Medieval English Monarchy

The Lady of the Rivers

Philippa Gregory

Narrated by Bianca Amato

Historical Fiction

To buy Amazon - Barnes & Noble

I checked this audio-book out from the library thinking that I probably would not even end up listening to it. Usually I tend to lean more towards shorter books, and this one was 15 discs, and it sounded like an old medieval/fantasy story, something I normally wouldn't read. I'm not sure what compelled me to check it out ultimately. And it was sheer laziness that led me to renew it twice (that's six weeks for my library district), before ever popping a disc into my computer at work to give a listen. I'm grateful now that I did.

The book captivated me from the beginning. A young noble girl from France crosses paths with Joan of Arc before she is tried and burned at the stake for heresy. This girl possess 'gifts' from being of the line of a water goddess, Melucina (Mel-You-See-Nah. The worst part about reviewing audio-books is not being able to spell the odd words/names. I try!), and realizes very early, from her exposure to Joan, that powerful women are not welcome in the world of men. The girl, Jacquetta, is married off to a Duke of England who is occupying France, the Duke of Bedford. He is an old man, whose wife had died, and marries Jacquetta because he has heard of her gifts, not for love. He is a man who has hired herbalists, scholars, and alchemist on his quest for the Philosopher's Stone, and thinks marrying a young virgin with gifts of foresight will be the key to his quest. War takes up most of the Duke's time, and Jacquetta is left mostly in the care of his most trusted squire, Richard Woodville (real name Richard Wydeville), with whom she eventually falls in love with and marries (after her old man of a husband dies, of course). Easily the most enjoyable part of the story - Jacquetta and Richard had fourteen children together, they obviously loved each other very much! Because Richard is so far below her station, they have to marry in secret before notifying the English court, because the noble men were planning another arranged marriage for Jaquetta. In those times people were always married in order to ensure allies or strengthen bonds between families/countries, which is why Jacquetta married the Duke in the first place. At this point the young King of England, Henry VI, is arranged to marry Jacquetta's cousin from France, Margaret of Anjou, and Jacquetta is called to court to be her lady in waiting. This is where the story really starts.

The most fascinating part of this story, to me, is that every character in this book is based off of real history, real lords and ladies of 1400s England (here is the wiki page, we're looking at Henry VI in the 1400s). It is highly fictionalized, for in fact, there is no way to know exactly what happened so far back, especially because so much was hidden from the common knowledge of the people, but Philippa Gregory does a fantastic job weaving the characters in and out of each other's stories, and filling in the gaps. I even looked up these old English monarch's on Wikipedia, just to see how much of the story were actual events. Turns out, all the major plot points are absolutely in the historical record. All of Jacquetta's and Richard's fourteen children, the territories won and lost, and even the rumor that Queen Margaret's only son was not born of the King, but of a Duke, and advisor to the King.

The narrating was excellent. Amato did a wonderful job of changing the pitch and tambre of her voice for each character, none of which were too garishly overdone. I consider it a good thing when I sit here at my keyboard unable to think of anything that really stood out about the narration; Amato allowed the story to be the story, which is the best thing a narrator can accomplish. There were very few instances of foreign words in the text, but where they were they were perfectly done. The only thing at all I can think is that the entire book was done in an English accent, where the main character, Jacquetta, and the Queen, who plays a huge role in the book, were both French. But honestly, that is only a technicality.

For some reason, this book captivated me more than most. I was sucked wholeheartedly into this story, and these characters, and this bit of history (no matter how embellished). I think I especially liked it because the history is so old, and so generally unknown (by me anyway, I know nothing about medieval monarchy). Frankly, I cannot wait to read another of Philippa Gregory's books, I'm just uncertain which to turn to next. That reminds me! This book is actually part of a series called The Cousin's War, and The Lady of the Rivers is book three in that series. I'm almost scared to go back and read The Red Queen and The White Queen, the first two books of the series, because from what I understand, they both deal with events after where The Lady of the Rivers leaves off, and also, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay quite as interested if I am reading words like "Duke of Bedford", "Dower to Duchess", and "Edmund, Duke of Sommerset" over and over again all over the pages. I think having this book read to me was half of the magic. At folks, it was magic.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Reread: This Book Is My Best Friend

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Historical Fiction

To Buy Amazon - Barnes & Noble

The fact that I went back and read this book for a second time is significant for me. I'm not usually a big re-reader. Though I think that is changing. I've started getting 'cravings' for good books I've read. Some stories are just magical. 

Each time I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, I took my time. The book is a collection of letters, and each one stands alone as something special, something to treasure. In a time of instant communication, reading a book told entirely through letters is incredibly refreshing and reminiscent of a slower (seemingly) more meaningful time. Very sentimental. While I cherished reading the letters, I mourned after I finished each one, because I knew that the book does eventually end...and while it has a complete and lovely ending, I still find myself wanting more. There were several dramatic points in the story, and 'plot twists' per-se, though I never found myself truly surprised by anything that happened (except perhaps by Isola's mysterious letters *wink*wink*)

The story captured me immediately and completely. We follow a woman of thirty-ish, Juliet Ashton, who has worked as a journalist during WWII in London. Now that the war is over, she wrote a book, and is at a loss now, of what to write for her second one. Scrambling for ideas, and feeling terribly war weary, she receives an unexpected letter in the post. The letter is from a man, Dawsey Adams, from Guernsey who has happened to end up with a book that used to be hers. He is writing explaining his love for the book and the author, asking her politely if she would be able to get him in touch with a bookstore where he may order more books by Charles Lamb. Juliet is delighted and sets to work right away, but their friendship has already started. She is intrigued by something he mentioned in his letter, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and asks how in the world something as such came about. The letters fly back and forth between Dawsey and Juliet, Juliet and her dear friend Sophie, Juliet and her publisher, Sidney, and various members of the literary society, as she becomes acquainted with them. Juliet decides she is going to write an article about the occupation of the channel islands by the German's, using her new friends in Guernsey as sources of real facts and little known events. Without realizing it at first, the letters serve as Juliet's beacon of light that help her pull out of her war weary slump. She finds herself falling in love with the people through their correspondence, and you can't help but fall for them yourself. 

The author's splash vivid personalities and humorous situations against the backdrop of post WWII England. Each and every character in this book has a personal and devastating experience directly related to the horrors of the war, though they have tried desperately to bring out the best in things and keep their spirits shining brightly. 

This book is about and between good friends, it makes you feel good to read it. You feel like one of them (hence the title of this post). When I finished, I almost turned to the beginning of the book to read it again. Seriously. It's been about a month since I read it (I know, it's taken me forever to get around to this review), and writing about it again makes me want to read it. It's an absolutely perfect book to read if you're feeling lonely - while you read it, I promise you won't be anymore!

This book is no-question one of my favorites. I think it is a 'modern' classic, in it's own right. Not only does it capture the mood and some lesser known events of World War II in England, it lets you in to some beautiful character's hearts and minds. I've read this book twice so far, but I'll be reading it again...and again and again.