Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

About a year ago I fell in love – with a man who died nearly 800 years ago. Having just finished the sequel, I can easily say that my love has been re-affirmed. The Scarlet Lion is Elizabeth Chadwick’s second book on William Marshal – or “The Marshal” as he was commonly called.

Following William through the perilous reign of King John and later as Regent to young Henry III, Chadwick brings the 13th century alive in a fast paced story that I didn’t want to put down. I started reading it at the airport one morning (before a 6:45 am flight!) and as it got closer to boarding time, I found myself secretly wishing the flight would be delayed since I knew that as soon as I arrived home in Indianapolis, I would have to stop reading. I say secretly since I was going home to see my family that I hadn’t seen for two weeks. Don’t tell my husband…

William and his wife Isabelle have a wonderful, loving relationship but it is not perfect. Life - in the form of William agreeing to had over a couple of his sons as hostages to King John and Isabelle’s displeasure over William not giving sufficient attention to her lands in Ireland - creates real life tension between them. The strength of their love gets them through the rough spots. In addition to seeing the domestic side of the Marshallsl, we are given an insiders view to the political intrigues of the time as William, the ultimate courtier, walks the fine line between royal favor and disgrace.

King John is deliciously slimy. There were times when he made my skin crawl but I enjoyed Chadwick’s portrayal of him immensely. Unscrupulous, cunning and oh so nasty, he was just the right balance to the seemingly almost perfect persona of William. I don’t mean that as a criticism of William’s character as he was not “perfect”. But he lived his life honorably and always tried to do the right thing by his honor even if it went against his better judgment. Somehow in the end he managed to escape some tough situations that would have ruined lesser men.

For an author who has a deathbed scene to write, Chadwick’s treatment of the Marshall’s final hours on earth can provide a few lessons. I thought it was beautiful, peaceful and I bawled my eyes out. He died as he lived – honorably fulfilling a pledge he had made many years before while in the Holy Land.

I am very sad that The Marshall died at the end of the book because that means there can’t be a third one. But I suppose it’s not every man whose life was long enough and rich enough to require two books to tell his story.

Chadwick is easily one of my favorite authors and I am looking forward to reading her other books. Unfortunately, her books are not available in the US, but with free shipping from the Book Depository in the UK (bookdepository.com), her books are well worth paying full price!

Rating: Excellent

Several months ago while browsing on Paperback Swap, I came across this book. There aren't many books out there about Jane Seymour, so I snatched it up - especially since this fictional book is out of print.

The book begins shortly before Jane is sent off to court as a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine. She is described as shy, irrelevant and able to achieve "invisibility" almost at will. But at one of her parent's parties, a young man takes a liking to Jane and she fills her head with romantic visions of him and what their life will be like. It is a vision that will stay with her the rest of her life. And one that is crushed when the match falls through.

Once at court, Jane observes the rise of the Boleyns and the devastation of Katherine and little Mary, whom she remains fiercely loyal to. It's at this point that the story becomes less about Jane and more about Anne. Jane is still certainly the main character, but it's more like a telling of Anne's story rather than Jane's. I was a little annoyed.

This is not a long book and so Henry's divorce and marriage to Anne are covered farily quickly. After the birth of Elizabeth, Anne and Henry's relationship starts to show outward signs of strain and Henry begins to pursue more quiet pasttimes - like talking to Jane Seymour. She seems truly shocked when Henry announces that she is to be his third wife and tries to protest. But she realizes that he needs her and Jane still has one unfulfilled desire - to have a child.

As rebellion and religious issues create problems for Henry, Jane realizes that she can't change him and that he is a dangerous man. It is during this time that Jane becomes pregnant and she is afraid for reasons she can't quite explain. The birth is long and difficult and Jane tells the doctor that no matter what, the child must be saved. In the end, Henry gets his son and loses perhaps the wife he truly loved.

Due to the book's short length, I found dialogue to be sorely lacking. The reader is told what happened and how people felt. There were often several pages with no interaction between characters - just narrative. For the most part though, I found the narrative to be well written (sometimes a little flowery or overly descriptive) and I liked Clark's insights into the minds and motiviations of Jane, Henry and Anne. I just wished she would have let them express their thoughts themselves rather than the omniscient narrator doing all the talking.

Words to remember: "To hurt, the intention is not necessary. All you need is not to care." Tom Wyatt to Jane as he is crushed by Anne's gloating about eating apples and being pregnant.

Rating: Average

The Crystal Cave is the first of Mary Stewart's books in her Merlin Trilogy and tell the story of Merlin's early life and sets the stage for the legend to come.

Merlin in the bastard son of a Welsh princess who refuses to name the father of her son (even though her father tries to beat it out of her). He is quiet, thoughtful child who prefers solitude and he is prone to having dreams or visions that have a knack for coming true. His discovery of a secret cave inhabited by a recluse will become his salvation and sets him on the path of bringing Britain her greatest King.

After the death of his grandfather, Merlin ends up in Lesser Britain where he grows into adulthood, studies engineering and discovers who is father is. He returns to Britain with an invading force intent on removing the High King, Vortigern and his Saxon allies. In a wild-eyed prophecy, Merlin forsees Vortigern's defeat as well as the coming of a great King who will save Britain from it's enemies.

But as the story progresses, it becomes more disjointed. Merlin goes to Ireland and brings back a huge stone; Uther is crowned king (after the death of his brother); and the deceit which results in Arthur's conception is carried out. Stewart acknowledges that her story follows that of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of England and his Legend of Merlin (which is included in the book) and at times it is those portions of her story that annoyed me. The dialogue often didn't seem to "fit" with the story and the writing style differed from the early sections.

Merlin's childhood and years in Lesser Britain were detailed with beautiful imagery
and presented the human side of Merlin. I felt sorry for the lonely boy as he struggled to find his place in the world and what purpose the "god" had for him. But once the story moved to the invasion of Britain and the defeat of the Saxons, it felt more like cardboard. Like the heart was sucked right out of the story. I also didn't care for the part detailing how Uther managed to sleep with Ygraine - it just went through the motions of the story and I found myself skimming through it.

Since I did enjoy a great deal of Stewart's story, I will read the second book, The Hollow Hills. I just hope it is more like the first part of The Crystal Cave than the last part.

Rating: Good

I'm a little late with this, but my family came out to Denver the first week of January, so I didn't spend much time on the computer.

I had hoped to read 50 books in 2007. I managed 42. I suppose since I did not read much in November and December due to the move, I didn't do too badly.

One of the other things I had hoped to do was organize my growing book collection into some type of list so that I knew what I had. Besides using LibraryThing (which I love) I also created an excel spreadsheet to list my books, where I got them, how much I paid for them and what I did with them with finished (keep, trade etc). I also realized that I was increasingly having trouble with which book to read next so I created another list with the order in which my books will be read. When I get a new book, they get entered into both lists. By pre-determining the order, I tried to make sure that I rotated time periods so that I had a good variety. So far it's worked pretty well.

It seems that most of the books I read I thought were just "average". I finished Plaidy's Plantagenet Saga and although most of them were "average", I still enjoy reading her books very much for the history lesson if nothing else. I was disappointed that there was one book that I could not finish - Edward Rutherford's Dublin. I really wanted to like that book, but I just couldn't make myself finish it. I also made an effort to add some US historical fiction and more non fiction into my reading and I'm glad that I did.

Over the course of the year I made lots of new internet friends and found a new addiction in Paperback Swap. I have added quite a few books to my collection from PBS and I find that it's a great place to find out about authors I hadn't heard of before (not that I need any more books to read or anything...).

Finally, I put together my 10 favorite reads of the year:

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. This was my first Chadwick book and it will not be my last. I love her style, her descriptions and mostly, I love William Marshall. He is my historical crush. What I wouldn't give for a time machine...

Harold the King by Helen Hollick. A wonderfully told story about the man William the Conqueror defeated at Hastings. I found myself wishing the battle had gone the other way.

The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy. This would have to be my favorite Plaidy book that I have read so far as well as my favorite book about Anne Boleyn. I thought Plaidy made her seem human. Yes there was an arrogance about her, but there was also fear, compassion, joy, and anger -as well as numerous other traits that we all have at various times.

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. Set during WWII, this book is outside of the usual time periods I like to read about, but having heard so many great things about it, I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. Simons descriptions of the Siege of Leningrad were very powerful and the love story was endearing in that "isn't it great to be a teenager and in love" kind of way.

The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham. The story of Edward II from the point of view of his niece, Eleanor (who was also Hugh le Despenser's wife). What I really liked about this book was that it presented all of the major players as people - with good qualities and bad. No one was entirely evil or entirely good, although some definately had more than their fair share of bad qualities. But then, that is true with real people.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. One of a couple of non historical fiction books that I read this year. Very powerful story about prejudice and injustice. I still need to see the movie version of this.

Courtesan by Diane Haeger. Beautifully written love story between Henri II of France and Diane de Poitiers.

The Huntress by Susan Carroll. The follow up to the Cheney sisters trilogy with what happened to The Silver Rose and Martin le Loup. Lots of action and a few surprises. According to Amazon, it looks like the next installment will be out in July and is called Twillight of a Queen (no description is available).

Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara. My first US historical fiction novel. Although the beginning was a little rough and I thought about not finishing it, I'm glad I stuck it out. The scenes where some of the Revolution's most famous lines were spoken gave me chills.

The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge. Another tough one to read some times, but a very satisfying novel about Boudica and the British tribes of the era. Boudica is really a fairly minor character in this story. It was reissued in October.

In 2008 I hope to finish more books than I did this year. I am participating in a couple of challenges which should be fun. I shipped most of my books to Denver (will send the rest when I go home in a couple of weeks) so I have plenty of books to keep me company!

Although there is no shortage of historical fiction books about Anne Boleyn, this one at least focuses on her lesser known years at the French Court. Spanning the period of time between her year at the court of Margaret of Burgundy until her return to England from France, Anne is a precocious, intelligent young girl who is forced to grow up quickly in the lewd, promiscious environment of Francois I.

Befriended by Francois' sister, Marguerite, Anne is exposed to art, culture, poetry and new ideas - including the "new" religion. She is in awe of Marguerite - a woman who seems to wield some real power of her own and who is not afraid to push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable behavior for a woman.

But it is the treatment of her sister, Mary, by their father and by Francois, that perhaps has the most impact on her and will lead her down the path that lovers of Tudor history know so well. The scene where Thomas Boleyn orders Mary to become Francois' mistress (despite her objections and her wish to make a respectable marriage) is hearbreaking as he tells her, "Do you really think I care what you want?"

As Francois tires of Mary, Anne realizes he is beginning to turn his intentions to her and she tries to find a way to avoid the fate of her sister. Marguerite offers a delay but eventually, she enlists help to get the better of Francois and force him to realize that she is not like the other silly girls at court. He backs off.

Henry VIII of England makes a few minor appearances - mostly at the Field of Cloth of Gold where Henry takes notice of Mary Boleyn. Anne is disgusted that the small amount of happiness her sister had found (with her husband) has now been shattered by their ambitious father. To become another king's whore. Shortly thereafter as war looms between England and France, Anne is forced to return to England and hopes to pursue her relationship with Henry Percy (whom she met while he was in France with the King and Wolsey).

I enjoyed this book and found it entertaining and quick to read. There were a couple of "unusual" sex scenes that I could have done without, but perhaps they were meant to demonstrate how lewd the French court really was. I definately got the point on that one. The books includes an interview with the author, and a Reader's Guide with questions and discussion points.

The plight of women: “Your sister is not a bad woman. She is simply a woman and women have very few choices in this world. Are we not all our fathers’ daughters?” (Queen Claude to Anne when Anne is ashamed and embarrassed to face her after Mary becomes Francois' mistress).

Rating: Good