Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

In historical fiction few people have more books written about them than Anne Boleyn. There may be a nearly equal number of non-fiction books about Henry VIII’s second wife that have been written in the last century. So, is there anything new to tell? Alison Weir thinks so as she focuses her latest book on Anne’s fall from grace and subsequent execution in the last four months of her life.


In choosing to cover such a short period of time, Weir is able to provide a level of detail that is probably not found in most other accounts of her life. We learn details about the men who were accused with her – their backgrounds, family, how they came to their positions at court and their level of contact with the Queen (important since they were accused of committing adultery with her as well as conspiring to plot Henry’s death). We see the relationship between Anne and Thomas Cromwell deteriorate as Cromwell felt threatened by Anne and her growing influence on the King. Weir’s primary theory is that Cromwell felt so threatened that he decided the Queen – and her friends- had to be gotten rid of. Permanently. Henry, frustrated with his wife’s inability to give him a son and an already roving eye, was susceptible to suggestions about Anne’s behavior giving Cromwell the ability to pull it off within a month’s time.

Weir spends a considerable amount of time documenting Anne’s last days. From her trial to the preparations for her execution; her moments of calm alternating with those of hysteria; her concern for those charged with her as well as the future of her daughter, the fate of those involved in this tragedy are dissected in detail. Specifics of the indictment against her are laid out as well as why they can’t possibly have happened. While Weir seems sympathetic towards Anne and believes that she was innocent, she does always leave open the possibility that maybe there was some other evidence against Anne that has been lost.

One of the things I found interesting about Weir’s approach was the different contemporary versions of events that she included. For example, with George Boleyn’s speech before his death, Weir quoted from at least five different versions and while all of them were very similar, there were some definite differences in them. It sort of makes me wonder about the accuracy and credibility of primary sources in general – people can always hear different things, what they want to hear or choose to try and put forward their own agenda in recording a given event.

A couple of chapters cover the fate of Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, as well as others who were a part of Anne’s story – Thomas Wyatt, Jane Rochford and Cromwell himself – as well as the romanticism that formed around Anne’s story during the Victoria era and a series of ghost stories and legends. One other thing Weir included were explanations of several of the primary sources that she used (who the person was, their proximity to the events and in some cases, notes on their credibility or lack thereof). She also takes a couple of pot shots at recently published works and (in one of the end notes) admits to a mistaken belief on her own part that she included in one of her previous books.

There has been a recent criticism of Weir’s reliance on a particular source. I have no idea whether this is accurate or not; but even if it is, I think Weir has written an interesting look at the last days of Anne Boleyn and even though I didn’t always agree with some of her conclusions, I enjoyed reading it.

What's the difference between a Tudor and a Borgia? “Where a Borgia would have used poison, a Tudor used the law”. Weir citing S.T. Bindoff who wrote about the Tudors in the 1950’s.

Rating:  Good (3.5 Stars)

The Running Vixen by Elizabeth Chadwick.  Reissue.  UK release December 3, 2009.  1126. Heulwen, daughter of Welsh Marcher baron Guyon FitzMiles, has grown up with her father's ward, Adam de Lacey. There has always been a spark between them, but when Heulwen marries elsewhere, to Ralf le Chevalier, a devastated Adam absents himself on various diplomatic missions for King Henry I. When Ralf is killed in a skirmish, Heulwen's father considers a new marriage for her with his neighbour's son, Warrin de Mortimer. Adam, recently returned to England, has good reason to loathe Warrin and is determined not to lose Heulwen a second time. But Heulwen is torn between her duty to her father and the pull of her heart. Adam is no longer the awkward boy she remembers, but a man who stirs every fibre of her being - which places them both in great danger, because Warrin de Mortimer is not a man to be crossed and the future of a country is at stake ...

I finally got a chance to sit down (the pie is done and the turkey is in the oven) and wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  My daughter and her fiance are here for the weekend so we're having a fairly quiet holiday this year.  She pulled out several of my books to take home with her and I promised to bring her more at Christmas.  She started reading one of them last night - another historical fiction fan!!

I found a couple of new covers today including one of the books on this morning's Weekly Wishlist post (as well as a more detailed description.


Poison by Sara Poole.  US release August 3, 2010.  I can't wait to see this cover in color!!  First in trilogy set during reign of the Borgias.  In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring in the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.  Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim for herself the position of professional poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul. Pursuing her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself, this mistress of the dark is driven to confront the innermost demons that stand between her and the light for which she yearns.





The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry.  Young Adult.  US release June 8, 2010.  Joan’s mother is Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most beautiful woman in the world. Her father is Henry II, the king of England. She loves them both—so what can she do when she’s forced to choose between them? As her parents’ arguments grow ever more vicious, Joan begins to feel like a political pawn.
When her parents marry her off to the king of Sicily, Joan finds
herself with a man ten years her senior. She doesn’t love him, and she can’t quite forget her childhood crush, the handsome Lord Raymond.  As Joan grows up, she begins to understand that her parents’worldview is warped by their political ambitions, and hers, in turn, has beenwarped by theirs. Is it too late to figure out whom to trust? And, more important, whom to love?

Triuimvirate by Bruce Chadwick.  US release May 1, 2010.  The gripping story of three Founding Fathers who battled their own independence-loving people and created a united America. In the days after the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers’ dreams of a united America were nearly shattered. The economy sagged while states fought each other. The shackles of Britain had been thrown off, but anarchy loomed. It took three young men to convince a weak alliance of independent-minded people to join together and create a united America. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were strong individuals with wildly different personalities. Together, they wrote the breathtakingly original Federalist Papers, aimed at an unruly people who believed a strong central government would rob their hard fought freedom.  This is how three men overcame the massive opposition to our constitution’s creation. Through their relentless effort, and by a hair’s breadth, we became a united nation.







The latest book by Suzannah Dunn is yet untitled but focuses on Catherine Howard.  US and UK release May 3, 2010.  Eighteen-year-old Catherine Howard thought she could have it all: a King and a lover! Lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's new German wife, it wasn't long before a teenage Catherine caught the King's eye. Pretty, lively and young, he swiftly made her his queen. Catherine found herself showered with riches and at the centre of a lavish court life. Dizzy with the power she suddenly possessed, she failed to realise the political realities of her life. Just over a year into her marriage, during a special service at which Henry was giving thanks to God for his wonderful wife, Archbishop Cranmer passed the King a letter, listing allegations against Catharine before she became queen. Henry asked the archbishop to investigate; he was never to see his young wife again. Told twenty years on from the perspective of Catherine's close friend, Cat Tilney, the novel tells the life of this damaged, dangerous and short-lived queen. Suzannah Dunn presents us with a feisty, determined Catherine, who refused to allow men to walk over her -- even if they did happen to be the King of England.

Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry.  YA.  US release June 8, 2010.  Book about Eleanor of Aquitaine’s youngest daughter Joanna who would become queen of Sicily.

Wow - I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week!  Where has this year gone??  In case you are out hitting the malls (or cyberspace) on Black Friday, here are a few books to consider:













Nobilitas:  A Novel of Ancient Rome by Neil Himsworth.  UK release November 26, 2009.  After the withdrawal of large numbers of Roman troops in AD 407, the future of the mist-wreathed island of Britannia is uncertain. Threatened from within by inter-tribal conflict and from without by Saxon invaders, the remaining remnants of the legions face a dilemma: to stay on the island where they grew up and where many have raised families, or accept the will of Rome and take ship to the continent, perhaps never to return.   For Mannius, a trained surgeon and veteran of the legions, the choice is simple: Britain is his homeland and even the prospect of a warmer climate and greater riches practising his craft in a securer part of the empire is not temptation enough to lure him away. However, when his uncle, the governor, is murdered, Mannius realises that the threat to his survival may not only come from the Saxon hoards, and that a great weight of responsibility has landed on his unwilling shoulders: the future of an entire people.

The Sixth Surrender by Hana Samek Norton.  US release July 2010.  In the last years of her eventful life, queen-duchess Alienor of Aquitaine launches a deadly dynastic chess game to safeguard the crowns of Normandy and England for John Plantagenet, her last surviving son.  To that end, Alienor coerces into matrimony two pawns - Juliana de Charnais, a plain and pious novice determined to regain her inheritance, and Guerin de Lasalle, a cynical war-worn mercenary equally resolved to renounce his.  The womanizing Lasalle and the proud Juliana are perfectly matched for battle not love - until spies and assassins conspire to reverse their romantic fortunes.  Populated by spiried and intelligent women and executed in flawless period detail, The Sixth Surrender is a compelling love story that heralds the arrival of a major new talent in historical fiction. 

Murder Most Royal is primarily the story of the two wives Henry VIII beheaded – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Having already read Plaidy’s The Lady in the Tower (about Anne) and The Rose Without a Thorn (about Catherine), which are both told in first person, I was curious as to how they would compare. Although I’m generally not a fan of first person narration, in this case, I really preferred the other two books to this one.

Part of it may be due to the period of time they were written – told in third person, Murder Most Royal was written in the late 1940’s. The first person versions are part of Plaidy’s Queens of England series and were written nearly 40 years later. It took me a while to get into this book and there were things about the writing style that drove me nuts – lots of exclamation points, weird endings to sentences and an abundance of “thee”, “doust”, “thou” etc in the dialogue.

The majority of the book deals with Anne although intertwined with Anne’s life is that of Catherine – as Anne strings Henry along and ultimately earns herself a crown, Catherine is running wild and learning about sex at an early age and under questionable circumstances. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for poor Catherine – pretty much orphaned as a young child she desperately wanted someone to love her and as a result she took whatever love she could find as she was taken advantage of by young men who really should have known better.

Anne is neither the devil nor a saint, but a human being with good and bad qualities. She loves and is hurt and in response, seeks vengeance. She is witty and smart and discovers that she has ambitions of her own. And even though initially her primary attraction to Henry is the amount of power she has over him, eventually, she does come to love him. It's too bad the feeling does not remain mutual.  A young girl who often had good intentions, she finds she has become harder and less sympathetic as her power at court increases. As a result, she makes more enemies than friends.

At times the dialogue is scarce and instead we are given a window into the thoughts of the characters – you know, those times when you have conversations with yourself in your head – and I enjoyed those sections since they gave possible motivations for what was going on. Particularly interesting was seeing what was going on in Henry’s head, especially as he tried to justify his actions to himself. But most of the time, he is in the background.

There were a few times where Plaidy strayed from history – she has Anne giving in to Henry and becoming his mistress long before it probably really happened and the relationship between Henry and Jane Seymour (prior to Anne’s death) becomes a lot more involved than everything I’ve ever read indicated. Interestingly enough, here Anne is missing the stepmother that is mysteriously a part of The Lady in the Tower.

I thought this was OK – it often plods along and the writing is frequently overdone and melodrmatic.  Not one of my favorite Plaidy books, but definitely not the worst either!

Perks of the job:  "A king does not do murder; others do it for him."  Henry contemplating putting his hands around Anne’s throat after an argument.

Rating:  Average (2.5 stars)

Tanzanite really hates to add to your already teetering TBR pile, but she just had to share these (please don't be mad at her!):


Legacy by Susan Kay.  THE historical fiction book about Elizabeth I.  I am so glad they are reissuing this wonderful book!  US release July 2010.  The much-praised Legacy offers an exquisite psychological portrait of the Queen who defined an era, beloved and touted by readers for its stunning storytelling and intriguing
take on the monarch’s life. From the spectacular era that
bears her name comes the mesmerizing story of Elizabeth
I: her tragic childhood; her ruthless confrontations with
Mary, Queen of Scots; and her brilliant reign as Europe’s
most celebrated queen. And into this beautiful tapestry Susan Kay weaves the vibrant and compelling image of Elizabeth the woman. Proud, passionate, captivating in her intensity, she inspired men to love her from the depths of their souls—and to curse the pain of that
devotion. Teasing out an intriguing answer to the central mystery of the Virgin Queen—satisfying to readers new to Elizabeth’s life as well as die-hard fans of the Tudors— here is a premier exploration of the woman who changed the course of history, and three men whose destinies belonged to her alone.










Crimea, and beyond.  In The Dark Rose, the turbulence of Henry VIII’s reign brings passion and pain to the Morlands as they achieve ever greater wealth and prestige. Paul, great-grandson
of Eleanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illegitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death. Through birth and death, love and hatred, triumph and heartbreak, the Morlands continue proudly to claim their place amongst England’s aristocracy.



And now for covers for a couple of books I've included on recent Weekly Wishlists:


Within the Hollow Crown by Margaret Campbell Barnes.  US reissue April 1, 2010.  Set against the backdrop of a country racked by revolt and class warfare, Within the Hollow Crown showcases the true spirit of a king at the end of one of the most glorious dynasties, who wants both England’s heart and crown. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood of all English monarchs, the son of the Black Prince and grandson of Edward III has been portrayed in a dim light by history. But Margaret Campbell Barnes gives readers a different portrait of Richard II. Although his peace-loving ways set him apart from the war-mongering medieval world around him, Richard proved himself a true king by standing down a peasant revolt and outwitting the political schemes of his enemies. Struggling to uphold the valiant Plantagent dynasty, Richard and his queen, Anne of Bohemia, nonetheless manage to create an exquisite partnership, described as “one of the tenderest idylls of romance ever written.







Young Bess by Margaret Irwin.  US reissue March 1 ,2010.  This eloquent novel explores Queen Elizabeth’s life as a child and teenager, opening just before Henry VIII dies and ending when she is nearly 20. Growing up in the shadow of her mother, Anne Boleyn, young Princess Elizabeth has become adept at dodging the constant political games and royal whims that ensure her situation is never secure. When her distant father, tyrannical King Henry VIII, dies, the future brightens for Elizabeth. She is taken in by Henry’s last wife, Katherine Parr, whose new husband is Tom Seymour, the uncle of Elizabeth’s brother, the new king. Seymour, however, is playing a risky game. Marrying a widowed queen is one thing, flirting with the king’s daughter and second in line to the throne is another. As the adolescent Elizabeth finds herself dangerously attracted to him, tragedy looms ahead for her and her kingdom, and she is forced to face her future alone

I posted about this book a few weeks ago on Weekly Wishlist:


Secrets of the Tudor Court by D.L. Bodgan.  US and UK release April 27, 2010.  When young Mary Howard learns that she will be leaving her home for the grand court of King Henry VIII, to attend his mistress Anne Boleyn, she is ecstatic. But soon Mary discovers that she is a pawn in a plot devised by her brutally ambitious father, the Duke of Norfolk.  Not until she becomes betrothed to Harry Fitzroy, the King Henry’s illegitimate but acknowledged son, does Mary find love and approval. But just when she believes she is finally free of her father, the tides turn. Now Mary must learn to play her part well in a dangerous chess game that could change her life—and the course of history.

The King James Conspiracy by Philip DePoy.  US release May 11, 2010.  The turning of the wheel by the tilling of the wheat.   With these cryptic words, a conspiracy is set into motion that threatens the new translation of the Bible ordered by King James I, and the lives of the scholars working on it.   In 1605, in Cambridge England, a group of scholars brought together to create a definitive English translation of the Bible finds one of its members savagely murdered by unknown hands. Deacon Marbury, the man in charge of this group, seeks outside help to find the murderer, to protect the innocents and their work. But the people who offer to help are not who they claim to be and the man they send to Marbury—Brother Timon—has a secret past, much blood on his hands, and is an agent for those forces that wish to halt the translation itself.  But as the hidden killer continues his gruesome work, the body count among the scholars continues to rise. Brother Timon is torn between his loyalties and believes an even greater crisis looms as ancient and alarming secrets are revealed—secrets dating back to the earliest days of Christianity that threaten the most basic of its closely held beliefs.


Realm by James Jackson.  UK release June 10, 2010.  1588. In Lisbon the great Spanish Armada prepares to set sail for England. Along the coast of the Low Countries, the army of the Duke of Parma readies itself for embarkation. Threat is imminent. Yet behind it is a darker and more secretive game, one of espionage and murder, of treachery and deceit. The stiletto-blade to the back, the poison in the chalice, the tortuerer’s rack in the dungeon. This is the realm of the spy. And at its heart is the legendary Elizabethan spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. One-by-one his intelligence sources vanish, day-by-day the danger to his queen and country grows. Finally, he sends the young soldier and agent Christian Hardy to discover the truth. But to reach it, Hardy must confront the deadliest of foes, the Spanish Inquisition, turncoats among his own, and the might of the enemy fleet. Time is running out. For Hardy, for England, for its sovereign queen Elizabeth...


Henry VIII: Wolfman by A.E. Moorat.  UK release July 8, 2010.  Henry VIII was the best and bloodiest King ever to have sat on the throne of England. This fast-paced, exciting, gory, inventive and just plain gross retelling of his reign will bring to light the real man behind the myth.   When it came to his size, Henry VIII was known for being larger-than-life, with a fearsome temper and bloodthirsty reputation to match; more beast than human, some might say...   Be dragged kicking and screaming back 500 years into Tudor England...




Sacred Treason by James Forrester (pen name of Ian Mortimer).  UK release August 5, 2010.  A brilliant and enthralling debut historical thriller in the vein of C.J. Sansom.  London, December 1563. England is a troubled nation. Catholic plots against the young Queen Elizabeth spring up all over the country. At his house in the parish of St Bride, the herald William Harvey – known to everyone as Clarenceux - receives a book from his friend and fellow Catholic, Henry Machyn. But Machyn is in fear of his life, claiming that the book is deadly... What secret can it hold? And then Clarenceux is visited by the State in the form of Francis Walsingham and his ruthless enforcers, who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. If Clarenceux and his family are to survive the terror of Walsingham, and to plead with the queen’s Secretary of State Sir William Cecil for their lives, Clarenceux must solve the clues contained in the book to unlock its dangerous secrets before it’s too late. And when he does, he realises that it's not only his life and the lives of those most dear to him that are at stake...

I'm currently reading Jean Plaidy's Murder Most Royal about Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.  One of the individuals who played an important part in both of their stories was their uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.  Born in 1473, he was descended from Edward I and although he managed to keep his head after Henry VIII's disasterous marriages with his nieces, in 1546 he was imprisoned on a charge of treason.  Fortunately for the Duke, Henry died the day before the execution was scheduled to take place.  He remained imprisoned until he was released by Queen Mary in 1553.  He died a year later.  This portrait was painted by Hans Holbein the younger in 1539.

Steven Till - Medieval History - Steven is an aspiring author and his blog posts include book reviews, information about castles and other historic sites, "Today in Medieval History" and "Medieval Term of the Week" (very useful for figuring out some of the unfamiliar words found in historical fiction!).

Covers for some upcoming releases previously included in Weekly Wishlists plus a couple of new finds:





Lady Jane Grey:  Queen for Sale by Caroline Corby.  UK release July 5, 2010.  The latest in Corby's "Before They Were Famous" series (I think aimed at children and/or young adults).  Lady Jane Grey: Queen for Sale is the story of a Tudor girl doomed from birth by her royal blood. When Henry VIII dies Jane overhears that, inexplicably, in his will he has elevated her family in the event that his own children produce no heirs. Overnight the nine-year-old Jane has become a valuable pawn in the struggle for the throne of England. After being sold by her parents to Thomas Seymour, Jane is traded between powerful Tudor families as she grows older. As King Edward VI gets frailer, Jane’s value rises. She falls into the hands of Warwick, a man who will do anything to get her on the throne. When he forces her to marry his son, Jane’s fate is sealed. She must become queen or die.







The Rebel Princess by Judith Koll Healey.  US paperback release June 22, 2010.

Killer of Men by Christian Cameron.  UK release August 5, 2010.  Arimneston is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his native Plataea and and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the battle line - the wall of bronze - for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero, but a slave. Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for has now vanished, and he becomes the property of a rich citizen of Ephesus. So begins an epic journey from slavery that takes the young Arimneston through a world poised on the brink of an epic confrontation, as the emerging civilization of the Greeks starts to flex its muscles against the established empire of the Persians. As he tries to make his fortune and revenge himself on the man who disinherited him, Arimneston discovers that he has a talent that pays well in this new, violent world, for like his hero, Achilles, he is 'a killer of men'.


The Queen's Captive by Barbara Kyle.  US release August 31, 2010.  Third book in series.  THE QUEEN’S CAPTIVE begins in 1554 when twenty-year-old Princess Elizabeth is imprisoned in the Tower of London by her half-sister Queen Mary (and Elizabeth is sure she will be executed for treason). But Mary releases her to house arrest and waits for her to make a false move to condemn herself. Sir William Cecil calls on Honor Thornleigh to return from exile in Antwerp and help Elizabeth in the fight of her life. The stakes intensify for the Thornleighs when Honor’s husband Richard enters parliament to battle the Queen’s heretic-hunting policies, and their seafaring son Adam falls passionately in love with Elizabeth, and she with him – all while Honor plays a dangerous game as a double agent, aware that a false move of her own will uncover her past as a condemned heretic. To save herself, her family, and Elizabeth, Honor must turn the headstrong princess into a queen before “Bloody Mary” destroys them all.


Fatal Colors:  Towton, England's Most Brutal Battle by George Goodwin.  Non-fiction.  UK release March 1, 2011.  Palm Sunday, 1461: the battle of Towton and its immediate aftermath was the day that the greatest proportion of living Englishmen ever died in one day and in one place. However, the brutal reality of the most desperate day in medieval history is strangely forgotten. Fatal Colours marks the 550th anniversary of Towton and provides a fresh and lively interpretation of the battle and its pivotal place in the Wars of the Roses. It will be based on original documents and include new research. It places Towton in its full historical context, showing how the madness of a monarch and the collapse of his authority could lead to blood feud, barbarism and civil war. Fatal Colours grippingly describes the events leading up to the battle and introduces at the most pertinent points descriptions of the armies and their commanders; the different troops and weapons; the horrific conditions of the battle; and the different types of men who fought and died there. The narrative alternates between the action from the airless, listless and leaderless court of 1450 London to its culmination in blood-spattered snow and body-choked rivers at Towton, less than a dozen years later. With a substantive and sparkling introduction by David Starkey, Fatal Colours brings to vivid life one of the most doom-laden dates in English history.

My love life is a mess and it’s all Elizabeth Chadwick’s fault. As if it wasn’t enough for her to make me absolutely adore William Marshall in The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion, and to make me swoon over the irresistible Fulke FitzWarin in Lords of the White Castle, now, my affections are further divided with the charming Roger Bigod.


It’s 1173 and young Roger Bigod finds himself in a bad situation – he can’t seem to do anything to please his father and to make matters worse, his father, who has found himself on the losing side of a rebellion against Henry II, has lost the family title and estates as the Earl of Norfolk. Following his father’s death and aggravated by a couple of grasping half brothers and a scheming stepmother, Roger decides to declare his loyalty to the king and heads to court, hoping to regain the earldom.

Ida de Tosney doesn’t have it much better. A ward of the king, she soon finds herself under his admiring glance and not too long after, in his bed. She is horrified but realizes she has little choice in the matter and comes to accept her apparent lot in life – at least for a while.

As Roger and Ida try and navigate their way thru life at court, they notice each other and even enjoy some flirting. But Ida knows that Henry won’t let her go and Roger is not foolish enough to express an interest in the king’s mistress. But following the birth of her son William, Ida begins to see the futileness of her position and she wants something more. Trying to salvage what little is left of her self-respect, Ida manages to have Henry persuaded to do the right thing and give her a husband - Roger.

The rest of the story follows Roger and Ida’s lives following the death of Henry, through the reign of Richard I and into the beginning of life under King John. Due to Roger’s position at court, the pair is often separated and it begins to take its toll on their relationship. Underlying it all is Ida’s feeling of loss and guilt at having to leave her son (who would later be known as William Longespee) behind and the accompanying resentment that creates on both sides.

I liked Roger and Ida and enjoyed watching their relationship develop and grow stronger as they weathered the storms that threatened to drive them apart. In true Chadwick fashion, The Time of Signing is wonderfully researched and makes the time period come alive with its sights and sounds. Chadwick also manages to create likeable characters who aren’t perfect and who struggle with the realities of their lives.

Roger is calm and level headed, courageous and loyal. He is fiercely jealous and protective of his family and eventually manages to earn the respect of Ida’s son and he later helps Ida and William take the first steps towards building a relationship of their own. It was interesting to see William’s view about his parents, his upbringing and his other family members and to watch the hurt young boy who felt abandoned by his mother become a young man who saw that things were not always what he thought them to be. I think William (who became Earl of Salisbury) might be a good subject for his own story.

William Marshall, who was a contemporary of Roger and Ida, makes a few appearances in the book. Unfortunately I suppose the situation with my love life is only going to get worse with the release of Chadwick’s next book about Roger’s son, Hugh. Just don’t tell my husband – I would hate for someone to get hurt…

Rating: Excellent (5 stars)

I found a few great covers today for books recently mentioned on Weekly Wishlist - as well as a new one for the wishlist!

This is the cover for the new book by Cecelia Holland about Eleanor of Aquitaine.  For some reason, the print on the cover with the book title (which appears on the bottom in gold letters on a black background)and Holland's name does not show up on the image I copied.  Here is the info for the book which is scheduled to be released in the US on August 3, 2010. 
1151: As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor grew up knowing what it was to be regarded for herself and not for her husband’s title. Now, as wife to Louis VII and Queen of France, she has found herself unsatisfied with reflected glory—and feeling constantly under threat, even though she outranks every woman in Paris.  Then, standing beside her much older husband in the course of a court ceremony, Eleanor locks eyes
with a man—hardly more than a boy, really—across the throne room, and knows that her world has changed irrevocably…
He is Henry D’Anjou, eldest son of the Duke of Anjou, and he is in line, somewhat tenuously, for the British throne. She meets him in secret.  She has a gift for secrecy, for she is watched like a prisoner by spies even among her own women.  She is determined that Louis must set her free.  Employing deception and disguise, seduction and manipulation, Eleanor is determined to find her way to power—and make her mark on history.


The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall.  US release June 1, 2010; UK release November 10, 2010. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees.  US release April 1, 2010.