Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Archduchess of Burgundy by Julia Fox. Non-fiction. UK release February 1, 2011.
'Sister Queens' retells a familiar story in a completely fresh way. It's a gripping tale of love, of sacrifice, of the demands of duty, and of the conflict between ambition and loyalty. Katherine (better known as Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first queen) and Juana, daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, were sister queens. While their royal birth conferred entry into a world of privilege and plenty, as it did for their two siblings, Isabella and Maria, it came with a devastating personal price-tag. Since monarchs operated within an international as well as a domestic setting, it was inevitable that Ferdinand and Isabella would use their children as dynastic pawns, but daughters, unlike sons, were expendable. They might be happy, they might not. It was largely a matter of chance. Isabella and Maria, married to Portuguese princes, both died young and far from home. And when they too were sent as brides to foreign shores, Katherine and Juana were to need all their courage, resolve and inner strength as they faced the harsh realities of life in a male-dominated world.
Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Forthcoming Books: 2011 Edition
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
I saw that on Amazon, but since 2011 was so far in the future I was going to wait til next year to add it on LOL.
SM
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
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.
- boswellbaxter
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3066
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: North Carolina
- Contact:
I'm looking forward to the Towton one!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4378
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
I live near Towton (info). I drive past the monument when I go to the supermarket. Flowers are still frequently left there. Apparently it was just a sea of red from there to the city of York, about 10 miles. Bones are still being dug up in people's gardens plus relics. Here's some other interesting info about what has also been found.
Towton is a strange little village - at Christmas-time it looks like fairy land. There are so many lights, especially for such a small place. There's a sign as you approach - 'Welcome to Towton Lights'. It always makes me smile.
Towton is a strange little village - at Christmas-time it looks like fairy land. There are so many lights, especially for such a small place. There's a sign as you approach - 'Welcome to Towton Lights'. It always makes me smile.
Last edited by Vanessa on Wed November 11th, 2009, 10:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
- boswellbaxter
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3066
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: North Carolina
- Contact:
Thanks for posting the links! What a tragic battle, and a suitable day to remember the fallen.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
From the news page at Alison Weir's website:
NF: "Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore"
Alison is currently working on this, her next biography, which is scheduled for publication in 2011.
http://www.alisonweir.org.uk/news/index.asp
SM
NF: "Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore"
Alison is currently working on this, her next biography, which is scheduled for publication in 2011.
http://www.alisonweir.org.uk/news/index.asp
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
I'm posting this update (discussed in the 2010 thread) here since that's where it fits best now. Per her publicist at Penguin Canada, Pauline Gedge's The King's Man, book 3 in her latest trilogy, has been postponed until Feb 2011.
The Deadly Sisterhood: Eight Princesses of the Italian Renaissance by Leonie Frieda. Non-fiction. UK release January 1, 2011.
The book is one of drama on a grand scale, a Renaissance epic, as Christendom emerged from the shadows of the calamitous 14th century. The sweeping tale involves inspired and corrupt monarchs, the finest thinkers, the most brilliant artists, and the greatest beauties in Christendom. Here is the story of eight of its most remarkable women, who are all joined by birth, marriage and friendship and who ruled for a time in place of their men-folk: Lucrezia Turnabuoni (Queen Mother of Florence, the power behind the Medici throne), Clarice Orsini (Roman princess, feudal wife), Beatrice d'Este (Golden Girl of the Renaissance), Caterina Sforza (Lioness of the Romagna), Isabella d'Este (the Acquisitive Marchesa), Giulia Farnese ('la bella', the family asset), Isabella d'Aragona (the Weeping Duchess) and Lucrezia Borgia (the Virtuous Fury). The men play a secondary role in this grand saga; whenever possible the action will be seen through the eyes our eight heroines. These eight women experienced great riches, power and the warm smile of fortune, but they also knew banishment, poverty, the death of a husband or the loss of one or more of their children. As each of the chosen heroines comes to the fore in her turn, she is handed the baton by her 'sister' and Leonie Frieda recounts the role each woman played in the hundred-year drama that is THE DEADLY SISTERHOOD.
The book is one of drama on a grand scale, a Renaissance epic, as Christendom emerged from the shadows of the calamitous 14th century. The sweeping tale involves inspired and corrupt monarchs, the finest thinkers, the most brilliant artists, and the greatest beauties in Christendom. Here is the story of eight of its most remarkable women, who are all joined by birth, marriage and friendship and who ruled for a time in place of their men-folk: Lucrezia Turnabuoni (Queen Mother of Florence, the power behind the Medici throne), Clarice Orsini (Roman princess, feudal wife), Beatrice d'Este (Golden Girl of the Renaissance), Caterina Sforza (Lioness of the Romagna), Isabella d'Este (the Acquisitive Marchesa), Giulia Farnese ('la bella', the family asset), Isabella d'Aragona (the Weeping Duchess) and Lucrezia Borgia (the Virtuous Fury). The men play a secondary role in this grand saga; whenever possible the action will be seen through the eyes our eight heroines. These eight women experienced great riches, power and the warm smile of fortune, but they also knew banishment, poverty, the death of a husband or the loss of one or more of their children. As each of the chosen heroines comes to the fore in her turn, she is handed the baton by her 'sister' and Leonie Frieda recounts the role each woman played in the hundred-year drama that is THE DEADLY SISTERHOOD.
- SonjaMarie
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 5688
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Vashon, WA
- Contact:
Came across that on Amazon or AUK a few days ago added it to my WL. So many books and I just know I'll never get to read as many as I'd like, sigh!
SM
SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965
My Booksfree Queue
Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965