Advice Needed On These Historical Novels

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Sun April 24th, 2011, 11:01 am

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
[/quote]

I love this one - it's one of my all time favorite historical novels and I've been itching to read Hollick's other novels now but they're so long, I need to find time for them.

Exit the Actress: A Novel by Priya Parmar

Everyone raves about this one but I tried the Kindle sample and didn't like the format - it's written in journal format with letters and newspaper articles thrown in. One Goodreads review described it as "the Twitter version of Nell Gwynn's life", lol. Not my style but if you're okay with the format, you'll probably love it since everyone else does. I didn't rate it since I only read the sample.

Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson

It constantly swaps between Isabella's and Roger's first person points of view, which I wasn't a fan of. I think it might have been better in third person. But otherwise, pretty good - I gave it 3/5 stars.

Amanda · Post by **Amanda** » Sun April 24th, 2011, 11:50 am

I loved The King's Touch too. It was my first Restoration era read I think........

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun April 24th, 2011, 1:00 pm

[quote=""Amanda""]I loved The King's Touch too. It was my first Restoration era read I think........[/quote]

I agree about this one, and probably would have rated it higher but it was in interlibrary and I had to rush through it as it was due back and you can't renew them. I got kind of sick-tracked when Devil's Brood came out

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Sun April 24th, 2011, 10:25 pm

Here's my take on these:

For the King by Catherine Delors -- This turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. I love it when an author can surprise me.

The King's Touch by Jude Morgan -- This one wasn't bad either.

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko -- first read this as a teen, and love it. A touch dated, but lots of fun.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Mon April 25th, 2011, 1:45 pm

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]
The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland (July 2011) (?)
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick
The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of Italian Renaissance by Jeanne Kalogridis (July 2011) (?)
Exit the Actress: A Novel by Priya Parmar
Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer by N. Gemini Sasson
Queen By Right: A Novel by Anne Easter Smith (May 2011)
The Adventures of Alianore Audley by Brian Wainwright
SM[/quote]

I did not enjoy Cecelia Holland's Great Maria but I cannot speak to The King's Witch.

I love anything by Helen Hollick-although her I am the Chosen King had quite a few grammatical errors that distracted from the story. Same goes for Jeanne Kalogridis-she goes a little too dark sometimes, but she weaves one heck of a story.
I bought Exit the Actress based on recommendations from Sharon Kay Penman and this forum. Same with N. Gemini Sasson's Robert the Bruce series. I haven't read either of them yet, so I can't comment.
I thoroughly enjoyed Brian Wainwright's Alianore Audley and if you need a good laugh, put this one at the top of your TBR list.
I've only read Anne Easter Smith's A Rose for the Crown, but it was an easy read and I can only imagine how she will portray Cecily. I am one of those who loves my roses perfectly white, so I enjoy her stories

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Fri April 29th, 2011, 4:29 am

Thanks all for your advice. I removed some of the ones I decided not to bother with.

SM

Bethany67 · Post by **Bethany67** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 11:59 am

I'm reading 'To Be Queen' by Christy English at the moment. Eleanor of Aquitaine is my fave historical character, and this just might be the best novel about her that I've read; it beats Alison Weir's one hands down, which I started but put aside for now. A lot of them gloss over her political responsibilities as Duchess of Aquitaine and rush on to her marriage to Henry, but this one depicts her as a very strong character moulded and trained by her father in terms of political games, and the enmity between her and the Church in the form of Suger is very well done indeed. I do see Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor (The Lion In Winter) when I read this. I'd say it's definitely worth reading, although I'm only 4 years into her marriage to Louis so far.

Miss Moppet · Post by **Miss Moppet** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 10:57 pm

I've only read two of these:

For the King by Catherine Delors (July 2011)

Loved this, review on the blog & I think I posted it on this site too. Definitely worth a read but it's not the romantic novel the cover suggests, it's a police procedural and paints a wonderful picture of early Napoleonic Paris.

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon's First Love by Annemarie Selinko

I think this is worth reading too although I had the same problems with the diary format that others did and Desiree's life is somewhat sugared up. It's one to turn to when you're in the mood for a frothy 1950s saga, kind of the equivalent of a novelisation of Gigi (as opposed to the novel the musical was actually adapted from).

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 3:47 am

Has any one read "The Queen's Governess" by Karen Harper, and if so, how was it?

SM

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 4:08 am

Also what about "The People's Queen" by Vanora Bennett?

SM