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The White Queen

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
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Post by Madeleine » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 7:32 pm

There's an interview with PG on the Harper Collins website where she states quite clearly that she's a novelist, and writes fiction based around the facts that are known, so I think that's a fair comment. And the claims that Anne committed incest, and had lots of affairs, have been around for a long time, and so are nothing new at all, as are the claims that she had six fingers and was therefore a witch - I remember being told that at primary school (longer ago than I care to remember); if anything, I think PG gives a more balanced view of Anne than I've read before, and I got the impression that Henry was latching onto the slightest act of suspicious behaviour in his bid to get rid of Anne.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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Perdita
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Post by Perdita » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 10:32 pm

Like others here, PG introduced me to HF and I'll always have an affection for her for that, even if I've grown out of her style now and moved on to other authors.. she introduced me to the genre and I've spent good money on other HF authors (some of whom post here) thanks to her.
It seems a shame that she's so disliked here - her book cover is no cheesier than other HF covers out there and writing style is always subjective.

*My tin hat is firmly on!*

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 10:52 pm

Actually, I did like The Boleyn Inheritance--I thought she did a good job capturing the voice of Katherine Howard in particular. But this one, at least the excerpt, sounds like a remake of Rosemary Hawley Jarman's The King's Grey Mare, only in less flowery language. We shall see!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 11:01 pm

[quote=""Perdita""]Like others here, PG introduced me to HF and I'll always have an affection for her for that, even if I've grown out of her style now and moved on to other authors.. she introduced me to the genre and I've spent good money on other HF authors (some of whom post here) thanks to her.
It seems a shame that she's so disliked here - her book cover is no cheesier than other HF covers out there and writing style is always subjective.

*My tin hat is firmly on!*[/quote]

Her novel A Respectable Trade remains one of my favourite historical novels (I seem to remember Divia had issues with that one, but not knowing the subject, I was able to read it without being pulled up. I'm also one of the few who really enjoyed The Wise Woman. Actually, I guess, thinking about it - and you have made me think Perdita, which is a good thing, my favourites (excepting Wideacre where the incest is an issue) are the fictitious ones. I also guess that part of that is having had my 'Tudor' moment when I was 20 and not being so much into the period any more.
I will certainly read The White Queen - from a position of mild ignorance re the history - but I will be very interested in the opinions of readers such as Boswell who know this period inside out.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 11:02 pm

I liked the BI, at the time I did enjoy TOBG, and the Constant Princess was pretty good. But her last book was horrible, in my opinion.

From what I have read so far I'm not sure I will be wowed by this novel. Maybe I will be but its a library book and not something I want to buy.

We grow out of authors and books as our tastes change a mature. I think this is what has happened with me....and maybe some others.
News, views, and reviews on books and graphic novels for young adult.
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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Sat July 4th, 2009, 3:58 am

I think Perdita has made a good point and I apologize if I've come across as disliking Philippa's work; her sales are absolutely phenomenal (EC, those numbers are . . . well, humbling, to say the least), so she continues to pave the way, and I did enjoy The Queen's Fool and The Boleyn Inheritance. I also reviewed A Respectable Trade for The Historical Novel Reviews and I found it to be a marvelous novel. It remains my favorite book of hers, too. I read the Wideacre series and enjoyed it, as well, particularly the first one. It's an accomplishment to write a book in the POV of a character who is essentially amoral and keep it as compelling as Wideacre is.

And as others have commented, she has the right to interpret the facts according to her sensibility. I do not deny that she researches in depth; because it's evident that she does. I haven't read The Other Queen yet, but I have it. In fact, I bought it at an event of hers that I helped set up for National Bookclub Month last year. So, I have met her in person. I also have most of her other novels, including a rare first edition of The Favored Child. I'll no doubt buy The White Queen when it is released; I'm not as well-versed with the Plantagenets as I am with the Tudors, and thus I'll be less likely to have strong feelings about the historical figures. I have strong feelings about Anne Boleyn, but I understand TOBG is, in the final say, a fictional account.
Last edited by cw gortner on Sat July 4th, 2009, 5:47 am, edited 14 times in total.
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

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cw gortner
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Post by cw gortner » Sat July 4th, 2009, 4:02 am

[quote=""Madeleine""]There's an interview with PG on the Harper Collins website.[/quote]

That is an interesting interview, Madeleine. Thanks for pointing it out.
Last edited by cw gortner on Sat July 4th, 2009, 5:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
THE QUEEN'S VOW available on June 12, 2012!
THE TUDOR SECRET, Book I in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
THE LAST QUEEN


www.cwgortner.com

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Alaric
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Post by Alaric » Sat July 4th, 2009, 12:25 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]That didn't bother me so much, since I suppose that Elizabeth, who's about five years older than Edward and not well disposed toward the Yorkists, could think of him as a boy--at first, at least.[/quote]

Wasn't Edward IV approaching his mid 20s when they married? I wouldn't think he'd still be considered a "boy" at that age in that period.

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sat July 4th, 2009, 12:40 pm

[quote=""Alaric""]Wasn't Edward IV approaching his mid 20s when they married? I wouldn't think he'd still be considered a "boy" at that age in that period.[/quote]

He was 22; Elizabeth was about five years older (her exact birthdate is unknown). As I read the excerpt, though, Elizabeth is speaking scornfully when she refers to him as a boy, not expressing the literal truth. So that part of the excerpt didn't bother me.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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Alaric
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Post by Alaric » Sat July 4th, 2009, 1:55 pm

Ah, right, I see what you mean. I didn't read the excerpt and assumed literal truth as certainly in that period 22 is well into adulthood.

22 is a good age to be anyway. :p

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