Vainglory by Geraldine McCaughrean

Tags

france, historical fiction, medieval

 

“He knew in that moment how God felt on Good Friday when He saw on what He had wasted Creation.”

Vainglory begins in 1429 as Victoire De Gloriole regains possession of the family castle Gloriole-sur-Sablois from the English. Victoire marries Englishwoman Ellen Talbot and begins building a family dynasty and bringing Gloriole to new heights, although like all noblemen their ups and downs are ruled by the whims of the current ruler – kings come, kings go. The twists of fate take several bizarre turns in the subsequent generations when Victoire finds himself without a legitimate heir and his daughter Verite is caught up in the machinations of their distant de Puy cousins – can the family survive or will they succumb to madness and greed while building Gloriole to ever greater heights?

And that’s all I’m going to tell you, this is one of those books that you can’t put into a brief review and I don’t write book reports. While history plays a second stage to the main story, I enjoyed the peeks at the historical events swirling in the background – from Joan of Arc and the wars with the English through to Catherine de Medici ruling through her children after the death of Henri II. Although the most gripping moments for me was the terrifying aftermath of the Conspiracy of Amboise as the Huguenots are slaughtered en masse.

With the exception of Victoire and Ellen and their son Fils, most of the rest of the Gloriole family are downright unlikable – this is not your warm and fuzzy family. What you will get is a story of a power hungry, greedy, grasping family that will do anything and everything to attain their vainglory and lord help anyone who gets in their way. This book might be too slow paced to appeal to all readers, but the writing is lovely and very subtle – one to sit back and savor slowly with a glass of red wine and chocolates. And where did I come across this little gem of a book you ask? Elizabeth Chadwick recently talked about some old classics from her medieval collection and Vainglory was one of them. Details here.

The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis

Tags

france, historical fiction, medici

  

Author Jeanne Kalogridis puts her own spin on the life of the infamous Catherine de Medici in The Devil’s Queen. Left orphaned and extremely wealthy, Catherine’s early life was marred by revolts among the Florentines against the de Medicis. Once the revolts are over her hopes to rule Florence are forever dashed when her uncle the Pope marries her off to Henri, the second son of the French King.  Disenchanted with Catherine, Henri soon turns to the older Diane de Poitiers for comfort and the childless Catherine becomes increasingly desperate to conceive a child before she is cast aside – and that includes resorting to charting the stars and casting spells. Henri’s older brother dies leaving him heir to the crown and Catherine destined to be Queen, although de Poitiers is the one who will remain the power behind the throne. Despite success at finally conceiving (thanks to the black-arts), the predictions of Nostradamus and Ruggieri of the fate that awaits Henri and her children continue to haunt her dreams and she will take any steps to protect them no matter what cost, and the story finally culminates with her daughter Margot’s marriage to Henry of Navarre and the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.

One morning at the gates of the Louvre, 19th century painting by Édouard Debat-Ponsan. Catherine de' Medici is in black. The scene from Dubois (above) re-imagined.

Alrighty, that storyline should have enough meat on it’s bones to keep a reader riveted don’t you think? Not, but then it’s probably just me again –  it usually is. My problems start with the use of the first person narrative, effectively hemming the author into a very limited point of view. To witness certain private events the author had to invent situations wherein Catherine could observe them and worse yet – when Catherine is not involved in the action she is recounting history to the reader – so that we’re being told and not shown and I found myself nodding off on a few occasions. A genealogy chart and/or cast of characters is sadly missing, how many average readers are truly familiar with the period and it’s players? Something to refer back to would have been very helpful and I thought it a bit presumptuous not to include it. As for the sex, it’s not over the top, but at times I felt it a bit too gratuitous – and there were way too many instances of it being done from the back side. Did we really need to hear that? 

Also and anyone correct me if I’m wrong but according to other books I’ve read and Wik, there were four sons who ruled – where in the hell was Henri the third son? Did I read a different book again? For the most part Kalogridis appears to stick to known history, although there are two plot twists (which I will not divulge) that are rather far fetched IMHO, and unfortunately the author does not address them in her meager 1 1/2 page author notes as to what historical basis she has for including those in her story.  Get it from the library if you must, I’m glad I did. A very very generous three stars.  Honestly I think you’re better off with Dumas – try The Two Dianas and La Reine Margot.

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Tags

historical fiction, North America

Echo picks up where A Breath of Snow and Ashes left off as Claire and Jamie Fraser and Jamie’s nephew Ian leave life at Fraser’s Ridge behind them, head for Scotland to pick up Jamie’s printing press and return to America. Of course this is Jamie and Claire we’re talking about so there is no smooth sailing and the *road* to Scotland is mired with many side-trips and detours as well. Roger and Bree have returned to the present and settled into life at Lallybroch, although they’re also in for a few twists and turns and bumps in the night as well. William is now an adult and an officer in the British army and we see quite a bit more of him – will he and Jamie ever meet face to face? Who is the mysterious man searching for Fergus and what secrets might he reveal about his birth parents?

You’ll find new friends among the old from the previous books (and a couple of very surprising returns), although IMHO there are waaaaay too many new friends as well as waaaay too much of Lord John and characters from his books. I’m not that fond of Lord John as a major character and that’s why I didn’t read the books to begin with and consider it dirty pool to muck up Jamie and Claire’s story with Lord John’s, particularly that little plot twist at the end. Eww ewww ewww ewww ewww. Diana, how could you?

In the end, I’m wondering if I’ve changed as a reader, or has Gabaldon changed and/or got a bit sloppy? I’ve heard many complain about her going on in too much detail in the other books but I was so enraptured with them I wouldn’t have wanted to have seen one word edited out. Not so here, the story just rambles on and on with needless plot twists and characters that go nowhere (for shame what she did with Benjamin Franklin), and as for the overly verbose details – I did not need to know every minute detail of every medical procedure performed by Claire and most especially not the removal of Jamie’s finger.

Worst of all, was the constantly switching point of views (I believe there are seven) leading to a very uneven, choppy flow and I was always able to put this down and walk away from it – frankly half way through I started another book and finished that before coming back to Echo.  Cut a good chunk of the first 2/3 of the book out and flesh out the last and keep it moving a bit more instead of ending it as she did with those maddening cliff-hangers this would be a solid five star read. As it is and I can’t believe I’m saying it but –.

A Memory of Lions by Parke Godwin

Tags

england, historical fiction, norman conquest

 

Every man must have a lord”

“…that’s a devil out there. A devil who only looks like a man. I don’t want to meet him unshriven.

Or is it a devil? The story begins after the Conquest, after the Harrying of the North, as the de Neuville family rebuilds on the northern lands awarded them by King William. The Saxons may be conquered, but their customs, laws and mindset constantly clash with that of the Normans, and the Normans don’t give a d*** about what the Saxons want.

De Neuville’s daughter Gerlaine is attracted to Gurth, the illegitimate son of the former Saxon lord, but when their relationship is discovered Gurth receives a brutal punishment at the hands of Gerlaine’s father With tensions already high, the Norman violation of the Saxon’s sacred “hearth right” brings on horrific consequences as the outraged Gurth demands wergild (man payment). Gerlaine holds to her love for Gurth until the punishments against her family becomes too dear and love changes to hatred and revenge…..

There’s actually a whole lot more to it than that but you really do need to read it for yourself, I don’t want to spoil it for you. Despite what the somewhat cheesy cover implies, this is not a romance novel – this is very dark story about the struggles between two completely disparate cultures. I really enjoyed Godwin’s writing, it’s very subtle and understated and you do have to pay attention or you’ll end up backtracking. This was just a really great read with quite a surprise twist at the end and I am looking forward to more from this author. I understand he’s written one on Harold Godwinsson as well as a series on Robin Hood.