What Should I Read?

In addition to the books that we read as a group, we undoubtedly occasionally pick up a book that we think is worth recommending to our fellow readers. By way of a comment, let us know if you are reading (or have read) a book that you think is worth our consideration. We won't discuss this book, but it is a good chance to become acquainted with different books.

Poor Anne.....

I read The Kingmaker’s Daughter  with my Nook in one hand and my Ipad in my other so that I could have a quick and direct line to Wikipedia. I have never spent so much time looking up the history of people to see if what I was reading was true.

I found The Kingmaker’s Daughter” to be a compelling and very readable book about a relatively unknown character in British history. We have all heard of Richard III, if only from the Shakespeare play, but little is apparently actually known about Anne and her sister Isabel. Because of this, it must have been fun for author Philippa Gregory to fill in the blanks.

I think that Gregory portrayed Anne as a young and impressionable girl who was starved for love and willing to do whatever her father told her to do because she thought it would be best for her country, and because she so wanted him to love her. I never felt as though she had a strong desire to be queen to fulfill her own ambitions, but only to do what was best for her country.

Poor Anne had very little going for her in the way of relationships. In her ever changing world, she was uncertain who to trust and who to fear. And frankly, throughout the book, I wasn’t always certain who was the good guy and who was the bad guy as it seemed to keep changing.

So, then I would again reach for my Ipad and try to find what historians said, and frankly, it seems as though Gregory took a lot of liberty in how she portrayed everyone. I don’t think this is a bad thing at all. As a fiction writer, Gregory undoubtedly went for drama and excitement. I just had to keep reminding myself that what I was reading was not necessarily the truth.

Poor Anne had what seems to be a totally one-sided relationship with her father, a terribly confusing relationship with her sister, and virtually no relationship with her mother (who I found to be despicable).  History supports the idea that her father was an ambitious man who would do anything he could to be in power.

I never quite knew how to feel about Isabel. She too was a pawn in her father’s ambitious plans, and the scene in which she gives birth to the baby at sea is horrifying. She seemed to be the only one (at least prior to marrying Richard) who gave a hoot about Anne, though it often seemed to only be when it was in her best interest. I wonder how the book would have read had Isabel been the narrator. I don’t think she had the same feeling for her father as did Anne. I think Isabel was much more realistic.

By the way, history tells us that Edward the King was actually a very good ruler overall. And while Elizabeth is presented as a fairly vile witch-like character, history doesn’t necessarily support that portrayal. But the number of children is accurate. My, didn’t she just seem to crank them out?

I found Richard to be a very interesting character. In this book, he is portrayed as a decent man who loved Anne. Other portrayals are obviously different (e.g. Shakespeare’s Richard III). I kept waiting for him to become evil. Even his relationship with the princess was presented (at least by Richard to Anne) as necessary in order to save England. Well, Anne bought it anyway. I am interested to know how the rest of you felt about Richard, and whether you bought his love for her (at least in this novel).

It was sad that Anne couldn’t have more children.

I really liked this book. I read all of Gregory’s stories about Henry VIII and all of his wives, and then got a bit burnt out. But I think I want to read the Cousins series. Apparently Gregory deals at least a little bit with the mysterious boys in the tower in the next novel. In my journal, I gave this book an 8.

What did you all think?