The Last Wife of Henry VIII - Carolly Erickson

In this powerful historical novel, Carolly Erickson vividly brings to life Catherine Parr, an alluring young woman and the cleverest of Henry VIII's wives. Catherine attracts the lust of the dangerous and mercurial king and finds herself thrown into the intrigue-filled snakepit of the royal court, all the while hiding her feeling for her true love, Thomas Seymour.

While all around, victim's of the king's wrath suffer torture and execution, the witty and resourceful Catherine survives. But even after Henry's death, her struggle continues when she has to fight for the affection of her beloved - a contest that will cost her dearly.


If you want a story that rigidly sticks to the known historical facts then you won't find it here.... what you get, instead, is a reasonably entertaining story built around the main historical characters that loosely follows the facts. Purists would probably be irritated by this.
It was a slightly different take to the many Tudor based novels I've already read - an easy read that suited being picked up in the odd few spare minutes, then being put down again.

Registered with Book Crossing and avaialble if anyone wants it. :0)

Karan

The Sixth Wife - Suzannah Dunn

Clever and compassionate Katerine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth and final wife, survived their four turbulent years of marriage. But when the ambitious and handsome Thomas Seymour won her heart, mere months after the old king's death, their hasty union undid a lifetime of caution.

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Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, her best friend, is the unwilling witness to the dowager queen's late-blossoming love. But as she harbours nagging suspicions of kate's new husband, it gradually becomes clear that she has her own dark tale to tell. For if Thomas might betray hiw wife for power, then cool, calculating Cathy might betray her for passion.

In times when the least discretion could mean arrest and death, Katerhine Parr's tragedy plays itself out amonsgt those who loved - and deceived - her most. As events reach their inevitable climax, it becomes clear that Cathy and Kate will risk all in a world where love is a luxury even royalty cannot always afford...

I love reading books set in Tudor times and have read many over the years, so this one was a must read for me but I couldn't understand why I initially struggled to get into this one...... until I realised that I wasn't that keen on the main character, Catherine of Suffolk. Odd, until I read the bumpf at the back of the book and realised that the writer hadn't particularly liked her character either, and it becomes obvious: the way she felt about the character has coloured the way she has written about and presented her and you can tell.

Despite this I still thought the whole a good read. There were enough of the known historical facts in there to keep it believable and the writer's twist to the story is different enough from the many others written about this time period to keep it interesting.

Am registering this with Book Crossing - available to anyone who wants it. :0)

The Boleyn Inheritance By Philippa Gregory

This is a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty,

I have devoured this book from beginning to end, It took me less than 24 hrs to read it, I was captivated once again by the Tudor era!
This book is told through each of the three women, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Jane Boleyn. And how one brings down the other two!
If you liked the The Other Boleyn Girl this is a must as well!

This book is from the library so cannot pass it on!

Camelot's Shadow - Sarah Zettel

When Nineteen-year old Lady Rhian discovers her father promised her at birth to a sorcerer in return for her mother's life, she runs away to join a convent. Determined to exact his payment, the sorcerer waylays her on the road, but is thwarted by a valiant knight. Sir Gawain gallantly offers to escort Rhian to Camelot, and Queen Gunevere's protection.

Gawain has taken a great risk in stopping to help Rhian - he must warn his uncle, King Arthur, of impending war. But when they are attacked by a band of Saxons, Rhian proves that her skills include more than tapestry and gossip - and Gawain will be captivated as much by her bravery as by her beauty....

Forget the Victorian romantic versions of the story of Camelot, with knights in shining armour and the chivalric code of much later years: this book tries to be more in keeping with the real history of the time when King Arthur etc could have lived. Rather than being based on Arthur and Guinevere and Merlin, whose stories have been told and re-told in varying versions over many years, it weaves it's story around the other characters in the Camelot legend.

If you want a truly historical tale then you need to be looking at Non-Fiction....... but if you want a little escapism in the form of an entertaining read with a little true romance then this is definitely the right book for you. :0)

Registering it with Book Crossing and it has been added to my Swap List - shout if you'd like it. :0)

The Other Boleyn Girl By Phillipa Gregory

Everyone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn, but not many know the story of her rise to majesty and the part played by her rival and sister, Mary, who was Henry's mistress and mother to two of his bastard children before the dazzling older Boleyn girl even caught his eye.

Philippa Gregory, whose own role as the Queen of historical romance grows more secure with each new novel, has surpassed her self with this epic tale of lust, jealousy and betrayal. The Other Boleyn Girl charts the lives of both Boleyns--each in their turn "the other Boleyn
Girl"--and their fiercely ambitious, conniving family who used the girls as pawns to advance their own positions at the court of Henry VIII. At 13, Mary is little more than a child when she is presented to Henry, ordered by her scheming family to serve her King and country by opening her legs whenever commanded, or doing anything else the great monarch desires.

And while his loins are satisfied, life at court is sweet for the unofficial Queen and her pushy coterie. Inevitably though, the King's eyes soon begin to wander and Mary is overlooked, helpless to do anything but aid her family's plot to advance their fortunes, replace her with Anne and give Henry the greatest gift of all: a son and heir.

Well I certainly enjoyed this book,I was totally hooked to find out the ending even though we all knew what happened to Anne, but it amazes me that this sort of thing went on in those days and that I am so glad I wasn't born in those times, But I wanted to story to continue and find out more about Jane Seymour and how they managed to get their claws in etc. Will have to look into other books by Phillipa certainly!! I would certainly recommend reading this book, now I have to see the film.

The House at Riverton - Kate Morton

After reading Julie's recommendation for this book (synopsis is on that page too) I managed to get hold of a copy from my local hospice book shop. I finished reading it this morning.

Some books that are set in the present and then go back into a characters past can occasionally get a bit confusing with the to-ing and fro-ing, making it a struggle to remember what happened when..... but not this one. It's one of those books that just seems to grab you from the first page and keeps you absorbed in the story and characters throughout, no matter how many times you put it down and pick it up again.

The only thing I guessed correctly fairly early on, before having it confirmed in the story, was the identity of Grace's father. The ultimate secret came right at the end and I definitely didn't guess it...... or expect it. The way the revelation was done was quite clever too, I thought.

So glad you recommended it Julie, as it was an excellent read. :0)

Book will be registered with Book Crossing. It has also been offered to someone already - waiting for a reply. :0)

Astraea - Jane Stevenson

The Netherlands, the 1640's. Two royal exiles meet - Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James I of England, and Omolojou/Pelagius, once heir to the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo but now a freed slave with shamanic powers. They fall in love and clandestinely marry. Secretly, Eizabeth gives birth to a son, Balthasar Stuart, whom both of them see as a new hope for the future.

At the start I found the book confusing, as initially it was difficult to decide whether it was meant to be read as factual or fiction based on actual historical characters (which it is). It was a relief when the whole tale seemed to settle into a more natural "story telling mode", as it started to flow more smoothly from then and drew me in. A reasonably interesting read for those who like historically based books...... although be prepared for an ending that is not only not particularly happy but is also a little disappointing. I would have liked to have known the ultimate fate of both main characters but instead all was left "hanging", rather than following things through to a more natural conclusion. I guess that's a way of ensuring you go on to read the following two books in the trilogy.

This is now registered with Book Crossing and has also been added to my Swap List on the Swap Blog - shout if you want it. :0)

Picture Maker - Penina Spinka

Picture Maker is the daughter of a powerful warrior, named for her ability to foretell the future in her drawings. Taken as a trophy prisoner by the rival Algonquin tribe, she kills her brutal captor and escapes north, alone and pregnant, but determined to find the people and places prophesied for her. As she grows beyond her once narrow confines, Picture Maker becomes an amazing and very human survivor.

You can read more here.


The book is described as similar in tone to Jean M Auel's books - whilst this is a good read I feel it doesn't come anywhere near her books for depth of characters and thorough descriptions of customs, scenery, hunting techniques etc etc. Jean M Auel is in a class all her own, IMO.
Having said that, what is described is interesting and gives a fascinating insight into some of the the customs and outlooks of early Ganeogaono (Mohawk), Algonquin and Inuit tribes, as well as Greenlander history.

I felt the book started off a little stilted but soon developed a smoother style which had me turning pages long after I should have gone to sleep.

The ending was left open, as the story continues in the next book, Dream Maker: I'll be keeping my eyes open for that and hope it's as good a read as this one.

Book is now registered at Book Crossing and has been added to my Swap List. :0)

The Champion - Elizabeth Chadwick

Karen very kindly passed this one on to me after she'd finished reading it and you can find the synopsis for it here. :0)

After one of those deja vu feelings I realised I'd actually read this one some time ago and remembered that I got a bit fed-up with it then, feeling things could have been moved along a little faster than they were, and admit to giving in to speed reading some parts. This time around I read it through properly - there were still a couple of bits that I felt could have been hurried along a little but have to say that, on the whole, I did enjoy the read much more.

The historical details are especially well researched and give a good idea of what life in general would have been like during that period of history - worth a read for that alone.

I shall be registering this book with Book Crossing and offering it on the Swap Site. :0)