Hanging My Head in Shame
This will come as no surprise to my family, I’m afraid: You Failed 8th Grade Geography Sorry, you only got 5/10 correct! Could You Pass 8th Grade Geography?
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Historical Accuracy, An Esoteric Reference to Dickens, and an Invite
Over the weekend, J. Peder Zane, the book columnist in the Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer, had this to say about the topic of accuracy in historical fiction (here’s a link to the entire column): “Of course, “The Da Vinci Code” is a novel. But it raises the question of what responsibility works of
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Please Stop Dissing Eleanor de Clare’s Mum
As today is Mother’s Day, I couldn’t resist posting about Joan of Acre, mother of the heroine of The Traitor’s Wife, Eleanor de Clare. Joan’s taken some hard knocks at the hands of novelists lately, and this is a Mother’s Day plea on the poor lady’s behalf. The most detailed account of Joan’s life that
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A Magdalen Who Has Absolutely Nothing to Do with Dan Brown
I finished reading Lady Magdalen by Robin Jenkins, which is about Magdalen Carnegie, who at a young age married James Graham, Earl of Montrose and later Marquis of Montrose. Montrose became a supporter of Charles I and eventually was hanged, drawn, and quartered. (The novel, however, ends sometime before his ultimate downfall and death.) I
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Picky, Picky
Over the weekend, I went to the university library and grabbed a few historical novels, secure in the knowledge that if I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t have wasted a cent. This is a good thing, because except in the case of one novel, I haven’t warmed to any of them–two by Philip Lindsay and
Another Book About Richard III, Plus a Not-So-Scruffy Dog
So what does my cairn terrier, Boswell, have to do with Richard III? Nothing, except that he went to the groomer the other day, and he looks so pretty, I wanted to post his picture before he reverts to his usual scruffy self. Anyway, now that Isabella of France is not commandeering my computer, I
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Isabella of France Gets Tagged
Isabella of France was tagged by Alianore and Gabriele Campbell for the “Me Too” meme. (There was some talk about Hugh le Despenser the younger joining in, but he was too busy relieving widows of their unwanted lands to join in right away. Isn’t it sweet of him to take on that responsibility for them?)
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A Frolic and a Detour
Though this blog was intended to deal mainly with historical fiction, I’ve got to make an exception when a new Anne Tyler novel comes out. Yesterday, her newest, Digging to America, appeared in bookstores, and I duly grabbed a copy and read it within a day. I’m not sure how familiar readers outside the USA
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A Refreshing Look at a King’s Favorite
I finished The Lord of Misrule by Eve Trevaskis today, about Edward II and Piers Gaveston, told in the third person mainly from the viewpoint of Gaveston. I can’t add much to Sarah Johnson’s recent review of it except to point out that I found it historically accurate and carefully researched, the more so because
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Three (Give or Take a Few) Strikes and You’re Out
Today I settled down for my lunchtime reading with Sweet Passion’s Pain by Karen Harper. Because it’s about Joan “the Fair Maid of Kent,” wife to the Black Prince and mother of Richard II, it interested me, despite the cheesy title. (Published in the 1980’s, the book’s being reissued this year with the title The
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