Beth F
Sandy
bermudaonion (Kathy)
Stephanie
Trisha
Murder Most Royal by Jean Plaidy
What do Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard have in common? Not only were they the two wives that Henry VIII had beheaded for infidelity, they were also cousins. Their relationship, although not close, does make them ripe for comparison and logical for an intertwining of their stories.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, but also somewhat disappointingly, the majority of the book dealt with Anne, not Katherine. Katherine did get the some pages here and there during Anne’s ascendance and reign, and of course had the end to herself, but I would have liked to see a bit more of her.
Plaidy seems to treat both Anne and Katherine very evenhandedly. Anne has her faults and lets her power and fear go somewhat to her head, but she is not someone who deserves her execution. Katherine is a naive and sexual human being who essentially doesn’t know better than to dally with men in her grandmother’s house, but she isn’t the conniving nymphomaniac purposefully cuckolding Henry as other books sometimes describe her.
Like “To Hold the Crown,” this was one of Plaidy’s better, more flowing works. In some of her books the writing gets somewhat stilted and is more old fashioned, but that isn’t the case with “Murder Most Royal.” All you Tudor historical fiction fanatics, give this book a try.
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I love Henry VIII stuff. And now you’ve got me wondering if the “Tudors” TV show will go on long enough for both beheadings.
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I haven’t read any Plaidy, but I really need to. Thanks for the review!
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Last year I got a copy of The Fifth Queen by Ford Maddox Ford. I’m hoping that this will be a great book about Katherine Howard. I haven’t read it yet. Hopefully soon. It should be interesting to read about her from a male perspective. So much historical fiction about the Tudors is written by women. I’ll be interested in his take. Have you read this book yet?
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Literate Housewife –
No, I haven’t read it yet, in fact I hadn’t even heard of it until you mentioned it. Now I’m going to go and add it to some wishlists.
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Thanks for bringing this one to my attention. I’ll have to get it. I love anything to do with Henry and his wives. Too bad the book didn’t pay more attention to Katherine though. I’d like to hear more about her.
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This was a good one of Plaidy’s. Have you read Rose Without A Thorn about Katherine by Plaidy? That one is really great to get to know her. You can’t help but like her. Good review!
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devourerofbooks Reply:
March 4th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
I did read Rose Without A Thorn, that was actually one of my first Plaidys. You’re right, that’s a great one.
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I haven’t read anything by Plaidy, but I’d like to.
I’ll stick with the ones you recommend as not stilted writing…writing style matters a lot!
Amy @ My Friend Amy’s last blog post..Review: The Red Siren by M.L. Tyndall
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Probably not one for me but I thought it was interesting they were cousins.I didn’t know that!
Jo’s last blog post..Booking through Thursday-Best book never read
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I really want to read more Plaidy and more Tudor books. This one sounds great!
Toni Gomez’s last blog post..All Tme Favorite Poem – William Wordsworth
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