The Flower Reader

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Mon April 9th, 2012, 3:26 am

And to think that Henry VIII was very condemning (at the time) of his 'faithless' sister's divorce.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Mon April 9th, 2012, 12:19 pm

Just posting tomorrow's royal dates on the royalty website I help administer and came across this one which is somewhat pertinent to this novel.

April 10, 1512 - Birth of James V of Scotland at Linlithgow Palace
James was the son of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII and sister of Henry VIII, and was the father of Mary, Queen of Scots.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_V
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linlithgow_Palace

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Mon April 9th, 2012, 4:21 pm

Thanks everyone! Good information to have. I skipped through my challenge to read this book so I was a bit disconbobulated (sp?).

So I took some time to finish The Flower Reader this morning. It was very good! I loved how Loupas included a doggie into the story! Such a sweetie.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Mon April 9th, 2012, 4:59 pm

Yes, I loved Seilie!

I thought it was a beautifully written and well plotted story. I loved it. I thought it threw an interesting and imaginative light on Mary Queen of Scots, too. She came across as quite vulnerable and irrational at times - an insight into what she may have been like as a young girl. Most of what is taught at school centres around Darnley, Bothwell and Elizabeth I.

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Fri April 13th, 2012, 7:07 pm

Wow, I thought I would have finished the book on our pack trip -- Lord knows, with the rain and hail and such, we spent a lot of time huddled in the tent! Unfortunately, at one point an inexperienced user set my campstove into overdrive and I lunged for it so as to prevent the tent from going up in flames, during which lunge I planted a knee squarely on the screen of kindle #2. Now it shows only the upper two-thirds of the page, and whereas I like the sense of mystery, that would have created an experience too mysterious even for me.

So I am stuck mid-book, with my reading restricted to my computer.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri April 13th, 2012, 7:18 pm

[quote=""MLE""]I lunged for it so as to prevent the tent from going up in flames, during which lunge I planted a knee squarely on the screen of kindle #2. Now it shows only the upper two-thirds of the page, and whereas I like the sense of mystery, that would have created an experience too mysterious even for me.([/quote]

So sorry to hear about your Kindle Fire. Did you try explaining what happened to Amazon?

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Fri April 13th, 2012, 7:33 pm

Thanks Susan, but fortunately it wasn't a Kindle Fire, just the $79 very basic (with advertising) model. After busting the screen on my first Kindle 3G and discovering the screen costs $79 to repair and they had a new cheaper one for the same price, I simply got another one. I'll just replace it.

I like getting the most basic electronic gadgets instead of the expensive ones. Like my cell phones -- about once a year I'll forget they are in a pocket and run them through the wash. But as I get the $50 specials and don't put any info on them, I just shrug and get another.

Which was a good thing -- on this trip two guys came by in the sleeting rain looking for a lost companion, and since their cells were dead, we used ours to call the parks people. Then, because they had to stay in contact with emergency workers and continue searching, I could just hand over my cheap phone with a fully-charged spare battery (batteries seem to survive the wash fine) and not worry much about getting it back, whereas my friends all had fancy gizmos that cost upwards of $200, too nice to risk.

But I'll probably get mine back in the mail. Nothing on the news, so I guess they found her.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri April 13th, 2012, 7:51 pm

I guess I read about the flames and thought it was a Kindle Fire!!!

MLE (Emily Cotton) · Post by **MLE (Emily Cotton)** » Wed April 18th, 2012, 4:34 am

Got my replacement kindle ($55, and I sent the broken one back) and finished the Flower Reader. I liked this even better than the Second Duchess. I was impressed that, with all the stuff going on in the French wars of Religion, the book mentioned things without bogging down in the explanations (which, with the sides always shifting, would have been impossible to do without serious background on the noble families of France) and kept to the plot of the main characters.

No info-dumping, just a tease for those who want to go sleuthing on their own. But so much actual historical detail woven in. Great job, Elizabeth!

Oh, and I got my phone back in the mail. They found the lady and used it to alert the other searchers, so all is well as ends well.