William I (the Conqueror)...

Chiliarch · Post by **Chiliarch** » Tue July 2nd, 2013, 9:26 am

Thanks for the reply. I shall look it up at Goodreads.

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed July 3rd, 2013, 2:00 am

Maureen Peters (and her many pseudonyms) mostly wrote historical romances set around the Plantagenet and Tudor periods, but maybe she took the occasional historical period detour here and there?

There are any number of novels where William is a significant but background figure - something like Sarah Pernell's The Gift and the Promise, for example, or Cecelia Holland's Firedrake.

Chiliarch · Post by **Chiliarch** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 7:26 am

Tanzanite has very kindly confirmed that The Dragon and the Rose is, indeed, about William and Matilda.

Only problem now is getting hold of it at a reasonable price.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 2:08 pm

[quote=""Chiliarch""]Tanzanite has very kindly confirmed that The Dragon and the Rose is, indeed, about William and Matilda.

Only problem now is getting hold of it at a reasonable price.[/quote]

Oy veh. I just looked at the prices. Not much hope for an interlibrary loan in the States either

Mythica · Post by **Mythica** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 5:18 pm

Maybe it'll get republished like the Jean Plaidy ones - you'd think with how popular the genre is right now, the publisher would be wise to reissue them. I just requested on Amazon for it to be available on Kindle - maybe that will at least let the publisher know there is interest in it.

annis · Post by **annis** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 9:03 pm

It does pay to remember that oldies are not necessarily goodies, and I certainly woudn't spend a fortune on an older novel like this without knowing it was worth it. I read a lot of Jean Plaidy back in the day (40 years ago?) and while some were good I wouldn't have thought that a lot of them merit reissue - very dry by today's standards for HF.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri July 5th, 2013, 11:43 pm

[quote=""annis""]It does pay to remember that oldies are not necessarily goodies, and I certainly woudn't spend a fortune on an older novel like this without knowing it was worth it. I read a lot of Jean Plaidy back in the day (40 years ago?) and while some were good I wouldn't have thought that a lot of them merit reissue - very dry by today's standards for HF.[/quote]

Excellent advice. It can be so tempting to run and out buy some of these, but without reviews or other reader opinions, it's a slippery slope. I'm always happy to experiment with these older books, but not with the high price tags.

JaneConsumer · Post by **JaneConsumer** » Sun July 7th, 2013, 12:09 am

[quote=""Mythica""]Is Chadwick's "The Conquest" actually about William? The description doesn't mention him. I thought The Winter Mantle was about William.
[/quote]

Im nearly finished with The Winter Mantle (loving it!). William is definitely a background figure for the first half of the story, but it isnt about him, per se.

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Wed July 10th, 2013, 4:50 am

Is Winter Mantle part of a set or a stand-alone? I've been wanting to read that one.

JaneConsumer · Post by **JaneConsumer** » Wed July 10th, 2013, 11:51 pm

My impression is that The Winter Mantle is a standalone, but I never looked into whether it was part of a series. Its really worth reading to get a feel for the changes that took place during Williams reign.