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The White Queen

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 1:59 am

[quote=""zsigandr""]PG was my introduction to the HF genre. I found that once I began to read other authors, I found her style a little too "soap opera" like.

I never truly believed, nor did I want to believe, that Anne & George committed incest. The more HF I read, the less fact I found in her novels and since choose to read those I find a better researched.

I understand that it is fiction, but I don't like the comments on her website that lead those less read to believe that some of what she writes is fact.

Those who truly love the HG genre don't need incest, magic or any other attention grabber to enjoy reading. It's the fact, blended with the right amount of fiction that makes the HF genre so enjoyable![/quote]


I agree. She was the author who introduced me to HF. And I thank her for that, but frankly her last book sucked. I also agree that she is a bit soap operaish. Its a bit hard to read.

I dont mind the magic in my books though, depending on the subject. :)
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Chatterbox
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Post by Chatterbox » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 4:12 am

[quote=""cw gortner""]The truth is, it's unfair to defame the dead and call it history. Call it what it is: Fiction. Entertainment. [/quote]

in a way, it's a fine line to walk -- giving readers who may know nothing about the people they're reading about enough of the historical context to make it clear that stuff really happened, and at the same time not trying to present fiction as history. I'm always aware I'm reading fiction so I don't expect any author to confine him/herself to the known facts. In some cases (notably, Anya Seton's Katherine) that would rip the heart out of the book, because relatively few facts are known. But when historical novelists present themselves, explicitly or implicitly, as historians? That's more problematic.

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Libby
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Post by Libby » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 9:13 am

[quote=""Misfit""]I know we've discussed this at Goodreads, but without dragging out my buried copy of TOBG and the others, I could swear it was made abundantly clear that it was a novel. Which is fine, my problem is when she goes on blogs and websites and carries on about her research and keeping to the facts so that most of her readers believe her books are gospel truth. They are novels, and just a story.[/quote]

A couple of years ago I interviewed Philippa Gregory for a magazine article and she talked at length about her research and how she consulted primary sources. She mentioned that she used the same resources as historians such as David Starkey but that she interpreted them in a different way.

She was a very nice person to speak to and seemed quite genuine in her belief that her research was in depth.

But I can't say that I'm a fan of her work really.

The other annoying thing is that I was discussing something I'd written with an agent and she was holding PG up as one example of how it should be done.
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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 9:40 am

[quote=""Libby""]A couple of years ago I interviewed Philippa Gregory for a magazine article and she talked at length about her research and how she consulted primary sources. She mentioned that she used the same resources as historians such as David Starkey but that she interpreted them in a different way.
I think that's fair do's. I would think a lot of novelists do this. If you do interpret them contrary to the prevailing belief or take sensationalist primary sources for your research, you should say so in the author's note to be fair to the reader, and you shouldn't defame the dead.
She was a very nice person to speak to and seemed quite genuine in her belief that her research was in depth.
PG has tremendous charm.........
The other annoying thing is that I was discussing something I'd written with an agent and she was holding PG up as one example of how it should be done.
[/quote]

It might be annoying, but the agent was right if you are looking at sales. The Other Queen has sold in paperback so far 112,675 copies - which is streets ahead of the competition. While those are sales built on a brand name, it still goes to show that there's a massive groundswell of fans who read and love the books.
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Libby
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Post by Libby » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 1:36 pm

Well to be fair to the agent she did mention you as well, EC. ;)
By Loyalty Bound - the story of the mistress of Richard III.

http://www.elizabethashworth.com

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 2:10 pm

[quote=""Libby""]Well to be fair to the agent she did mention you as well, EC. ;) [/quote]

Flattering :) Sadly I don't have those kind of sales to show for it even if it is my day job!
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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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 2:30 pm

Over at the product page at B&N,
BROTHER TURNS ON BROTHER to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.

The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.
All these "boy king" comments are really making me wonder what direction she's going to take with this one.
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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 2:40 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Over at the product page at B&N,



All these "boy king" comments are really making me wonder what direction she's going to take with this one.[/quote]

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.
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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 5:39 pm

Why is the author 'uniquely qualified'? Have I missed something?
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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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Fri July 3rd, 2009, 6:14 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Why is the author 'uniquely qualified'? Have I missed something?[/quote]

That one had me scratching my head. I can think of a few authors who I would consider uniquely qualified to write on this period but she's not one I'd pick.

The boy king bit scares me, I'm hoping she doesn't turn it into something off the wall weird and kinky.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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