I’m in the middle of The Queen’s Confession, a novel about Marie Antoinette that’s narrated in the first person by the queen, as the title indicates. It’s by Victoria Holt, who of course is also Jean Plaidy, who is also Philippa Carr. Most of the Holt and Carr books fall under the category of romantic …
Not having gotten far enough in anything I’m reading to post about it, I thought I’d direct your attention to a very strange 1898 book, History of England in Words of One Syllable, which I saw in a flea market some time ago and had to buy for its sheer dottiness. It is by Mrs. …
I finished Royal Scandal today, the priceless cover of which I posted on my previous blog (“The most reckless love in the wickedest court in history!” we are promised). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your perspective), the novel doesn’t live up to its sensational cover. Originally published in 1933 with the clunky title of Here …
As everyone who has picked up a new historical novel in the last few years has noticed, the cover-art trend is to depict a person, most often a woman, in such a way that her face is partially or fully obscured or her head missing altogether.* These “headless woman” covers look classy, so much so …
I’m still reeling from the news that I hit it big in the North Carolina State Lottery. Now, of course, I will be able to achieve my longtime goal of writing full-time, not to mention having an office with real walls to do so in. While I’m waiting for the contractors to show up to …
Exciting day for us in the state of North Carolina today–we now have a state lottery! For now, all we have are the tickets that you scratch and match; we’ll get the big-boy random drawings later. I’m not a high-stakes gambler by any means; one or two $1 tickets is pretty much my limit. But …
Finished reading Katherine Howard, a 1969 novel by Jessica Smith, yesterday. Like the other historical novels I’ve read about this foolish but intriguing young queen, it was somewhat disappointing, though I admittedly didn’t have huge hopes for it. Though the author often commented that Katherine was a featherhead, she didn’t come up with any motivation …
Nonhistorical and Historical Characters: Should They Mingle? Read More »
I finished Jean Plaidy’s Royal Road to Fotheringay today. This is the second novel about Mary Queen of Scots I’ve read, the first being Margaret George’s. I didn’t finish George’s book. I’m not sure why. It’s not that I disliked what I did read of it; in fact, I rather liked the scene where the …
Jean Plaidy, Mary Queen of Scots, and a Message to Promote Marital Harmony Read More »
C’mon, I don’t often get the chance to do this! I’m delighted to announce that The Traitor’s Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II (that’s my baby), has been named one of 15 finalists in the Historical Fiction category of ForeWord Magazine‘s 2005 Book of the Year Awards. The awards were established to …
In Which I Soundly Administer Myself a Good Pat on the Back Read More »
Up until recently, I hadn’t been following the lawsuit filed in the UK against Dan Brown’s publishers, but it may be worth watching closely. For those of you who haven’t been keeping up all along, two of the three authors of a nonfiction book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, claim that in his novel The Da …