Blonde
11 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Historical Fiction, Talking Books
Even 40 years after her death, we are all still spellbound by the magic and mystery that is Marilyn Monroe. Today, movies and television shows are still being made about her story. I’ve been drawn to this historical novel by Joyce Carol Oates for some time, but have only now had an opportunity to pick it up.
Oates insist that this be viewed as a fiction, but it’s the kind of mesmerizing fiction where an author takes a fascinating subject and fleshes out the facts and speculations that have survived history. All of us want to know what was behind that famous pout. Remarkably, as she explores Marilyn’s early years, her years in foster care and as a wannabe actress and bonafide star, Oates portrays an intelligent but damaged Marilyn, who manages to be both naïve and worldly at the same time. The voice is authentic and emotionally real. Marilyn’s motivations are deftly explored with psychological realism. Her fragility is both sad and beautiful.
For me, the novel opens up the mystery of Monroe even further, and begs me to 
watch her films and try to divine whatever truths I can. But the reality here will always be shrouded by our images and the gossip surrounding Monroe. We can never know, but like Oates, we can imagine.
Clan of the Cave Bear
23 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Historical Fiction, Talking Books
This is an older text that has sort of stuck with me as something I should read at one point. I always make a point of reading those book that end up with a large cult following – I have to know what so many people see in them.
For ten minutes I was completely bored with this (read as an audiobook), but soon after I was absolutely entranced. It is set in the earliest days of man’s existence on Earth, telling with painstaking research and clarity their relationship to the world around them, and the evolutionary process from Neanderthal man to Cro-Magnon man. But, it does it in an indescribably beautiful story. Ayla, a young girl of the more advanced race is orphaned and comes to live in a Neanderthal clan who claim the Cave Bear as their totem. Ayla has many of the modern sensibilities readers will recognize in themselves, and she is the victim of suppression and prejudice in her clan. However, her strength of character and capacity for kindness and compassion inspire love in many of those she encounters, who come to accept and appreciate her despite their obvious differences. But she is never accepted and even hated by the son of the clan leader, so the reader knows it is only a matter of time before the family she has carved for herself under the most difficult of circumstances, is going to be destroyed forever.
Very touching – an interesting exploration of humanity in a time when many would assume that complex emotion did not exist.
The White Queen
20 May 2011 Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Woodville is most famous as the mother of the two infamous ‘princes in the tower’ – who disappeared during the rise to power of Richard III. However this novel tells us Elizabeth’s own story – her rise from obscurity to be Queen of England.
Famed as the most beautiful woman in all of England, and a descendant of a water goddess, Elizabeth’s sotry begins with her standing alongside road, waiting for newly crowned Edward, Son of York, to pass. She plans to beg for the return of her lands and titles, but ladies’ man Edward is swept up in her beauty and they wed in secret.
An ambitious woman, Elizabeth plots like a natural to advance her brothers, sisters and children. But she is caught in a web of ambition even greater than hers – those who would kill for the throne.
A more likeable character than The Red Queen, I’m glad I read the second book first – its scope in time in greater and it tells more of the story of the downfall of the three Sons of York and the rise of Henry VII. I particularly enjoyed the elements of witchcraft that Woodville’s heritage provides her. The river whispers to her, brings her sons and heirs and gives her the strength to curse her enemies. What she doesn’t realise though, is that her own ambition is her greatest curse.
Some nice touches in here – including one at the end which attempts to explain the strange deaths around Henry VIII. Not exactly research, but entertaining nonetheless.
The Red Queen
23 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
in Historical Fiction, Uncategorized
I like a bit of historical fiction – and at the risk of repeating myself, I appreciate the imagination that goes into taking fact and speculation and making a cohesive story about them. And Gregory seems to consistently pick figures in history that interest me – in this case, Margaret Beaufort, grandmother of Henry VIII and the woman who plotted to end the war of the roses.
This is the second in The Cousin’s War series, but I dont think it matters. The first, The White Queen, tells the story of Elizabeth Woodville who married Edward IV who was succeeded by his infamous brother Richard III. So the stories are set at similar times but from different perspectives. I’m certainly keen to read the others.
Beaufort is not exactly a likeable character, but she is believable one. Driven by ambition, she uses her piety as an excuse.. all that she desires for herself is simply what God wants for her. And her son Henry.
The novel covers the span of her life, although skip large sections and not always effectively. There are a number of literary devices that could have been used to fill these more naturally. But we see her childhood, where she is born into the rising Tudor house but in the line of succession for the house of Lancaster. She dreams of becoming just like Joan of Arc, a fantasy that continues with her later in life. She is married young to secure the line and her son Henry is close to the throne itself. She makes it her life’s mission to secure it for him, especially after the death of her first husband. She is married off again, and it is not until the second husband dies and she inherits his property that she is able to play a role herself in the warring houses and come to court to be married for a third time to one who shares her level of ambition – and willingness to be duplicitous.
Her fortunes rise and fall, but her vision never wavers, and history tells us her reward. An iron woman, she was crucial to the rule of two Tudor kings and a woman of enormous power. Give it a go.
The Constant Princess
09 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
What I like about a bit of historical fiction is the thought and the effort that the authors have to go into to re-interpret history. Everything we know about the characters in this novel – led by the fascinating Catherine of Aragon (I do love a bit of Henry VIII intrigue) – is based around documents, folk stories, artwork and other historical sources. What Gregory excels at, is finding or perhaps more accurately, imagining the human face behind these figures.
In this, I believe she is at her best. Finding meaning in a young woman who marries the heir to the throne of England, and then after he dies, marrying his much younger brother, is no mean task. But here, Gregory creates a compelling, proud and still likeable character. Her actions are quite believeable, and this delving into history is as entertaining as it in educational. I learnt a lot and could barely put the book down. Another impressive effort.
The Boleyn Inheritance
26 Aug 2007 Leave a Comment
in Historical Fiction, Talking Books
Historical Fiction
03 Jul 2007 Leave a Comment
So, I have just finished a non-list book, an expedition into historical fiction. It is a genre I delve into now and then, when the subject matter is interesting enough. The concept of exploring what we cannot know – and blending it with what we do – is fascinating, and has many more possible applications that just historical fiction.
Margaret George is the Queen of historical fiction as far as I am concerned – I have just finished her fictional autobiography of Henry VIII. He is one of the most fascinating characters of history – I mean, six wives! The break with the Catholic Church… What was he thinking? I love getting a insight and impression of his possible character. George also wrote a brilliant novel on Cleopatra that is well worth getting into if you like this sort of thing.
I can also recommend – particularly if Henry himself interests you – Phillipa Gregory. Her “The Other Boleyn Girl”, discussing Mary Boleyn (who interestingly was Henry’s mistress before Anne) is very good.
It’s nice to read something a little different now and then, so I would be interested in other historical fiction recommendations.
I have just painstakingly started a book recommended to me by a young friend. Another of our friends read it recently, and while it has been sitting on my shelf for a while, I now kind of feel obliged to make myself part of the conversation!
