Australia and a horrific counter with the aborigines. Jean Baptiste develops the ambition to see the world. Jean Baptiste becomes a gem trader, traveling to Persia, India, Burma, and other exotic locales. He meets fantastic historical figures, from the cardinal Mazarin to Louis XIV as a young boy/man to Shah Jehan of the Mogul Empire to the Shah of Persia. The novel includes plenty of intrigue, with Jean Baptiste going to great lengths to find the sources of pearls, rubies, and diamonds, facing danger along the way from pirates, religious fanatics, authoritarian monarchs, and other fascinating characters. The novel also features romance in the form of the daughter of the Shah of Persia and a French courtesan, who becomes Jean Baptiste's lifelong love interest as well as Jean Baptiste's liaisons with a married Countess as well as Shah Jehan's daughter. Ultimately, the novel is the "back story" of the stone that eventually was cut into the Hope Diamond.

Wise is a great writer. He has a gift for transporting his readers to both faraway places and faraway times. Sometimes, historical novels are not fully divorced from modernity, with excessively modern protagonists with modern ideas. Wise's Jean Baptiste Tavernier is decidedly not modern. Jean Baptiste's accounts of his encounters with the natives often smack of ethnocentrism. However, this is a great strength, as a seventeenth century man - even one as worldly as Tavernier - would have viewed the world through a mindset of European superiority.

In short, this novel is so much more than a novel about the gem trade. It is a novel about the growth of colonialism, about empires that no longer exist, about travel and ambition and fearlessness. Jean Baptiste Tavernier was an amazing man - each of his six voyages to the east took several years, requiring arduous treks through mountains, across the dessert, across the sea and through jungles. As is clear from the novel, Europeans often did not survive in the tropical climates of India and Indonesia, yet Jean Baptiste pressed on, filled with ambition to find the most valuable stone known to Europe. While gemology is clearly Wise's passion, gemology itself is secondary to the story of Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the adventurer

* The author sent me a review copy of this novel.
]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Alianore Audley]]> 729601 206 Brian Wainwright Lauren 0 to-read 4.10 2005 The Adventures of Alianore Audley
author: Brian Wainwright
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Seamstress 6622878

Winner of the Friends of American Writers Award for Fiction

As seamstresses, the young sisters Emìlia and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, mend, and conceal. These useful skills in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros, trapping innocent residents in the crossfire. Emìlia, a naive romantic, dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to a big city. Quick-tempered Luzia also longs for escape, finding it in her craft and secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life. But when Luzia is abducted by cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk and Emìlia stumbles into a marriage with the son of a wealthy and politically powerful doctor, the sisters' quiet lives diverge in ways they never would have imagined.

]]> 646 Frances de Pontes Peebles 006073888X Lauren 0 to-read 3.92 2008 The Seamstress
author: Frances de Pontes Peebles
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Panama 6266984
Shelby Hiatt got the idea to write about the Panama Canal after visiting it and getting to know many Zoners, descendants of the people who lived and worked on the canal.

]]> 256 Shelby Hiatt 0547196008 Lauren 3
Aside from the moral issues, the novel is just ok. The main character is a teenager from Dayton, Ohio who is transplanted by her parents to the Panama Canal Zone after her father accepts a position with the Panama Canal Commission to build the canal. While in Panama the narrator enters into an illicit, passionate affair with a Spanish exile working as a laborer. The narrator is completely selfish, scheming and spoiled. She is very unlikeable, reminding me of Amber St. Clair in Forever Amber.

However, unlike Forever Amber, Hiatt does not create a realistic sense of place, using anachronistic phrases like "Main Street U.S.A.," "breaking out," teenage angst, among others. Her Spanish is also awful - I hope some of the errors have been corrected in the final version of this book.

On the positive side, the story of the construction of the Canal was very interesting. However, I had a hard time getting past the anachronisms and the fact that this bodice-ripper was intended for young girls. ]]> 2.76 2009 Panama
author: Shelby Hiatt
name: Lauren
average rating: 2.76
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2009/11/09
date added: 2009/11/10
shelves:
review:
I received a review copy of this book from Amazon Vine. It is labeled as young adult. Essentially, this novel is a bodice ripper aimed at pre-teens and teens. It is highly inappropriate for the young adult, audience in my opinion. While the novel is not graphic, it is far too sensual for young girls.

Aside from the moral issues, the novel is just ok. The main character is a teenager from Dayton, Ohio who is transplanted by her parents to the Panama Canal Zone after her father accepts a position with the Panama Canal Commission to build the canal. While in Panama the narrator enters into an illicit, passionate affair with a Spanish exile working as a laborer. The narrator is completely selfish, scheming and spoiled. She is very unlikeable, reminding me of Amber St. Clair in Forever Amber.

However, unlike Forever Amber, Hiatt does not create a realistic sense of place, using anachronistic phrases like "Main Street U.S.A.," "breaking out," teenage angst, among others. Her Spanish is also awful - I hope some of the errors have been corrected in the final version of this book.

On the positive side, the story of the construction of the Canal was very interesting. However, I had a hard time getting past the anachronisms and the fact that this bodice-ripper was intended for young girls.
]]> The Conqueror 311227
The stirring history of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who invaded England and became the King. His victory, concluded at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is known as the Norman Conquest.

Known for her exhaustive research and ability to bring past eras to life, bestselling author Georgette Heyer tells the story of William the Conqueror, who became King of England in 1066, and his queen Matilda, the high-born noblewoman who at first scornfully spurned him. William was an illegitimate child of a nobleman, who won his dukedom through force of will, and went on to bring European feudalism to England, along with a program of building and fortification that included the building of the Tower of London.

The historical novel includes Heyer's brilliant period language and her perfect grasp of the details of the day - clothing, armor, weapons, and food - making for a fascinating and blood-stirring read.]]> 0 Georgette Heyer 0553084739 Lauren 3
The novel is told through the eyes of the fictional Raoul de Harcourt, a noble son from Normandy who becomes a loyal and intimate friend and supporter of William from the early days of his Dukedom. Throughout the novel, William never ceases to be an enigma. The only character that seems real to me is the fictional Raoul. I don't think Heyer fully conveys Williams motivation to establish himself as King of England. While she does a great job of showing how Williams illegitimacy likely motivated him throughout his life, it is unclear why William would undertake his seemingly foolhardy conquest to take the throne from the beloved Saxon Harold Godwineson.

Heyer's approach to this novel reminded me of Sharon Kay Penman's approach in When Christ and His Saints Slept (I would say the reverse because Heyer's novel was written earlier, but I read SKP's novel before I read Heyer's novel). Raoul reminded me of SKP's Ranulf both in his role as a storytelling device and in personality. Like Ranulf, Raoul is fiercly loyal but not blind to the faults of the person to whom he binds his loyalty. Raoul also is capable of seeing "both sides" of an issue, like Ranulf. Like Ranulf, he turns down earldoms and gifts, offering his loyalty for the sake of loyalty itself and not for material gain. Finally, both Raoul and Ranulf are separated from their loves due to political divisions. Both SKP and Heyer probably created Raoul/Ranulf because of the gap-filled, spotty history surrounding the main historical figures of the time and the desire to stick with known history while avoiding a history book feel - in this case, William the Conqueror and in SKP's case Empress Matilda and King Stephen.

I felt that Heyer was less successful than SKP in bringing the main historical characters to life. As noted above William remained wooden, as did Harold Godwineson, the Duchess (later Queen) Matilda, and other figures. Also, surprisingly for a romance novelist, Heyer does not create a compelling romance in this novel. The romance between Matilda and William is virtually lifeless (except for William's initial infatuation and Matilda's rebuff of his proposals). Similarly, the romance between Raoul and Alfrida is dull. It is hard to see what attracts Raoul to Alfrida beyond her beauty and I found the reunion between Raoul and Alfrida in the last chapter to be dull. I wish the novel had ended a bit earlier.

That said, The Conqueror was "pretty good." I would not hesitate to pick up another Georgette Heyer novel. But I'm still on the lookout for an even better take on William the Conqueror. 3.5 stars. ]]> 3.38 1931 The Conqueror
author: Georgette Heyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.38
book published: 1931
rating: 3
read at: 2009/11/05
date added: 2009/11/10
shelves:
review:
Georgette Heyer's The Conqueror tells the story of the enigmatic William the Conqueror. Written in the mid-1930s, the Conqueror's language is a bit heavy handed at times. But it is clear that Heyer did a lot of research before writing the novel. A prolific romance novelist, the story was light on romance but heavy on the story of how the conquest of England came to be. Heyer's battle scenes are as well done as Sharon Kay Penman's - culminating in an intensely moving and passionately written account of the Battle of Hastings at the end of the novel.

The novel is told through the eyes of the fictional Raoul de Harcourt, a noble son from Normandy who becomes a loyal and intimate friend and supporter of William from the early days of his Dukedom. Throughout the novel, William never ceases to be an enigma. The only character that seems real to me is the fictional Raoul. I don't think Heyer fully conveys Williams motivation to establish himself as King of England. While she does a great job of showing how Williams illegitimacy likely motivated him throughout his life, it is unclear why William would undertake his seemingly foolhardy conquest to take the throne from the beloved Saxon Harold Godwineson.

Heyer's approach to this novel reminded me of Sharon Kay Penman's approach in When Christ and His Saints Slept (I would say the reverse because Heyer's novel was written earlier, but I read SKP's novel before I read Heyer's novel). Raoul reminded me of SKP's Ranulf both in his role as a storytelling device and in personality. Like Ranulf, Raoul is fiercly loyal but not blind to the faults of the person to whom he binds his loyalty. Raoul also is capable of seeing "both sides" of an issue, like Ranulf. Like Ranulf, he turns down earldoms and gifts, offering his loyalty for the sake of loyalty itself and not for material gain. Finally, both Raoul and Ranulf are separated from their loves due to political divisions. Both SKP and Heyer probably created Raoul/Ranulf because of the gap-filled, spotty history surrounding the main historical figures of the time and the desire to stick with known history while avoiding a history book feel - in this case, William the Conqueror and in SKP's case Empress Matilda and King Stephen.

I felt that Heyer was less successful than SKP in bringing the main historical characters to life. As noted above William remained wooden, as did Harold Godwineson, the Duchess (later Queen) Matilda, and other figures. Also, surprisingly for a romance novelist, Heyer does not create a compelling romance in this novel. The romance between Matilda and William is virtually lifeless (except for William's initial infatuation and Matilda's rebuff of his proposals). Similarly, the romance between Raoul and Alfrida is dull. It is hard to see what attracts Raoul to Alfrida beyond her beauty and I found the reunion between Raoul and Alfrida in the last chapter to be dull. I wish the novel had ended a bit earlier.

That said, The Conqueror was "pretty good." I would not hesitate to pick up another Georgette Heyer novel. But I'm still on the lookout for an even better take on William the Conqueror. 3.5 stars.
]]> <![CDATA[The Heaven Tree Trilogy: The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed]]> 321544 The Heaven Tree, The Green Branch, and The Scarlet Seed--chronicles the adventures of master stone carver Harry Talvace; Ralf Isambard, Lord of Parfois; and their two sons.

Set on the volatile, hotly disputed Welsh border, this full-bodied, swift-moving story of deadly politics, clashing armies, and private passions sweeps the reader into its characters' grand quest for justice and vengeance. The trilogy focuses on Harry Talvace, who bears stamped on his face the lineage of Shrewsbury's Norman conquerors. Born to aristocratic parents and nursed by a stone mason's wife, he grows up fiercely loyal to his breast-brother, the sunny, irresistibly charming Adam. Harry also discovers that he has a gift--the ability to carve stone with the sure hand of genius.

In his fifteenth year, Harry's devotion to Adam and his obsession to sculpt set into motion the thrilling tale of Volume One, The Heaven Tree. Rebelling against his father and fleeing England to save Adam, Harry finds his destiny entangled in the affairs of commoners and kings, divided by two women--the courageous dark-haired Gilleis and the beautiful courtesan Benedetta--and pledged to the brooding, mysterious Lord of Parfois, Ralf Isambard, who sponsors Harry's monumental creation of a cathedral. And while Wales and France challenge England's crown, these men and women follow their desires toward jealousy, pitiless revenge, and passion so madly glorious neither time nor a merciless execution can end it.

In Volume Two, The Green Branch, Harry's son, young Harry Talvace, is drawn into the fabulous intrigues of the court of Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, and bound by a blood oath to find and kill his father's old enemy, Isambard. Yet the threads that bind his life to the ruthless Isambard are not so easily severed, as Harry falls under the spell of the aging warrior lord.

The concluding volume, The Scarlet Seed, brings full circle this tale of implacable enmity and unshakeable loyalty. As a kingdom shudders under the flames of civil war and captor becomes captive, the final siege of Parfois creates a climax to this tale so majestic, noble, and heartbreaking no reader will ever forget it.]]> 899 Edith Pargeter 0446517089 Lauren 0 currently-reading 4.31 1960 The Heaven Tree Trilogy: The Heaven Tree / The Green Branch / The Scarlet Seed
author: Edith Pargeter
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1960
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/10/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:
I read 2 of the three books, but I haven't gotten around to The Scarlet Seed yet. I will...eventually.
]]> <![CDATA[An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)]]> 2832909
Jamie Fraser, erstwhile Jacobite and reluctant rebel, knows three things about the American rebellion: the Americans will win, unlikely as that seems in 1778; being on the winning side is no guarantee of survival; and he’d rather die than face his illegitimate son � a young lieutenant in the British Army � across the barrel of a gun. Fraser’s time-travelling wife, Claire, also knows a couple of things: that the Americans will win, but that the ultimate price of victory is a mystery. What she does believe is that the price won’t include Jamie’s life or happiness � not if she has anything to say.

Claire’s grown daughter Brianna, and her husband, Roger, watch the unfolding of Brianna’s parents� history � a past that may be sneaking up behind their own family.]]> 820 Diana Gabaldon 0752898477 Lauren 4
Echo in the Bone is split between the 20th century and the 18th century, with the bulk of the novel taking place in the 18th century. The American Revolution has arrived and Claire and Jamie find themselves embroiled in the conflict. Jamie tries to avoid the war at all costs, primarily because his son is fighting for the British but adventure and danger find the Frasers and Jamie finds himself facing his son on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Brianna, Roger and their children are safe in the 20th century, settled in Lallybroch and readjusting to modernity. Roger, who had a hard time adjusting to the 18th century finds it tough to re-adjust to the twentieth century, having lost his beautiful singing voice (and his bearings?) after his years in the past. Roger is a bit too wimpy for me. Sigh. Brianna seems to have an easier time of it in the 20th century, but of course Gabaldon can't leave well enough at all, so she throws in yet another kidnapping.

Other reviewers have complained that there wasn't enough Claire and Jamie in the book. I thought there was plenty. In addition to Claire and Jamie, there was more Lord John, William, Brianna and Roger, and Ian. I actually love to learn more about all of the characters and I didn't find Claire and Jamie to get lost at all. The book also switches narrators quite a bit, but this didn't bother me either.

My main complaint about this novel (and the series, really) is Gabaldon's need to place the characters in regular mortal danger. Claire, Jamie and the gang really don't need to be kidnapped, nearly murdered etc. in every installment (multiple times, even!). I get it that the 18th century was dangerous, but I think the amount of danger Gabaldon concots is ridiculous. They also seem to overcome that danger quite handily. I don't believe for a minute that a 60-something year old woman can jump between ships, let alone in 18th century skirts. However, I take those sections with a grain of salt and enjoy the details and descriptions of 18th century life mixed with the fantasy of time travel. What can I say? I'm an Outlander junkie and I love the idea of visiting the past.

The worst part about the novel though is that it ends with cliffhangers, so now I have to wait THREE years to find out what happens next.
]]> 4.42 2009 An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2009/10/23
date added: 2009/10/23
shelves:
review:
I loved the latest installment of the Outlander series, Echo in the Bone. It wasn't as good as Outlander or Dragonfly in Amber - I think it was as good, though, as a Breath of Snow and Ashes and Voyager.

Echo in the Bone is split between the 20th century and the 18th century, with the bulk of the novel taking place in the 18th century. The American Revolution has arrived and Claire and Jamie find themselves embroiled in the conflict. Jamie tries to avoid the war at all costs, primarily because his son is fighting for the British but adventure and danger find the Frasers and Jamie finds himself facing his son on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Brianna, Roger and their children are safe in the 20th century, settled in Lallybroch and readjusting to modernity. Roger, who had a hard time adjusting to the 18th century finds it tough to re-adjust to the twentieth century, having lost his beautiful singing voice (and his bearings?) after his years in the past. Roger is a bit too wimpy for me. Sigh. Brianna seems to have an easier time of it in the 20th century, but of course Gabaldon can't leave well enough at all, so she throws in yet another kidnapping.

Other reviewers have complained that there wasn't enough Claire and Jamie in the book. I thought there was plenty. In addition to Claire and Jamie, there was more Lord John, William, Brianna and Roger, and Ian. I actually love to learn more about all of the characters and I didn't find Claire and Jamie to get lost at all. The book also switches narrators quite a bit, but this didn't bother me either.

My main complaint about this novel (and the series, really) is Gabaldon's need to place the characters in regular mortal danger. Claire, Jamie and the gang really don't need to be kidnapped, nearly murdered etc. in every installment (multiple times, even!). I get it that the 18th century was dangerous, but I think the amount of danger Gabaldon concots is ridiculous. They also seem to overcome that danger quite handily. I don't believe for a minute that a 60-something year old woman can jump between ships, let alone in 18th century skirts. However, I take those sections with a grain of salt and enjoy the details and descriptions of 18th century life mixed with the fantasy of time travel. What can I say? I'm an Outlander junkie and I love the idea of visiting the past.

The worst part about the novel though is that it ends with cliffhangers, so now I have to wait THREE years to find out what happens next.

]]> Rebecca 12873 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

Working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Her future looks bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Max de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding housekeeper, Mrs Danvers...

Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never gone out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young girl consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.]]> 428 Daphne du Maurier 1844080382 Lauren 0 to-read 4.19 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everything in Its Time (Time After Time #1)]]> 853419 An earring, a murder, a legend...

Katherine St. Claire has never forgotten the passionate night she shared with a stranger while staying at a castle hotel called Duncreag. He even haunts her dreams. Tired of loving "Fantasy Man", as her brother Jeff refers to him, she decides to go back to Duncreag in search, literally, of the man of her dreams.

Iain Mackintosh wears the cairngorm earring of the only woman he will ever love. Eight long years ago she came to him in the night like a vision. News of his father's death brings Iain home to Duncreag where he finds himself questioning the circumstances surrounding his father's demise and wishing for the woman his cousin Ranald is convinced is a fairy.

Iain and Katherine arrive at Duncreag each longing to find the other. There is however a seemingly insurmountable problem. A five hundred and thirty-year barrier separates them. What follows is the story of a love so powerful it crosses the boundaries of time. Complicated by murder and abduction in the fifteenth century their love will be tested even after they finally reunite. Only Jeff's twentieth century discovery of events from the past can save them.]]> 359 Dee Davis 0515128740 Lauren 0 to-read 3.83 2000 Everything in Its Time (Time After Time #1)
author: Dee Davis
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Concubine's Daughter 6562339 Memoirs of a Geisha, a riveting saga of early twentieth-century China, where a mother and a daughter fight to realize their destinies in a world where women could still be bought and sold.

Lotus Feet. He would give his daughter the dainty feet of a courtesan. This would enhance her beauty and her price, making her future shine like a new coin. He smiled to himself, pouring fresh tea. And it would stop her from running away�

When the young concubine of an old farmer in rural China gives birth to a daughter called Li-Xia, or “Beautiful One,� the child seems destined to become a concubine herself. Li refuses to submit to her fate, outwitting her father’s orders to bind her feet and escaping the silk farm with an English sea captain. Li takes her first steps toward fulfilling her mother’s dreams of becoming a scholar � but her final triumph must be left to her daughter, Su Sing, “Little Star,� in a journey that will take her from remote mountain refuges to the perils of Hong Kong on the eve of World War II.]]> 471 Pai Kit Fai 0312355211 Lauren 2
The Concubine's Daughter tells a tale of shocking brutality mixed with some sappiness. It begins with a yeoman farmer named Yuk Minn acquiring a 15 year old concubine Pai Ling, who is educated, spirited, and incompatible with life as a man's property. Early in the novel, the concubine commits suicide because she believes that Li Xia, her daughter with the yeoman, was buried alive because she was born a girl. Li Xia was saved by a "fox fairy" and managed to survive childhood (despite her father's second attempt to kill her) until she was sold into slavery on a silk farm. Li Xia was initially happy, but as she reached maturity, she was tortured and left for dead because she refused to conform to the expectations of her patriarchal society. Happily, Li Xia was rescued near-death from the river by a half-European, half-Chinese wealthy businessman. Once rescued by Ben Devereaux, the novel degenerated into a sappy Cinderella story replete with evil, jealous servants. However, once Li Xia seemed destined for happiness as the beloved wife of Ben Devereaux and is about to become a mother, the author pulled the rug out from under Li Xia. At this point the novel shifted to Li Xia and Ben's daughter. But I ran out of patience. I could not tolerate the idea of wading through 200+ more wordy pages to get to the end. I simply could not care about what happened and I gave up. I rated the novel 2 stars. There were some decent portions of the story line and I learned a lot about the silk farms and slave women in China. I'm sure this would be a great novel for some people, but once Li Xia was no longer the center of the novel, I stopped caring. I tried to go on, but I really could not see myself devoting more time to this book. I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but The Concubine's Daughter was missing the poignancy of that novel.

* Reviewed Advanced Readers Edition.]]> 3.87 2009 The Concubine's Daughter
author: Pai Kit Fai
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2009/09/30
date added: 2009/09/30
shelves:
review:
I found this novel difficult to read. In fact after 300+ pages I stopped reading. This is something I NEVER do. I struggled with whether to go on for the sake of completing it, but my desire to read something more pleasurable won out. I simply did not enjoy the novel and after 300 pages I simply was not invested in the story line. It was too wordy - desperately in need of an editor. But the main reason was a plot twist that removed the title character (the concubine's daughter) from the story.

The Concubine's Daughter tells a tale of shocking brutality mixed with some sappiness. It begins with a yeoman farmer named Yuk Minn acquiring a 15 year old concubine Pai Ling, who is educated, spirited, and incompatible with life as a man's property. Early in the novel, the concubine commits suicide because she believes that Li Xia, her daughter with the yeoman, was buried alive because she was born a girl. Li Xia was saved by a "fox fairy" and managed to survive childhood (despite her father's second attempt to kill her) until she was sold into slavery on a silk farm. Li Xia was initially happy, but as she reached maturity, she was tortured and left for dead because she refused to conform to the expectations of her patriarchal society. Happily, Li Xia was rescued near-death from the river by a half-European, half-Chinese wealthy businessman. Once rescued by Ben Devereaux, the novel degenerated into a sappy Cinderella story replete with evil, jealous servants. However, once Li Xia seemed destined for happiness as the beloved wife of Ben Devereaux and is about to become a mother, the author pulled the rug out from under Li Xia. At this point the novel shifted to Li Xia and Ben's daughter. But I ran out of patience. I could not tolerate the idea of wading through 200+ more wordy pages to get to the end. I simply could not care about what happened and I gave up. I rated the novel 2 stars. There were some decent portions of the story line and I learned a lot about the silk farms and slave women in China. I'm sure this would be a great novel for some people, but once Li Xia was no longer the center of the novel, I stopped caring. I tried to go on, but I really could not see myself devoting more time to this book. I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but The Concubine's Daughter was missing the poignancy of that novel.

* Reviewed Advanced Readers Edition.
]]> <![CDATA[A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)]]> 10965 A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence � with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.]]> 1008 Diana Gabaldon 0385340397 Lauren 5
In addition to these interesting questions related to time travel, the novel balances action, romance, history, and details about day-to-day 18th century life. Like Outlander, Dragonfly, and Voyager, the Frasers seem to have used up their 9 lives. They get themselves in harrowing life-death situations with regularity. However, the action is exciting. There are several interesting plot twists as well as resolution of some questions stemming from earlier installments in the series.

Overall, this was a great novel. If you previously read The Fiery Cross and did not enjoy it, Gabaldon is back on track with book #6. I'm looking forward to starting book #7 in the near future.]]> 4.42 2005 A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2009/09/29
date added: 2009/09/30
shelves:
review:
I loved this Outlander book. It is one of my favorites, along with Voyager and Dragonfly in Amber. This book, like the earlier Outlander novels is action packed. Gabaldon regained her momentum after a mediocre fifth installment (The Fiery Cross). This novel picks up with the Fraser clan on the eve of the American Revolution with Jamie torn between his loyalty to the crown and his knowledge that the rebels would prevail in the American Revolution. As an underpinning to this, the Frasers are haunted by their own fate, thanks to the revelation from Drums in Autumn that Jamie and Claire were destined to perish, childless, in a house fire on January 21, 1776. Do Jamie and Claire really die, or can they change history? Or was the newspaper wrong? If they die childless, what happens to Brianna, Roger, and Jem? Do they die earlier? Did they travel to the twentieth century?

In addition to these interesting questions related to time travel, the novel balances action, romance, history, and details about day-to-day 18th century life. Like Outlander, Dragonfly, and Voyager, the Frasers seem to have used up their 9 lives. They get themselves in harrowing life-death situations with regularity. However, the action is exciting. There are several interesting plot twists as well as resolution of some questions stemming from earlier installments in the series.

Overall, this was a great novel. If you previously read The Fiery Cross and did not enjoy it, Gabaldon is back on track with book #6. I'm looking forward to starting book #7 in the near future.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fiery Cross (Outlander, #5)]]> 10967 1443 Diana Gabaldon 0440221668 Lauren 3
The Fiery Cross seemed to drag. It was certainly a bridge between Drums of Autumn and A Breath of Snown and Ashes and plot developments happened, but they took a looooooong time. Twice, in the first 700 pages of the book, Gabaldon spent 100+ pages describing a single afternoon. It was too much detail and caused my mind to wander. The second half of the novel was better than the first. I really enjoyed the lead-up to the American revolution and Jamie's increasing awareness that Brianna, Claire and Roger were right - revolution was coming. As always, I enjoyed the recounting of daily life in the 18th century from a 20th century perspective. Unfortunately, this book probably should never have been. The plot developments matter in A Breath of Snow and Ashes (so you wouldn't want to skip The Fiery Cross altogether) but virtually none of them were essential to move the story along and Gabaldon could have done without them. In my opinion, this is the weakest Outlander book to date (I haven't read Echo in the Bone yet).]]> 4.24 2001 The Fiery Cross (Outlander, #5)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/04
date added: 2009/09/30
shelves:
review:
I struggled with my rating for installment #5 of the Outlander series. While reading The Fiery Cross, I found my mind wander at times. I wondered where Diana Gabaldon's editor was. I wondered why this book was well over one thousand pages. However, I wasn't sure if it was "me" or the book. By the time I got to The Fiery Cross, I had read more than 4000 pages of the story of Jamie and Claire in a relatively short time. Was I bored with Outlander or was it the novel? After reading a Breath of Snow and Ashes, I can definitely say that it was the novel and not me.

The Fiery Cross seemed to drag. It was certainly a bridge between Drums of Autumn and A Breath of Snown and Ashes and plot developments happened, but they took a looooooong time. Twice, in the first 700 pages of the book, Gabaldon spent 100+ pages describing a single afternoon. It was too much detail and caused my mind to wander. The second half of the novel was better than the first. I really enjoyed the lead-up to the American revolution and Jamie's increasing awareness that Brianna, Claire and Roger were right - revolution was coming. As always, I enjoyed the recounting of daily life in the 18th century from a 20th century perspective. Unfortunately, this book probably should never have been. The plot developments matter in A Breath of Snow and Ashes (so you wouldn't want to skip The Fiery Cross altogether) but virtually none of them were essential to move the story along and Gabaldon could have done without them. In my opinion, this is the weakest Outlander book to date (I haven't read Echo in the Bone yet).
]]> The Invisible Mountain 5981625
From Perón's glittering Buenos Aires to the rustic hills of Rio de Janeiro, from the haven of a Montevideo butchershop to U.S. embassy halls, The Invisible Mountain celebrates a nation’s spirit, the will to survive in the most desperate of circumstances, and the fierce and complex connections between mother and daughter.]]> 384 Carolina De Robertis 0307271633 Lauren 5
The novel is split into three sections, named after each of the women: Pajarita, Eva, and Salome. The novel captures the voices of each of the women and each section has a different "feel". Each section describes the women's trajectories from girlhood to young womanhood to motherhood and describes how the women come to terms with the realities of their lives compared to their youthful aspirations. Uruguayan history and their hopes and dreams for their country are mixed in to these personal histories.

The novel begins with Salome writing a letter to an unknown daughter and abruptly shifts to a magical, Isabel Allende/Gabriel Garcia Marquez-style story set in a small gaucho town in turn of the century Uruguay. The star of this section is Pajarita, who begins life as a nameless baby who disappears, then magically reappears several months later perched high in the branches of a tree. Pajarita grows up in a ranch with cow skull stools and never leaves her village until a traveling circus comes to town. She marries an Italian immigrant, Ignazio Firielli and moves to the growing Montevideo. Her section continues until Eva, her youngest child is a young girl.

The second section is about Pajarita's daughter Eva, beginning when Eva is about 5 years old. Eva is literate, unlike her mother, but her fortunes change drastically when she is drawn out of school to work. This section of the novel is beautiful poetry, capturing Eva's romanticism, hopes, and dreams to the cadence of Carlos Gardel's tangos. You can taste the flavors of Uruguay, and feel the lushness, aspirations, sensuality, and romance of 1930s to 1950s Montevideo and Buenos Aires (we even meet Eva Peron and Ernesto "Che" Guevarra!) in these sections. All the same, the section captures the darkness underlying that period of romance and optimism, in that male dominated society where a woman's virtue is of paramount importance and a man's power almost complete.

The third section is about Salome, Eva's daughter. Salome is an idealist - a Tupamara rebel - who is forced to face the harsh realities of authoritarianism in Uruguay. The Salome sections are poetic, but less poetic compared to Eva, less magical compared to Pajarita - there is no Tango here, no Carlos Gardel, no glamourous cafe, no famous poets, no larger than life revolutionaries. This reflects, I think, the different environment in which she comes of age. Pajarita's youth is a period of national ebullience, reflecting the excitement of a rapidly developing Montevideo at the early part of the century. Eva's youth is a period of transition, an Uruguay where girls still may need to work, but one that is flush with pesos and tango and an unshakeable belief in greatness. Salome's time is one of disillusionment with the state, with imperialism, and a desire for change and hope for a better future that is ultimately crushed by the realities of the cold war.

At several times throughout the book, De Robertis begins a chapter with the words Monte vide eu, which in Portuguese means I see a mountain. The name Montevideo is derived from this phrase, which the author comments is ironic because really, there is no mountain near Montevideo, just a hill. This phrase is symbolic of many things in the novel. It is symbolic of the romanticization of Batlle in the early part of the century and in the belief of the strength of democracy in Uruguay. It turned out that the popular wisdom that Uruguay, unlike its neighbors in Latin America, was safe from dictatorship was wrong. Uruguayan democracy and Batllismo was seen as this giant fixture in the background of national development, this fantastic mountain, but really it was a tiny blip, a hill, misdescribed as a mountain. I think the characters hopes and dreams were also similar to the mythical mountain - Monte Vide Eu - their futures seemed so promising and hopeful, but reality was more modest and disappointing.

The novel is multilayered - one to savor and reflect upon. De Robertis covers many difficult topics, from rape to torture, but her story does not linger on this darkness and dispair in a disturbing fashion, telling just enough for the reader to know what happened, but not describing it in horrifying detail as she could have done. De Robertis is a gifted writer. She captures her characters voices and makes them each so real, so different. She also does a fantastic job of capturing the cadence and rhythm of twentieth century Latin America. This novel is phenomenal. Di Robertis has a promising career ahead of her!

*Advanced Readers Edition reviewed.]]> 4.04 2009 The Invisible Mountain
author: Carolina De Robertis
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2009/08/07
shelves:
review:
The Invisible Mountain is an impressive and ambitious debut novel. It tells the story - told in poetic oral history - of three generations of women in a working class family in Uruguay. It is the story of the rise and fall of the fortunes of the three women in conjunction with the rise and fall of Uruguay.

The novel is split into three sections, named after each of the women: Pajarita, Eva, and Salome. The novel captures the voices of each of the women and each section has a different "feel". Each section describes the women's trajectories from girlhood to young womanhood to motherhood and describes how the women come to terms with the realities of their lives compared to their youthful aspirations. Uruguayan history and their hopes and dreams for their country are mixed in to these personal histories.

The novel begins with Salome writing a letter to an unknown daughter and abruptly shifts to a magical, Isabel Allende/Gabriel Garcia Marquez-style story set in a small gaucho town in turn of the century Uruguay. The star of this section is Pajarita, who begins life as a nameless baby who disappears, then magically reappears several months later perched high in the branches of a tree. Pajarita grows up in a ranch with cow skull stools and never leaves her village until a traveling circus comes to town. She marries an Italian immigrant, Ignazio Firielli and moves to the growing Montevideo. Her section continues until Eva, her youngest child is a young girl.

The second section is about Pajarita's daughter Eva, beginning when Eva is about 5 years old. Eva is literate, unlike her mother, but her fortunes change drastically when she is drawn out of school to work. This section of the novel is beautiful poetry, capturing Eva's romanticism, hopes, and dreams to the cadence of Carlos Gardel's tangos. You can taste the flavors of Uruguay, and feel the lushness, aspirations, sensuality, and romance of 1930s to 1950s Montevideo and Buenos Aires (we even meet Eva Peron and Ernesto "Che" Guevarra!) in these sections. All the same, the section captures the darkness underlying that period of romance and optimism, in that male dominated society where a woman's virtue is of paramount importance and a man's power almost complete.

The third section is about Salome, Eva's daughter. Salome is an idealist - a Tupamara rebel - who is forced to face the harsh realities of authoritarianism in Uruguay. The Salome sections are poetic, but less poetic compared to Eva, less magical compared to Pajarita - there is no Tango here, no Carlos Gardel, no glamourous cafe, no famous poets, no larger than life revolutionaries. This reflects, I think, the different environment in which she comes of age. Pajarita's youth is a period of national ebullience, reflecting the excitement of a rapidly developing Montevideo at the early part of the century. Eva's youth is a period of transition, an Uruguay where girls still may need to work, but one that is flush with pesos and tango and an unshakeable belief in greatness. Salome's time is one of disillusionment with the state, with imperialism, and a desire for change and hope for a better future that is ultimately crushed by the realities of the cold war.

At several times throughout the book, De Robertis begins a chapter with the words Monte vide eu, which in Portuguese means I see a mountain. The name Montevideo is derived from this phrase, which the author comments is ironic because really, there is no mountain near Montevideo, just a hill. This phrase is symbolic of many things in the novel. It is symbolic of the romanticization of Batlle in the early part of the century and in the belief of the strength of democracy in Uruguay. It turned out that the popular wisdom that Uruguay, unlike its neighbors in Latin America, was safe from dictatorship was wrong. Uruguayan democracy and Batllismo was seen as this giant fixture in the background of national development, this fantastic mountain, but really it was a tiny blip, a hill, misdescribed as a mountain. I think the characters hopes and dreams were also similar to the mythical mountain - Monte Vide Eu - their futures seemed so promising and hopeful, but reality was more modest and disappointing.

The novel is multilayered - one to savor and reflect upon. De Robertis covers many difficult topics, from rape to torture, but her story does not linger on this darkness and dispair in a disturbing fashion, telling just enough for the reader to know what happened, but not describing it in horrifying detail as she could have done. De Robertis is a gifted writer. She captures her characters voices and makes them each so real, so different. She also does a fantastic job of capturing the cadence and rhythm of twentieth century Latin America. This novel is phenomenal. Di Robertis has a promising career ahead of her!

*Advanced Readers Edition reviewed.
]]> Undiscovered Gyrl 6353471 Beautiful, wild, funny, and lost, Katie Kampenfelt is taking a year off before college to find her passion. Ambitious in her own way, Katie intends to do more than just smoke weed with her boyfriend, Rory, and work at the bookstore. She plans to seduce Dan, a thirty-two-year-old film professor.
Katie chronicles her adventures in an anonymous blog, telling strangers her innermost desires, shames, and thrills. But when Dan stops taking her calls, when her alcoholic father suffers a terrible fall, and when she finds herself drawn into a dangerous new relationship, Katie's fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge.
Sexually frank, often heartbreaking, and bursting with devilish humor, Undiscovered Gyrl is an extraordinarily accomplished novel of identity, voyeurism, and deceit.]]> 293 Allison Burnett 0307473120 Lauren 4
This novel is extremely well written. At times it is crude and vulgar (to be expected, given the topic). The author really captures the flippancy, narcissism, and general sense of indestructibility among teens. However, the ending is a cop-out. It felt like the author became bored with her endeavor and she added a surprise twist. Loose ends were left untied and the novel ended abruptly. Notwithstanding the disappointing end, the novel is a great look at teenage life in the context of the confessional culture of the internet. ]]> 3.69 2009 Undiscovered Gyrl
author: Allison Burnett
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2009/07/01
date added: 2009/07/31
shelves:
review:
This novel is a shocking, provacative first-person look at teenage "Katie Kampenfeldt" - not her real name - as seen through her anonymous blog. Katie dreams of being famous, but in the meantime, she is taking a year off from college (she is only 17 at the start of the novel) and drinking/drugging/and sleeping her way through life. Katie seems to have an anything goes view of the world, particularly with respect to sexual mores. Essentially, the blog reminds me of the infamous Washingtonienne blog, but with a younger and more introspective author (The Washingtonienne was all narcissism without any introspection). Katie has faint twinges of conscience as she throws herself at and accepts the advances of much older men in relationships, all the while cheating on her boyfriend and living under her mother's roof. Katie is manipulative, lies openly to her parents, is self-absorbed, narcissistic, and a self-described beauty. Katie has some insights into her situation - she realizes that she is wasting her life, is drinking irresponsibly, and should probably stop sleeping around. Yet, Katie's budding self-awareness does not stop her from her self-destructive path. I can't say that I expected Katie to turn full circle, but she didn't really grow or change substantially during the novel. She is a train wreck at the beginning and an even bigger one towards the end. Her mother just stands by and lets it happen, too busy with her own life to notice her daughter's disastrous behavior.

This novel is extremely well written. At times it is crude and vulgar (to be expected, given the topic). The author really captures the flippancy, narcissism, and general sense of indestructibility among teens. However, the ending is a cop-out. It felt like the author became bored with her endeavor and she added a surprise twist. Loose ends were left untied and the novel ended abruptly. Notwithstanding the disappointing end, the novel is a great look at teenage life in the context of the confessional culture of the internet.
]]> <![CDATA[Devil's Brood (Plantagenets #3; Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine, #3)]]> 2859559
Devil’s Brood , a breathtaking and sweeping epic of a family at its breaking point, shows how two monumental figures once bound by all-consuming love became the bitterest of adversaries.]]> 736 Sharon Kay Penman 0399155260 Lauren 5
Anyhow, Devil's Brood picks up where Time and Chance left off, with King Henry II returning from a year long sojourn in Ireland, hiding out from the aftermath of Thomas a Becket's murder. Henry seeks to make peace with himself and the church. Although he did not directly order Becket's murder, careless words led to the act that scandalized 12th century Christendom. At this time, Henry's family is falling apart. Soon his three eldest sons, with the support of their mother, rebel because Henry is a control freak and refuses to give his sons any real autonomy and power commensurate with their statuses as an anointed king (Henry "Hal," the young King), the Duke of Aquitaine (Richard) and Duke of Brittany (Geoffrey, after he marries Constance).

The novel follows the tumultuous troubles between Henry and his sons, the sons among themselves and between Henry and Eleanor, who spends most of the novel as Henry's prisoner. The strife within Henry's family is shocking - with brothers raising armies against brothers, sons against fathers and begs of the question of what went so wrong that there is no familial love or harmony. Eleanor and Henry clearly love their sons - and the sons seem to love Eleanor (except for John, who is distant from Eleanor and closer to Henry). Part of the answer seems to be Henry's failure to let go of power and his controlling nature. Making things worse, Henry also manipulates things from behind the scenes and inadvertantly pits son against son, creating jealousies between the brothers. Another answer may be Eleanor's own failure to instill loyalty in her children. By backing her sons in rebelling against Henry, she creates a dangerous precedent where it becomes acceptable and imaginable to take arms against family members. SKP does not share her theory about the cause, only sketches the characters as real people and attempts to understand their emotions and motivations through her close study of original sources as well as secondary source material about the characters.

This novel made me tear up at times - it was very tragic. I knew the main story line because I had already read Alison Weir's fantastic biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. However, SKP's writing lifts the individuals and historical facts and transforms them into high drama. It is definitely one of SKP's best - not as good as Here Be Dragons, but about equal to The Reckoning, the conclusion to the Welsh Trilogy.

The novel is not flawless. It took longer than usual for me to get into Devil's Brood. For the first 100 pages (DB is more than 700 pages!) the novel was shackled by history, with the characters remaining flat. It read more like non-fiction. However, around the time King Henry brought the Young King Hal to Chinon, the characters suddenly gained flesh and felt real. After that, the novel was as wonderful as SKP's other works. I am looking forward to continuing with the story and I wait with baited breath for the release of Lionheart some time next year.]]> 4.36 2008 Devil's Brood (Plantagenets #3; Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine, #3)
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2009/07/01
date added: 2009/07/29
shelves:
review:
Devil's Brood is book # 3 of Sharon Kay Penman's series of novels on the Plantagenets (although SKP never calls them the Plantagenets, as they never call themselves by that name). I would say it is the Henry II/Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy, but apparently SKP is hard at work on Lionheart, about Richard II. Yippee!!!

Anyhow, Devil's Brood picks up where Time and Chance left off, with King Henry II returning from a year long sojourn in Ireland, hiding out from the aftermath of Thomas a Becket's murder. Henry seeks to make peace with himself and the church. Although he did not directly order Becket's murder, careless words led to the act that scandalized 12th century Christendom. At this time, Henry's family is falling apart. Soon his three eldest sons, with the support of their mother, rebel because Henry is a control freak and refuses to give his sons any real autonomy and power commensurate with their statuses as an anointed king (Henry "Hal," the young King), the Duke of Aquitaine (Richard) and Duke of Brittany (Geoffrey, after he marries Constance).

The novel follows the tumultuous troubles between Henry and his sons, the sons among themselves and between Henry and Eleanor, who spends most of the novel as Henry's prisoner. The strife within Henry's family is shocking - with brothers raising armies against brothers, sons against fathers and begs of the question of what went so wrong that there is no familial love or harmony. Eleanor and Henry clearly love their sons - and the sons seem to love Eleanor (except for John, who is distant from Eleanor and closer to Henry). Part of the answer seems to be Henry's failure to let go of power and his controlling nature. Making things worse, Henry also manipulates things from behind the scenes and inadvertantly pits son against son, creating jealousies between the brothers. Another answer may be Eleanor's own failure to instill loyalty in her children. By backing her sons in rebelling against Henry, she creates a dangerous precedent where it becomes acceptable and imaginable to take arms against family members. SKP does not share her theory about the cause, only sketches the characters as real people and attempts to understand their emotions and motivations through her close study of original sources as well as secondary source material about the characters.

This novel made me tear up at times - it was very tragic. I knew the main story line because I had already read Alison Weir's fantastic biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. However, SKP's writing lifts the individuals and historical facts and transforms them into high drama. It is definitely one of SKP's best - not as good as Here Be Dragons, but about equal to The Reckoning, the conclusion to the Welsh Trilogy.

The novel is not flawless. It took longer than usual for me to get into Devil's Brood. For the first 100 pages (DB is more than 700 pages!) the novel was shackled by history, with the characters remaining flat. It read more like non-fiction. However, around the time King Henry brought the Young King Hal to Chinon, the characters suddenly gained flesh and felt real. After that, the novel was as wonderful as SKP's other works. I am looking forward to continuing with the story and I wait with baited breath for the release of Lionheart some time next year.
]]> <![CDATA[Dragon's Lair (Justin de Quincy, #3)]]> 119828
When a ransom payment vanishes, Eleanor hastily dispatches young Justin de Quincy to investigate. In wild, beautiful Wales, his devotion to the queen will be supremely tested–as an arrogant border earl, a cocky Welsh prince, an enchanting lady, and a traitor of the deepest dye welcome him with false smiles and deadly conspiracies. The queen’s treasure is nowhere to be found, but assassins are everywhere . . . and blood runs red in the dragon’s lair.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 336 Sharon Kay Penman 0449007286 Lauren 0 to-read 3.83 2003 Dragon's Lair (Justin de Quincy, #3)
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cruel as the Grave (Justin de Quincy, #2)]]> 234558 246 Sharon Kay Penman 0345441443 Lauren 0 to-read 3.91 1998 Cruel as the Grave (Justin de Quincy, #2)
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Queen's Man (Justin de Quincy, #1)]]> 119845 306 Sharon Kay Penman 0140250972 Lauren 0 to-read 3.74 1996 The Queen's Man (Justin de Quincy, #1)
author: Sharon Kay Penman
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2009/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Italian: The Essence of Mediterranean Cuisine]]> 5999522 256 Carla Capalbo 1572151579 Lauren 4 3.67 Italian: The Essence of Mediterranean Cuisine
author: Carla Capalbo
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/07/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Every Night Italian: Every Night Italian]]> 21199 Title: Every Night Italian
Author: Hazan, Giuliano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 2000/01/12
Number of Pages: 256
Binding Type: HARDCOVER
Library of Congress: 99037394]]> 256 Giuliano Hazan 0684800284 Lauren 4 3.86 2000 Every Night Italian: Every Night Italian
author: Giuliano Hazan
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2009/07/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire]]> 5978522
Lila Nova lives alone in a plain, white box of an apartment. Recovering from a heartbreaking divorce, Lila’s life is like her simple, new, and empty. But when she meets a handsome plant-seller named David Exley, an entire world opens up before her eyes. Late one night Lila stumbles across a strange Laundromat and sees ferns so highly-prized that a tiny cutting can fetch thousands of dollars. She learns about flowers with medicinal properties to rival anything found in drugstores. And she hears the legend of nine mystical plants that bring fame, fortune, immortality, and passion.

The owner of the Laundromat, Armand, presents Lila with a if she can make the cutting from a fire fern grow roots, he will show her the secret of his locked room. But Lila is too trusting, and with one terrible mistake she ruins her chance to see Armand’s plants. The only way to win it back is to travel, on her own, to the Yucatan.

Deep in the rain forests of Mexico, Lila enters a world of shamans and spirit animals, snake charmers, and sexy, heart-stopping Huichols. Alone in the jungle, Lila is forced to learn more than she ever wanted to know about nature—and about herself. An exhilarating journey of love and self-discovery, Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire brings together mystery, adventure, and heat, in every sense of the word.]]> 266 Margot Berwin 0307377849 Lauren 2
The author invents the myth of the nine plants of desire and conveniently uses the plans to teach "life lessons" to Lila. Events in the jungle are crazy, characters strange. The plot seems very contrived, placing the main character in needless danger. The novel also seems to try too hard to fit into the magical realism genre, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, or Laura Esquivel. Unlike One Hundred Years of Solitude, House of the Spirits, or Like Water for Chocolate, however, the main character - Lila - is skeptical of the magic and stumbles through the novel, guided by men and fooled by men.

I struggled to get through Hothouse Flower. Many times, I nearly put it down because it was so far-fetched and contrived. I never have those feelings when I read Allende, Garcia Marquez, or Esquivel, even though the plots are unrealistic. Those authors tell a story in such a matter of fact way that I can "believe" what cannot be true. Berwin lacks that gift. Hothouse flower tried to hard to be mysterious, magical, and insightful. Ultimately, it is a silly, Indiana Jones/Hollywood style novel with little depth. ]]> 3.44 2009 Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire
author: Margot Berwin
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2009/07/12
shelves:
review:
This novel is about Lila Nova, a thirty something divorcee in the ad business. Like the typical chick lit heroine, Lila is insecure, between relationships, and lonely. She decides to expand her horizons by acquiring a plant. Because her apartment is bright and sunny, she gets a tropical plant from David Exley, a plant vendor in her New York City neighborhood. She develops an interest in tropical plants and finds a plant filled laundromat. A series of events leads her to the Mexican jungle, seeking to find the so-called nine plants of desire.

The author invents the myth of the nine plants of desire and conveniently uses the plans to teach "life lessons" to Lila. Events in the jungle are crazy, characters strange. The plot seems very contrived, placing the main character in needless danger. The novel also seems to try too hard to fit into the magical realism genre, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, or Laura Esquivel. Unlike One Hundred Years of Solitude, House of the Spirits, or Like Water for Chocolate, however, the main character - Lila - is skeptical of the magic and stumbles through the novel, guided by men and fooled by men.

I struggled to get through Hothouse Flower. Many times, I nearly put it down because it was so far-fetched and contrived. I never have those feelings when I read Allende, Garcia Marquez, or Esquivel, even though the plots are unrealistic. Those authors tell a story in such a matter of fact way that I can "believe" what cannot be true. Berwin lacks that gift. Hothouse flower tried to hard to be mysterious, magical, and insightful. Ultimately, it is a silly, Indiana Jones/Hollywood style novel with little depth.
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