These are a combinations of books I’ve read recently including re-reads and books I’ve brought recently but haven’t yet had a chance to read. Enjoy!
CURRENTLY READING
You may have noticed from this blog, but I do love a royal mistress so this book is right up my alley. The sections on each individual mistress are quite short because it includes so many different women; as someone who has done extensive research on a few of these women, there’s nothing in the book that I’ve read so far that I didn’t already know. It would however be very good for people who maybe don’t have as much as an interest/knowledge in royal mistresses. As a side note, I find anything about Rosamund Clifford really quite irritating (not just because I adore Eleanor) but because we know so little of her, that 99% of what is written about her is baseless. This book repeats a lot of the stories about her but at least admits that the stories are highly embellished and doesn’t necessarily present them as fact.
NEW BOOKS I’VE READ THIS MONTH
The Byzantine Empire is so unbelievably interesting and it’s history is full of fascinating historical figures, especially women, I mean this is the empire that brought up Empress Theophanu, Empress Theodora and Irene of Athens, just to name a few. This book runs through every Byzantine emperor and empress; giving them a brief overview of their life and reign. The sections are small and by no means in depth studies of the various monarchs; I’d say it’s perfect if your knowledge on the Byzantine Empire is scarce. It’s well written and well-researched and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Cecily Neville deserved so much better. That’s pretty much my takeaway from this book. I’ve always found Cecily Neville fascinating, she’s very much the connecting figure between two periods of English history I love (the reign of Edward III & the War of the Roses), as a granddaughter of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford and the mother of Edward IV & Richard III. I find in content about the War of the Roses, she tends to take a supporting role with the likes of Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort and Margaret of Anjou getting centre stage, despite the fact that Cecily was one of the few figures who was there at the beginning of the War of the Roses and managed to survive till the end. This was a woman who could have been Queen of England were it not for fate (and a murdered husband) and instead settled for the accession of two of her four sons (the other two were also murdered). She was a major power player and she absolutely doesn’t get her due. This book goes some way to rectifying that. It’s not a straightforward history book; it’s written in a fictional style but stays pretty accurate to the source material and the history behind it. I absolutely loved it; it’s quick and sharp and Cecily is wonderfully portrayed. Her and Richard are my favourites and there’s a particular scene after (SPOILER) something horrendous happens to him and it’s just such SO good. This book is all about Cecily which is fab but other women of the era aren’t excluded from the narrative; I loved the inclusion of Margaret of Anjou and Jacquetta Woodville (the latter of whom is not a particularly prominent character but obviously she ends up becoming quite important years down the road so it was nice to see her included). The book stops at her son Edward becoming King. I’d be interested to know if there’s any plans to write a sequel; Cecily lives a very long life and there’s so much left to happen. I’d be all for a sequel!!
NEW BOOKS I’VE BROUGHT BUT NOT YET READ
As mentioned above, I do love a royal mistress; this one however is from a period I’m less familiar with. The Hanoverian period of British history is absolutely not my forte but I’m always looking to expand my historical knowledge and from what I’ve read about Henrietta Howard, she sounds SO interesting. The fact this was written by Tracy Borman whose other writing I’ve enjoyed, made me decide to give this one a go. It’s only just arrived so I haven’t started it yet but looking forward to starting it.
RE-READS
I’ve written about this book before and I have to say I thoroughly enjoy it. It may not be the most ground breaking book ever but it is very well researched and written and a slightly different take on one of the most written families. There’s a phenomenal amount of information about all your favourite Tudors; I personally really adore the parts where their clothing is written about. I also think the Tudors are so larger than life that this book really hammers home the point that they’re completely human.
Hope you enjoyed this quick little post, see you soon!
Alexandra
The Monstrous Regiment of Women 