Tagged: philippa gregory
The Best and Worst of June
Well, it’s that time of month again. The time for the recap of my 5 best and 5 worst posts of June. The statistics are wildly different than they were when I did my May recap, as you’ll notice. So here are the five best articles, not counting my homepage or site announcements.
1. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
3. The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome
4. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
5. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
It’s hard to believe The Giver is right up there because school’s been out in America for a month, which is where most of my traffic comes from. But what’s really surprising is that The White Queen cracked the list while The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome article fell to third place. Now, here are the surprising five worst articles of June:
1. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
2. YA Release Dates to Look Forward To
4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
5. Isabel: Jewel of Castilla by Carolyn Meyer
What’s surprising about the five worst articles and book reviews is that not one of them appeared on my May list, which means that the worst articles are at least rotating every month. However, I’m surprised none of the Pauline Gedge books appear on the list because she’s not exactly a well-known author outside of historical fiction circles. C’est la vie.
Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
Today is Wednesday, so that means I’m posting over at We Heart Reading once again. This time, it’s about a truly wretched book by one of my favourite historical fiction authors. In truth, I wish I had never picked it up because it has tainted my view of Philippa Gregory’s other works. Anyway, if you’re going to read anything by Philippa Gregory, do not read Wideacre. Pick up The White Queen or even The Constant Princess first or you’ll be sorry. For my full rant, click here.
Uther by Jack Whyte
It’s Wednesday today and that means a guest post over at We Heart Reading. Keeping with the historical fiction theme, I reviewed Uther by Jack Whyte, which tells the story of King Arthur’s father, Uther. If you love the Arthurian legends, you will love this book, I guarantee.
Anyway, if you’ve missed the first three posts this week, here’s a recap:
Sunday: Patience, Princess Catherine by Carolyn Meyer
Monday: The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
Tuesday: The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
(Cover picture courtesy of Devon County Council.)
Katherine of Aragon is betrothed at the age of three to Prince Arthur, son and heir of Henry VII of England. She is raised to be Princess of Wales, and knows it is her destiny to rule that far-off, wet, cold land.
Her faith is tested when her prospective father-in-law greets her arrival with a great insult; Arthur seems little better than a boy; the food is strange and the customs coarse. Slowly, she adapts to the first Tudor court, and life as Arthur’s wife grows ever more bearable. Unexpectedly in this arranged marriage, a tender and passionate love develops.
But when the studious young man dies, she is left too make her own future: how can she now be queen, and found and dynasty? Only by marrying Arthur’s young brother, the sunny but spoilt Henry.
Yesterday I reviewed Patience, Princess Catherine, which is aimed at tweens and young teens. This book is the adult version of Carolyn Meyer’s novel and it also gives a new perspective to the tale of Katherine (usually spelled ‘Catherine’) of Aragon.
In Philippa Gregory’s version of events, Katherine is a highly ambitious woman raised by her warrior-queen mother, the indomitable Isabel, to be Queen of England. So when she is married to Arthur, she readily accepts the arranged marriage, knowing it is her duty. Yet something happens that neither she nor Arthur expected: they fall in love. But shortly after that, Arthur dies and tells Katherine on his deathbed to marry Henry and achieve her dream. She, of course, keeps her promise to him and waits seven years to marry Henry and become Queen of England.
The Constant Princess is not a fast-paced novel by any means, but it is one of my favourite books by Philippa Gregory, simply because the characters are so well developed. Most of them are three dimensional and Katherine is a wonderful narrator that can command your attention easily. It also has one thing I prize in historical fiction: historical accuracy. So if you’re looking for a historically accurate tale of love, ambition and heartbreak, you will love The Constant Princess.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Guest Posting and Other Site-Related Information
So I got it into my head that next month, June, is going to be History Month here on The Mad Reviewer. What does that mean? Well, it means for one month I’m going to review only historical fiction and non-fiction history books that I love. Trust me, there’s going to be something for everyone here, even if you think you don’t like history. Some of my book reviews will be on books that got my dear little sister interested in history (for the full story, click here) as well as historical fiction books that I truly enjoyed. There’s going to be a lot of Carolyn Meyer, some Philippa Gregory, some Kathryn Lasky and even a Jack Whyte book review, so stay tuned! These books will take you to ancient Egypt, Tudor England, WWII, ancient Britain, Viking Scandinavia and many more places you’ve never even dreamed of.
I’m guest posting yet again! This time, it’s over at ForTheLoveOfBooks in which I review another fairytale retelling. This time it’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s aptly named Beastly and was a truly spectacular fail. I guess Alex Flinn needs to take a leaf out of Marissa Meyer’s book. If you’re interested in seeing me completely trash a book, here’s a link to the review: Beastly by Alex Flinn.