Boswellbaxter's reading

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Fri January 2nd, 2009, 9:33 pm

January 2009:

A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin (HF)
Richard III: The Young King to Be by Josephine Wilkinson (NF)

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Mon February 16th, 2009, 1:37 am

So far for February:

King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes
The King's Rose by Alisa Libby

(Too bad I don't have some more review books to finish--I could finish the theme by reading The King's Grace! But that might have to wait until March.)

diamondlil · Post by **diamondlil** » Mon February 16th, 2009, 8:27 am

I am really interested in reading The King's Rose!

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sat February 28th, 2009, 1:59 pm

Squeezed in The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith for February.

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 4:58 am

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]Squeezed in The King's Grace by Anne Easter Smith for February.[/quote]

How did this one turn out? It should be hitting my doorstep on Monday.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 6:36 am

[quote=""Telynor""]How did this one turn out? It should be hitting my doorstep on Monday.[/quote]

I had mixed feelings about it. On the plus side, it's well researched, and the major historical characters, especially Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York, are three-dimensional--a vast improvement over Sandra Worth's The King's Daughter, which covers many of the same events and where most of the historical characters are either all bad or all good. I enjoyed Smith's writing style and the touches of humor (there's a very funny little scene where baby Henry pees on Elizabeth of York), and I cared about the characters enough to keep reading to the end.

On the minus side, the story is told mostly from the third-person viewpoint of Grace, a bastard daughter of Edward IV. (A very small portion of it is told through letters by Perkin Warbeck, and there are a few scenes from the point of view of Margaret of Burgundy.) This to me meant that a lot of potential for drama went untapped. Grace is pretty, spunky, and intelligent, and Smith involves her in some events by sending her on the occasional spy mission, but especially in the last part of the novel, she's off minding the cows or tending her children while the exciting events of the day are taking place elsewhere. I found this focus on Grace limiting and rather frustrating, especially after the Perkin Warbeck episode became a major plot line. I wish Smith had found a way to bring more of the viewpoints of Margaret of Burgundy, Perkin Warbeck, and Katherine Gordon into the story, for their stories to me were far more compelling than Grace's.

I'll attempt a more coherent review later!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 1:19 pm

On the minus side, the story is told mostly from the third-person viewpoint of Grace

Not another first person POV

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 2:10 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Not another first person POV

[/quote]

No. It's told in the third person, but for the most part, we see only the events that Grace sees.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 3:04 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]No. It's told in the third person, but for the most part, we see only the events that Grace sees.[/quote]

Should have read more carefully and opened my eyes first

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Sun March 1st, 2009, 10:56 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]...a vast improvement over Sandra Worth's The King's Daughter...[/quote]

I think just about anything would be better than that one; I found it to be a terrible disappointment.