Eleanor's Army

'The Revolt' by Clara Dupont-Monod (Quercus, 2020)

As long term readers know, I love historical fiction.  I'm also a sucker for a beautiful book, so when Quercus Books tweeted the gorgeous Chris Wormell cover for 'The Revolt' by Clara Dupont-Monod, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.

'The Revolt' is a story of medieval rule-breaker Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, told largely by her favourite son, Richard, the eventual King Richard the Lionheart.  A woman aware of her status and worth as Duchess of Aquitaine and heir of Poitiers, she expects to rule beside her husband, not be owned by him.  After her disappointing first marriage is annulled, she believes she's found a better match in Henry Plantagenet, later King Henry II of England.  Unfortunately, he has other ideas, and by the time their children are grown, he has taken control of her dominions, subjugating her people and ransacking the land.  Eleanor, her sons and ex-husband King Louis of France band together to revolt against the hated ruler, but can they defeat the warrior king?  And if they fail, what punishment will be devised for this bold and beautiful queen?

A Crowning Achievement

Firstly, an apology.  I meant to have published this blog post by now, but unfortunately I caught one of the many bugs going around at the moment, so I've been out of action for a while.  Hope you can forgive me and that this was worth the wait!

Late last year, the lovely people at Bantam Press kindly sent me a copy of 'The Shogun's Queen', the latest novel in the Shogun Quartet by Lesley Downer, a story of women, politics and change in 19th century Japan.

'The Shogun's Queen'
by Lesley Downer
(Bantam Press, 2016)

Growing up in rural Japan, the daughter of a minor Samurai nobleman, Okatsu, learns to be bold, clever and headstrong at a time when girls should be meek, polite and obedient, much to the despair of her mother.  But, unknown to Okatsu, the qualities that make her different from other women will also set her on a unique path that will make her a vital player in a complex game of politics and power.  Her feudal lord, Shimazu Nariakira, Prince of Satsuma and second in power only to the Shogun himself, plans to make her central to a plot to bring about much needed change in a country that is struggling to find its place in the modern world.  As ships arrive from Holland and America, bringing traders who demand more and more from the ancient and very private culture, Okatsu finds she must sacrifice the life she knew in order to ensure the survival of the country she loves...

I have to be honest and say that I didn't take to Okatsu - or Princess Atsu as she's more frequently called in the book - straight away, but it wasn't really her fault.  The trouble is that headstrong, fiery yet beautiful female characters seem a bit of cliche and there's part of me that wants to hear about the ugly people!  But I was determined to stick with her and I'm glad that I did.  This is a story of perspectives (particular of insiders and outsiders) and as Downer takes us with Atsu on her journey to the Women's Palace, we see her vulnerabilities as well as her strengths.  I felt for her as she struggled with the demands of Lord Nariakira, etiquette and her own desires, finding excuses as well as untapped sources of strength as she matures into the queen of the title.  By the end of the novel, she was a person, not a cliche and I was sorry to leave her.

I've said before that I prefer historical stories of political intrigue over romance, and 'The Shogun's Queen' stuck the right chord for me.  There was enough emotion to make Atsu relatable and human and enough plotting and competing motivations to keep it interesting.  It read like the best books by Philippa Gregory and I feel that fans of Gregory would very much enjoy 'The Shogun's Queen'.

While Gregory's work is firmly rooted in her excellent knowledge of English history, Downer's superlative knowledge of Japanese culture gives 'The Shogun's Queen' wonderful depth and texture.  Once again she performs the perfect balancing act, giving us enough information so we can inhabit Atsu's world but without overwhelming the reader and distracting from the story being told.  The beautiful fabrics, ever changing landscapes, labyrinthine buildings, formalised speech, delicate foodstuffs - all combine to give us a three dimensional world that's easy to slip in to.

'The Shogun's Queen' features an interesting cast of characters, but once we're secluded in the Women's Palace, it's the Lady Dowager Honju-in, the Shogun's mother, who dominates.  Talk about the mother-in-law from Hell!  Representing an unsustainable desire to resist change and using every devious trick she's got to keep her power and influence, Lady Honju-in is a fantastic villain, the perfect contrast to the naive and uncertain Atsu.

I'd thoroughly recommend this book to any fans of historical fiction looking for something set outside of the UK.  To be honest, I'm a bit sick of stories about the Tudors, so this was perfect for me - the same high quality, but telling me about a time and a place I knew little about.  Downer skilfully crafts Atsu's story, wearing her knowledge lightly and offering a new perspective on a fascinating culture.  I'm really looking forward to reading other books in the series.

Now, what next...!

Girls on Film

Finishing 'The Kingmaker's Daughter' by Philippa Gregory meant I felt ready to watch the BBC series 'The White Queen', starring Rebecca Ferguson (Elizabeth Woodville), Amanda Hale (Margaret Beaufort, 'The Red Queen') and Faye Marsay (Anne Neville, 'The Kingmaker's Daughter').

Originally broadcast  on BBC One in 2013, 'The White Queen' is based on three of the Cousins' War novels, 'The White Queen', 'The Red Queen' and 'The Kingmaker's Daughter'.  It brings to life a dark and complex world of conspiracies, alliances and dynastic ambition, not to mention all the books' key players.

I'm really glad that I waited until I'd read all three of the source novels before watching this.  The reason why films and TV series often fail to convince readers is simply because their writers can't squeeze everything in a book(s) into a few hours of screen time.  This leaves them with a tough choice; cut chunks of the original story or squeeze everything in without covering it properly.  My memory may be letting me down, but I'm pretty sure that the makers of 'The White Queen' went for the latter option, which meant that it was actually a really useful reminder of what happened in the books rather than a standalone piece in its own right.  It may not be what the BBC originally intended, but I feel well prepared for 'The White Princess' and her successors now!

On the whole, I thought the casting was strong and the actors did a good job.  Rebecca Ferguson and the other leading ladies were excellent, but Max Irons (Edward IV) didn't work for me and James Frain (Earl of Warwick) wasn't my image of the Kingmaker at all. Frain's a great actor who I've enjoyed in many other films and programmes, but I feel he's at his best when playing slippery politicians rather than bullish warriors.  I just couldn't imagine him having the physical power to wield a sword in battle, which was slightly distracting.  Just like the books, it was an interesting ensemble piece, however, and it worked because the collective talent present was so strong.  I've spent so much time on IMDb checking people I'd seen somewhere before!

A lot of work had clearly gone into the gorgeous costumes and the use of colour was thoughtful.  Several times I found myself wishing I could wear a few of the stunning gowns - both luxurious and warm looking!  But where were the hats?  Duchess Cecily had a couple of nice bits of headgear,but on the whole they seemed to be completely absent, which seemed a bit odd when they got so many mentions in the books.

The other element I usually like in a historical drama is the locations.  'The White Queen' was filmed in Belgium and provided some stunning backgrounds.  The set piece coronations and court scenes offered a glimpse of medieval glamour and made rooms that seem spartan by today's standards rich and opulent, full of brightly coloured glass and richly embroidered hangings.  But all too often it felt restricted and fairy tale-esque and none of the exteriors really felt like, well, England.

On the whole, I enjoyed 'The White Queen', but it'll probably be a while before I watch it again.  It was a useful revision tool, but on the whole felt too clean and tidy to have the sense of time and place that I always bang on about in historical novels.  On the one hand, I completely understand that the tumble-down structures we see today aren't the highly painted and richly furnished castles and churches our ancestors would've recognised, but equally everything looked a bit too fresh out of the box to be completely believable in this programme.

I've heard rumours that a new series based on 'The White Princess' may follow.  I think I would watch it, but I really do need to read the books first!

Now, back to the books!

Related Links

Official BBC One Website
IMDb site
Philippa Gregory Official Website

Queen of Broken Hearts

Bet you can't guess what this post is going to be about!

Earlier this month, I finally finished 'Marie Antoinette: The Journey' by esteemed historical biographer Antonia Fraser.

'Marie Antoinette: The Journey' is a hefty tome which examines the life of the last queen of France

'Marie Antoinette: The Journey'
by Antonia Fraser
(Phoenix, 2002)

and seeks the truth behind the many myths that surround her.  Daughter of the matriarchal Queen-Empress Maria Teresa, Marie Antoinette was born to be a pawn the game of European dynastic power.  Unfortunately, she was ill-suited to political machinations and unprepared for the cruel popularist media that thrived in the lead up to the French Revolution.  Innocent of much she was accused of and made a scapegoat by power-hungry politicians, this is the tragic story of a woman whose life became so unbearable, the guillotine's blade came as a relief.

I began reading this about seven years ago after finishing a book about Marie Antoinette's second son Louis-Charles ('The Lost King of France' by Deborah Cadbury).  It too was a heart wrenching story, but, as is often the case with history, reading about one person led to another.  Since studying A Level French I'd always wanted to know more about this period, partly because I couldn't believe the language assistant's claim that the whole French royal family had simply been wiped out.

'Marie Antoinette: The Journey' is excellent in that it is focussed, well researched and refrains from huge leaps of supposition, but this does mean it lies more at the textbook than popular history end of the spectrum.  In itself, this isn't a bad thing, it just means that it's not an easy ready.

Although, given the subject matter, it was never going to be an easy read.  I suspect that one of the reasons why it's taken me so long to finish this book is that I knew where it was going to end.  Marie Antoinette was no angel, but she was still a human being and no-one deserved the vilification that she received at the hands of the media and her captors.  Throughout this book, she comes across as the wrong person cast in the wrong role and you can't help wondering what would've happened if she and Louis XVI had been born in a different class at a different time and in a different place.  Thinking back over representations of the Queen I've encountered on TV and in films, it makes my stomach turn to realise that more than 200 years later old prejudices still rule.

So, overall, this book is not for the faint hearted, in terms of content or style.  It is interesting and informative, however, so I would recommend it for anyone who wants an insight into this almost legendary monarch.  Just be prepared to work at it.

Now, what next...

Sorry, Ma'am

I, like many people, have often looked at the Royal Family during state functions or PR opportunities, as they shake hands with complete strangers and do their best to be interested in what they have to say, and thought to myself "What are they really thinking?".  Finally, in 'Gin O'Clock' by the Queen of Twitter, we might find out.

'Gin O'Clock' by The Queen
(of Twitter) (Hodder, 2012)

Following in the ink blots of her illustrious ancestress Queen Victoria, HM Elizabeth II has decided to publish her memoirs.  But, being a modern queen in modern times, rather than writing them in a leather bound journal, she's made full use of the latest technology, tweeting her thoughts to her adoring subjects.  (At last we know what she keeps in her handbag - a smartphone complete with Twitter ap!).  'Gin O'Clock' is a collection of her messages from December 2011 until June 2012, a time of weddings, visits and - if this is to be believed - an awful lot of wild parties and fried breakfasts.

I bought this book last year because my reading was getting far too serious and I wanted something to cheer me up.  Like more than a million other people, I'd followed @Queen_UK and found the quips funny enough to want to read 'Gin O'Clock'.  After all, I've read several books based on blogs, some of which I've really enjoyed.

Unfortunately, I don't think the humour really translates.  In losing it's immediacy and context in the big news of the day, I think the satire has lost it's edge.  I found myself scrabbling around in my memory trying to recall what was going on at the time, which didn't help really.

Also, after a while some of the jokes also wore a bit thin.  Nick Clegg's colouring in, Prince Edward's campness and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall's interesting fancy dress choices also lost their sparkle after about 100 pages.  That's why it's taken me so long to read it (probably about eight months).  I found the best way to enjoy it was to put it down long enough to have forgotten the running jokes.

I also found the structure rather annoying.  Each part starts with a tweet, which is then covered in more detail.  Trouble is that a few lines in the tweet is often repeated as part of the prose, so something that was funny when first read becomes irritating very quickly.

'Gin O'Clock' does have its very funny moments and unlike some satire it's not really mean or cruel, more cheeky and upbeat.  Unfortunately there weren't quite enough for me.

So I guess we'll just have to keep wondering what is going on in the heads of our Royal Family.  Or at least hope that Her Majesty is as gracious and loving as she says she is and I don't end up writing my next post from the Tower...  It's been nice knowing you!

The Scarlet Woman

I've done it! Only just, but I've done it! That's another two books read this month!

Last night I finished 'The Red Queen' by Philippa Gregory, the third book in her Cousins' War series and part-inspiration for the recent BBC serial 'The White Queen'.

'The Red Queen' is Margaret Beaufort, daughter of the House of Lancaster and cousin of the unfortunate King Henry VI.  Married to Henry's 24-year-old half-brother Edmund Tudor at just 12, she learns early that while an important tool in dynastic power games, she's not free to make her own decisions or wield power herself.  Tudor dies two years later, but not before the 13-year-old Margaret becomes pregnant. She endures a horrifying birth which, fortunately, results in a baby boy.  Naming him Henry after the troubled king of England, she sees her son as rightful heir to the throne and begins to set her sights on the ultimate prize. But will Henry Tudor support his mother's ambitions? Will her plans be discovered by the new York kings? Will either of them survive long enough to claim the crown for themselves?

'The Red Queen' by
Philippa Gregory
(Simon & Schuster, 2010)

I must admit I wish I hadn't started this.  Not 'The Red Queen', it's not that bad. I mean that I wish I hadn't thought it would be a good idea to read a whole series of books in a row.  The trouble is that this isn't a 'series' in a chronological sense.  Instead of one book leading to the other, perhaps with a little transitional overlap in between, both 'The White Queen' and the 'The Red Queen' cover the same time period but from two different perspectives. And it's hard not to get a bit bored when you've heard some bits of the story before, especially when so much of both books consists of the lead characters waiting for news and wondering what's happening.

It also doesn't help that the narrators are women.  I applaud Ms Gregory's intention of bringing female historical figures out of the shadows, but this doesn't change the fact that very few of them were allowed to actually do very much.  I was vaguely aware that Lady Margaret Beaufort was her son's greatest confidante and advisor (none of which comes across here, so I'll have to check now.), but prior to gaining the status of King's Mother, things appear to have been very different.  Beyond giving birth to Henry and finding a politically astute husband willing to support her, she doesn't really do that much in this book. What she does do is interesting, but not really enough for a whole book.  The fact that Ms Gregory has to tell the final section of the story in third person away from Lady Margaret kind of suggests that even she was struggling at that stage.  She didn't even bother to have her recount the story as if she'd heard it afterwards or a messenger tell her what happened.

Really, I feel that I would've enjoyed this book and its predecessor a lot more if they'd been written like 'The Other Queen', with multiple narrators, each contributing their perspective on the story to create a whole picture.  I also think I might've liked it more if I'd not read it straight after 'The White Queen' as I may have forgotten some events and needed the reminder, but then again I didn't know that there was going to be so much overlap.  Afterall, I loved 'The Lady of the Rivers', the first book in the series, and there was hardly any duplication between that and 'The White Queen'.

The one thing I would recommend this book for, and which shows Gregory at her best, is the birth of Henry Tudor. The incident is so shocking and awful that it could put you off having children for life. Then you remember that this was the suffering of a 13 year old girl and it all feels a lot worse.  Ms Gregory is known for her skill in creating a sense of time and place through her characters and this is the only point at which I really felt it in this whole book.

I don't really want to be negative about the work of such a fantastic writer, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have books from the Tudor series and doubt that I'll bother reading the new novel, 'The White Princess'. What I will probably do, however, is look up some non-fiction books about the key characters portrayed.  When I've got a few more titles off the shelves of course!

Now for something a bit different.  Science fiction anyone?

Rivers Run Through It

See what happens when I get a bit determined?  A 497 page book read in nine days flat.  Result!

I've just finished reading 'The Lady of the Rivers', chronologically the first in Philippa Gregory's 'Cousins at War' series.  I was getting a bit washed out by the flood of promotion around the BBC series based on the books, so thought I'd better get started on the novels so I could watch it!

'The Lady of the Rivers'
by Philppa Gregory
(Simon & Schuster UK, 2012) 

The lady of the title is Jacquetta, a daughter of the House of Luxembourg, a family which traces its source to a union between a man and the water sprite Melusina.  These unusual origins are said to give the Luxembourg women the gift of foresight, bringing Jacquetta to the attention of the Duke of Bedford, King Henry VI of England's commander in France.  Bedford marries Jacquetta to use her in his alchemical experiments and no more, leaving her feeling unhappy and confused.  The waters are muddied further when she begins to have feelings for one of the Duke's retinue, Richard Woodville.  When the tide of war turns and the Duke and his household return to England, they find a king whose direction changes with his advisor and an increasingly disgruntled ruling class.  Will Bedford convince the King to fund the fight in France? Can Jacquetta find love and retain her honour? Could disagreement between royal cousins really lead to war?

You have no idea how hard it was for me not to say more in that paragraph.  This is really only the very start of a book which took me on an unexpected journey through the early years of the Wars of the Roses, as we call them today.  All I really know about them is that Henry VII brought them to an end through battle and marriage.  As such, even though this is clearly historical fiction, 'The Lady of the Rivers' gave me a taste of the era and an overview of the key events that has made me want to read more.  This is just as well as there are another three books in the series already and at least one more on the way.

Which leads me onto a bit of a niggle I have.  As readers can see from the family tree at the front of the paperback edition, Jacquetta is rather 'productive', giving birth to 14 children by the end of the novel.  Somehow she carries these babies successfully while riding horses, getting caught up with the boisterous London mob and stressing about her husband, children and Queen.  Clearly, she was made of stern stuff!

As I say, though, this really was just a drop in the ocean, much like the alchemy near the start of the book.  There was a point at which I thought "Where on Earth is this going?" because I was a bit worried that the themes of magic and alchemy were going to drain the book's feel of realism.  Talk to any Philippa Gregory fan and they'll tell you that they love the way she evokes the past and makes it feel realistic, so it worried me a bit that the novel might be slipping into 'Lord of the Rings' territory!

I needn't have worried on either count, though, as 'The Lady of the Rivers' is an absorbing book introducing fascinating historical figures and a time period I really would like to know more about.  Not only am I hoping that the other books in the series will help to start bridging the gap in my knowledge, I hope that the people they introduce will be equally intriguing and I'll get so swept up in the flow of the story that I'll read them just as quickly!

Now, to 'The White Queen'!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

As many of you may have noticed, I'm rather fond of historical fiction.  It's not possible to talk about historical fiction without mentioning Philippa Gregory, author of the absorbing 'The Other Queen', which I have just finished.

'The Other Queen' tells the story of the early years of Mary Queen of Scots' imprisonment.  I say imprisonment, in reality it's more like house arrest for her and a financial trap for her 'jailers', the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, better known as George Talbot and the legendary Bess of Hardwick.  The book explores the destructive force of a ruler in exile, the damage caused by hearts and minds in conflict and the curse in disguise of a royal houseguest.  From the moment Queen Mary enters the lives of Bess and George, she changes them forever and in ways naively unanticipated by the key players.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I read Ms Gregory's 'The Virgin's Lover' about a year ago and was a bit disappointed by it.  'Historical fiction' is actually quite a broad category and, although I love books which bring historical figures to life and capture the politics and sense of place of an age, I can't bear the romances, which do us all a disservice by eroticizing history rather than helping our understanding of it.  Although there is an element of romance to 'The Other Queen', it is not the whole driving force behind the story, so I found it  more enjoyable.

'The Other Queen' by
Philippa Gregory
(Harper Collins, 2009)

'The Other Queen' has three narrators, Mary, Bess and George, and their voices and stories are brilliantly woven together by the author to give us insight into the internal and external conflicts and contradictions they're each experiencing.  Like a portent, the arrival of Queen Mary seems a catalyst for a series of events that may have been brewing for a long time, such as the Northern Uprising, George's honour being tested and Queen Elizabeth's great spymaster William Cecil tightening his grip on the country's upper classes.

My only (very small) criticism of this book is that there are a few points when the writing seems to slip into a modern style.  For example, at one point George says that he's "fighting for his life here." which jarred with me as a reader and broke the spell.  I'm no expert of Tudor English, but it was hard not to hear George suddenly become a modern American when reading that line.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  It's three narrators make the story dynamic and tense, while trying to keep up with who is lying to who about what is challenging.  A great introduction to a number of controversial characters that I hope to read more about in future (and probably will due to the fantastic bibliography at the end of the book!).

Now, what next?