Mary, Queen of France ~ Jean Plaidy

Yet another fantastic novel from Jean Plaidy! Mary, Queen of France tells the story of Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s younger and favourite sister. Mary is described as being beautiful and stubborn, basically the female version of her brother Henry. Like any royal princess of this time, Mary has absolutely no say in who she will marry. First Mary is betrothed to Charles of Castile (future Charles I/V of Spain and Holy Roman Empire) but as relationships between Henry and his father-in-law and Charles’ grandfather Ferdinand of Aragon and Emperor Maximilian turn sour, the betrothal is broken, much to Mary’s happiness. However her happiness is short lived as she is soon betrothed to the aging king of France, Louis XII, a man some 40 years her senior. Mary is outraged at the idea of leaving her country, her brother and the man she truly loves.

☆☆☆☆½

I thoroughly enjoyed Plaidy’s novel about one of the lesser known members of the Tudor family. Like “The Thistle and the Thorne” Plaidy focuses the story on the female Tudors and paints a beautiful picture of the trials and tribulations of the life of a princess during that era. I really enjoyed how Plaidy included the background stories of all characters involved – Charles Brandon; Louis XII; Francois, le Dauphin and of course, the Tudor family. I feel that these background stories gave the story more depth and greater character development. They definitely added to the story and did not take anything away from the story of Mary’s life.

I can honestly say that I am thrilled that Plaidy’s novels are being republished and I cannot wait to collect them all!

The Lost Crown ~ Sarah Miller

The Lost Crown tells the story of Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov, the daughters of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, during the Russian Revolution. Each girl has a distinct voice and personality which shines through in the novel; from quite and dignified Olga, to rational and motherly Tatiana, to loving and optimistic Maria to wild child Anastasia; thus providing a deep and personal view into the downfall of Imperial Russia.

With the outbreak of World War I, the girls lives changed dramatically; from fancy dresses and balls to tending to wounded soldiers. Tatiana and Olga become nurses and alongside their mother they work in the local hospital treating injured soldiers from the front lines while Anastasia and Maria provide the soldiers with entertainment. As the war progresses and Russia being unsuccessful, the soldiers in the hospital begin to resent the girls and especially their German-born mother. The blame for Russia’s demise is placed squarely on the Tsar’s shoulders and in order to prevent Russia from falling into Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II abdicates. Unfortunately this solves nothing and the people continue to revolt and Russia falls into Revolution and the people who once loved the Tsar now despise him and his family. First the Tsar and his family are placed under house arrest in the Imperial Palace in Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg), then they are moved to a mansion in rural Tobolsk and finally to a house in Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, where the family’s story comes to its tragic and violent end.

☆☆☆☆

I really enjoyed this story. I have loved Russian history for a long time and I admit that I have always wondered if one of the girls escaped and survived the assassination. Normally I am not a fan of authors who use multiple characters’ point of view to tell the story but in this case I believe that Sarah Miller did an excellent job of it. Each girl had her own unique voice and personality which really came out in the writing and added to the story without interrupting the flow. I also really appreciated the addition of the list of Russian-English words and the list of characters at the beginning of the novel. This novel was beautifully researched and written in great detail. The only criticism I have about this novel is that it was slow reading at times and there really was not any romance, only hints of it here and there. Overall I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves Russian history, especially those who like me, are fascinated with the Romanov family.  

Becoming Marie Antoinette ~ Juilet Grey

Becoming Marie Antoinette is the first book in a new trilogy about the notorious French Queen, Marie Antoinette.  In this first novel, author Juliet Grey takes us on a journey from Schönbrunn castle in Vienna, Austria to Versailles in France, as we watch little Maria Antonia, archduchess of Austria transform into Marie Antionette, madame la Dauphine and eventually Queen of France. In Austria, Antonia (as she is called) is raised alongside her many brothers and sisters as the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Her idyllic life consisted of sunny picnics with her sisters and playing with her dolls and dog Mops. She knows that one day she will be sacrificed to her family’s political ambitions, after all the Hapsburg family motto is “Others wage wars; you, happy Austria, marry” however she does not expect that the day will come so soon. 

At age 10 Antonia is betrothed to Louis Auguste, Dauphin of France and grandson of Louis XV. Before Antonia is allowed to marry the Dauphin, she must undergo a complete transformation, from her teeth to her hair to her knowledge of history and French, before she is deemed to be a suitable wife for the next King of France. Once the transformation is complete, Antonia leaves her beloved homeland for the French court at Versailles where she becomes Marie Antoinette. Life at Versailles isn’t at all what she had imagined; instead of a glittering court she finds a rundown palace and she soon finds that life as the Dauphine and a wife is quite boring and lonely. Her husband won’t touch her, she doesn’t know who she can trust and the king is in poor health, Marie Antoinette’s survival at the court of Versailles hangs in the balance.

☆☆☆☆½

I thoroughly enjoyed the debut novel from Juliet Grey. Marie Antoinette is one of my favourite historical figures and I find her life extremely interesting. Every time I pick up a novel about this infamous French Queen, I always find myself wishing for a happy ending, although I know that this will not be the case. I absolutely loved the way that this novel was written; there was enough background information given for the reader to fully understand what was going on in the daily lives of the characters, which were developed with care and detail as well.

I loved how Marie Antoinette was portrayed in a sympathetic manner, from a naive, frivolous little girl who develops into a mature and intelligent (yet still naive) young woman throughout the novel. There is evidently character growth throughout the novel as Maria Antonia becomes Marie Antoinette. I really appreciated that Grey focused as much on her early life as an Austrian Archduchess as she did on her being the Dauphine as this is uncommon in the world of historical fiction based on Marie Antoinette. The details included were amazing and they made the story vivid and life like.   

The only criticism I had about the novel was that although it was impeccably researched, it has a lot of repetition of events from other historical fiction novels based on the life of Marie Antoinette, for example her relationship with her strict mother, her strong distain for French etiquette and her husbands inability to consummate their marriage for many years. With that being said, I think that the way that Grey wrote these events made them unique and enjoyable to read.

Overall I really, really enjoyed this novel and I cannot wait for the second and third books to come out.

Book 2: “Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow” due out in Summer 2012

Book 3 due out in 2013

The Jewel of St. Petersburg ~ Kate Furnivall

Set in the early stages of revolution in St. Petersburg Russia during a period of great civil unrest. The working class are getting poorer and more desperate each day as they fight starvation, disease and injuries at unsafe factories while the upper class continue to live their extravagant lifestyles. Revolutionaries decide to take things into their own hands and begin to start killing government officials and members of the upper class. This is the story of Valentina Ivanova, daughter of the Minister of Finance to Tsar Nicholas II, Minister General Nicholas Ivanov. In the summer of 1910, Valentina faces death when she is attacked in the forest on her father’s land by Bolsheviks. Valentina manages to evade her attackers and makes it home just in time to see her house destroyed by a bomb. Valentina’s younger sister Katya is seriously injured in the attack and becomes paralyzed as a result. Even though Valentina is born into the upper class, all she wants to do is become a nurse, a station way below her status, in order to take care of her sister Katya. She has no desire to live the life her parents have planned – to marry her off to a Captain in Tsar’s army for his money and for her to live the life of an upper class wife, a life of tea parties and fancy dresses. Instead Valentina falls in love with the dashing Danish “Viking” engineer Jens Friis, builder of tunnels for sewage and water drains. Valentina is determined to live her life the way that she wants to without disappointing her parents or her heart.  

☆☆☆☆½

This was the first book I have read by Kate Furnivall and I have just picked up “The Russian Concubine” and “The Girl from Junchow” and they are waiting restlessly on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I thought that it was extremely well written. I have loved Russian history and culture for years and I think that Furnivall did an excellent job in creating the backdrop of St. Petersburg in the early 1900s. Furnivall creates exquisite characters from Valentina, the intelligent, strong-willed upper class girl with the desire to become a nurse; Arkin, the revolutionary with a heart and a soft spot for one upper class family; Jens, the endearing engineer who wants to help the working class even though they consider him the enemy. Furnivall manages to create a vivid, fast-paced story that keeps the reader engaged from the very first page to the very last sentence.

The Irish Princess ~ Karen Harper

This is the story of Elizabeth "Gera" Fitzgerald, the daughter of Earl of Kildare, king of Ireland in all but name. Gera's world is soon flipped upside down when King Henry VIII imprisons her father in the Tower of London and her uncles are declared traitors. Gera's family is forced to move to England to live with her mother's cousins, the Grey family. On the ship crossing to England, Gera meets admiral Edward Clinton, a man with whom she she falls in love with. Once in England, Gera is sent to live in Henry's royal court where she must learn to navigate the ever changing alliance as she nurtures her own secret desire for revenge-- and she wont be satisfied until she restores her family to its rightful place back home in Ireland.

☆☆☆☆☆

I absolutely loved this book. I have been a fan of Karen Harper for years now and I love how she is able to bring the characters to life as well as being able to describe the settings with great detail. There was enough factual information to keep my history loving self entertained and enough of a romance to keep me reading until the very end. You can definitely tell that Harper has a great love for Tudor England and that she has a great talent for writing. It was beautifully researched and I love how she never intended on writing a story about Elizabeth Fitzgerald but stumbled upon her by accident but yet she was still able to create a fiery yet lovable character and breathe life into her in the pages of the novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves historical fiction and who would enjoy one of the few historical fiction novels set in Ireland. I would be ecstatic if Harper would continue to write novels set in Ireland as I think that Ireland is a gem yet to be deeply explored by historical fiction writers. 

The Heretic Queen - Michelle Moran

The Heretic Queen is the continuation of Moran's "Nefertiti" and it focuses on the Heretic Queen's (Nefertiti) niece and namesake Nefertari. Nefertari was orphaned at birth, her father was already deceased and her mother Mutnodjmet dies in childbirth. Nefertari is taken in by Pharaoh Seti I and raised along side his son Ramesses. Nefertari begins to develop romantic feelings towards Ramesses however the union does not appear to be popular among the people and definitely not at court as Nefertari is judged solely on her ancestors. Ramesses however falls in love with Nefertari and marries her despite the courts wishes with exception of his father and one of his aunts. The young couple has high hopes that they will be able to change the people's opinion of Nefertari and that they would come to love her as Ramesses did. As Ramesses was unable to make her his Chief wife, Nefertari must fight for her position at court while Ramesses leads his troops into battle against the ever-threatening Hittites. Thanks in part to her education and her vast knowledge of languages, Nefertari rules Egypt while Ramesses is at war and she eventually gains the love and support of the Egyptian people.

☆☆☆☆☆

Michelle Moran did it again - another awesome novel about Ancient Egypt. I literally read this book in a day and a half and it was even more difficult to put down than "Nefertiti" was. Again, immense praise for Moran's writing style and her ability to create the most vivid images of the court and everything within right down to the clothing and makeup. Her ability to create vibrant characters of whom there is little know is amazing. The novel is a great example of a great historical fiction novel as it is filled with politics, intrigue, love, betrayal and war. Another aspect that I loved with both this novel and "Nefertiti" was that Moran included a glossary of Egyptian terms- it was definitely helpful.

It was definitely one of my favourite novels that I have read so far this year. Another fantastic novel and I can't wait to read her future novels. Go out and get this (and Nefertiti) and enjoy a fantastic trip back to Ancient Egypt!

Nefertiti - Michelle Moran

Nefertiti is destined to be a great ruler; she is the daughter of the Queen's brother Ay and it is her fate to become Queen of Egypt. Not only is Nefertiti beautiful but she is also intelligent, independent, strong-willed and power-hungry. It is Queen Tiye's hope that her niece will be able to exert some control over her son and Nefertiti's intended husband Amenhotep IV. Amenhotep is impulsive, reckless and unstable with disastrous and heretical ideas-- it is Amenhotep's goal to take Egypt from a polytheism to a monotheism religion, with Aten the Sun god at the centre. He also desires to make Pharaoh the voice of Aten and remove the Priests from their power therefore starting the age old battle of church versus state.

The story tells the story of Nefertiti's rise and subsequent fall from power as she is unable to control her husband Akhenaten's (formerly known as Amenhotep) vision of a new Egypt. Pharaoh decides to build his empire Amarna in the middle of the desert and he removes the Priests from their positions of power, greatly angering the people of Egypt. Throughout Akhenaten's reforms, Nefertiti is waging her own battles within her family, mainly with Kiya, Akhenaten's other wife. Kiya has produced an heir for Pharaoh whereas Nefertiti only gave him daughters.

The entire story is narrated by Nefertiti's younger sister Mutnodjmet. Mutnodjmet is the total opposite of her sister and although she is forced to live with Nefertiti at court as her chief lady, Mutnodjmet wants nothing more than a quite life in the country with an herb garden, as far away from court life and her sister as possible.

☆☆☆☆☆

Nefertiti was an amazing story! I was captivated from page 1 and it was virtually impossible for me to put down this book. It was a page turner and it was a quick paced and extremely well written and researched with great care. It was everything that historical fiction should be as it was full of intrigue, romance and history.

I was super excited to read this book as I have been fascinated with Ancient Egypt for as long as I can remember, I even took a few ancient history classes in school in an attempt to learn more about this period. There is just something about the culture and the way of life that I find to be spellbinding. The fact that Michelle Moran was able to create such a vibrating and captivating set of characters living in a time period where there is not an extensive amount of accurate information was amazing. Moran's writing style is exquisite—she gives enough detail for you to picture the temples and the way of life in Ancient Egypt without overdoing it therefore your imagination is still a vital part of enjoying the story. She is also able to create characters that literally jump off the page. I also enjoyed the fact that there was a love story within the novel but it wasn’t an in-your-face love story, but something that subtly happens within the story. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about Ancient Egypt and the notorious ancient pharaoh Akhenaton and his pharaoh wife Nefertiti.