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Ever Heard of This Book?

Ever run into a book that sounds intriguing, but you can't find a description about it anywhere? Ask your fellow members--maybe they've heard of it!
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boswellbaxter
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Ever Heard of This Book?

Post by boswellbaxter » Fri August 29th, 2008, 3:36 am

The Green Popinjays by Eleanor Fairburn. Does anyone know who/what it's about? She wrote a series of books set during the Wars of the Roses, but I don't think this is related to them.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Fri August 29th, 2008, 4:32 am

LOL, Boswell! WorldCat categorizes this novel as "Great Britain - History - Plantagenets - 1154-1399." That doesn't narrow it down much, but does eliminate the Wars of the Roses period. There are a few public libraries in the U.S. that have it, so if you're really interested, you might try ordering it through Interlibrary Loan. If you do, let us know what it's about!
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Telynor
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Post by Telynor » Fri August 29th, 2008, 5:30 am

I just did a search for Eleanor Fairburn on Amazon, and it looks as though there is an entire crop of books that she did that were set in and around the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors:

The Green Popinjays (described as a 'novel based in historical fact)
The Rose in Spring
White Rose, Summer's End
Winter's Rose
The Rose at Harvest End
The White Seahorse
Crowned Ermine
The Semper Inheritance
The Golden Hive

Her name is also given as Catherine Carfax.

I did a bit of poking about on the word Popinjay, and there is a book by Geoffrey Richardson, called The Popinjays, that is about the Woodville family, evidently derived from their coat-of-arms, that had a popinjay as part of the design.

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Post by Melisende » Fri August 29th, 2008, 6:09 am

Could it be a snide comment on the perception that the Woodvilles were 'upstarts" .....
"For my part, I adhere to the maxim of antiquity: The throne is a glorious sepulchre."

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri August 29th, 2008, 12:50 pm

The four "Rose" books are about Cecily Neville and family. The White Seahorse is about Grace O'Malley. Thanks to Sarah, I found out that The Golden Hive is about Nest of Deheubarth. But the Popinjay one, and another called The Sleeping Salamander (love that title) have me baffled.

I think the title of the Geoffrey Richardson book, which like all of his nonfiction books is very pro-Richard III and very anti-Woodville, was taken from a line in Bulwer-Lytton's Last of the Barons, and probably is meant to be snide.

I believe that people who sell used books on online bookstores should be required to post a little description of the contents of the books they sell. It's maddening with some older books where there's nothing on the page to give you an idea of what the book's about. You'd think the sellers would do it just to increase their chance of selling the book!
Susan Higginbotham
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Post by Ariadne » Fri August 29th, 2008, 3:34 pm

Hi Boswell, I own a copy of Popinjays and read it some time ago. I'm home this morning so will try to locate it on my shelves and report back, because my memory is vague on the main character's name. It's not anyone terribly well known.

I think Sleeping Salamander is a modern mystery but am not positive.

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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri August 29th, 2008, 3:56 pm

Thanks! I knew if anyone had that book, it'd be you!
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


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Ariadne
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Post by Ariadne » Fri August 29th, 2008, 3:57 pm

Well, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought. I was worried the book was buried behind stuff in my back bedroom.

Here's the note at the very beginning:

The Green Popinjays is an historical novel set in the North Riding of Yorkshire during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II of England. It concerns "Helen of Cleveland" - the Lady Lucia de Thweng, whose beauty and misconduct were legends throughout the land. All the characters in this book were once living people. All the events have a foundation in the history of Cleveland, but families have died out, documents have been destroyed and tombstones defaced. Only fiction can bridge the gaps.

My copy is a 1998 trade paperback, 3rd edition, revised. Originally published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1962. The back cover says her Catherine Carfax novels are crime thrillers. Crowned Ermine is about Anne of Brittany. The Golden Hive was about the so-called "Helen of Wales," so you can see a trend here. I remember it as a decent but average read, not her best.

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Post by boswellbaxter » Fri August 29th, 2008, 4:28 pm

Thanks! "My" period, so I guess I'll have to read it.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


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

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Ariadne
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Post by Ariadne » Fri August 29th, 2008, 4:33 pm

Edward II does show up in a couple of scenes. Along with the wonderfully-named Marmaduke de Thweng.

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