Library of Clean Reads: 16th century

Showing posts with label 16th century. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The Tapestry by Nancy Bilyeau (Review & Giveaway)

The Tapestry by Nancy Bilyeau

ISBN: 978-1476756370

Touchstone Publishing

Published: March 24, 2015
UK Publication Date: April 24, 2015

Hardcover, 390 pages

Review
Reviewed by Sandra

Is it possible that this third book in the Joanna Stafford series of fantastic historical fiction is the best yet? If you have read The Chalice and The Crown you may wonder how it could get any better, but it has.

Joanna Stafford, former Dominican novice, is pursuing a quiet life of weaving tapestries for a living in her beloved Dartford, England circa 1540 when a summons arrives from her distant cousin, King Henry VIII to appear at court. Henry offers her a commission to weave a custom tapestry for him, as well as become Tapestry Mistress, ie, oversee, maintain, and add to Henry’s 200-odd tapestry collection. When she finds out that the face of her friend, Catherine Howard is to feature in the tapestry, Joanna has a sinking feeling that 19-year-old Catherine is the 57-year-old King’s next conquest/wife. Enter Thomas Culpepper and the rest is history, as they say. This novel traces the events that swirl around this couple, set against a backdrop of religious intolerance in all its forms, political intrigue, and social unrest.

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau (Review and Giveaway!)

The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau
Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 978-1476708652
Published: March 5, 2013
Trade Paperback, 512 pages

It is 1538 England. The bloody turmoil between Henry VIII and the monasteries continues. Joanna Stafford, novice of Dartford Priory, that we met in Nancy Bilyeau’s debut novel, The Crown, is once again involved in a mystery, this time involving an international plot against the King.

The Catholic monasteries have been abolished; Joanna is raising her 5-year-old ward, and attempting to lead a normal life by weaving and selling beautiful tapestries. There is a love triangle of Geoffrey Scovill, now constable of Dartford town where Joanna lives, “Brother” Edmund, a former monk, and Joanna. She decides on Edmund and they are to marry, but a quiet, family life is not to be.

An edict forbids former religious people - nuns, priors, friars, priests to marry. Then, travel to London exposes Joanna to the limelight once again as she begins having unexplained visions and hearing voices (or so she thinks) that remind her of prophecies concerning her. She is brought to a seer who tells her that she has a crucial role to play in the future of the kingdom and Christendom – but what is it? What is she expected to do? Intent on finding out, Joanna travels to Ghent, Belgium to meet a third seer who finally reveals the meaning of the prophecy. Joanna is to poison Henry using a special chalice!

The character of aristocratic, religious Joanna is well developed. She is a strong woman who prefers a quiet, contemplative life serving God in a priory. However, she is willing to risk imprisonment and possible torture as she assumes her responsibility to king and country, while being pitted against some of the most powerful men of her time.

This is very good historical fiction combined with a religious mystery. The reader learns about Henry’s court, the infamous Tower, ladies in waiting, religious struggles as the Reformation continues, and religious devotion of the time. The description of daily life in a small English village rounds out the atmosphere of the 1500’s. Anne of Cleves, Henry the VIII’s 4th wife makes an appearance in the story as does Mary Tudor, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester (Joanna’s nemesis in The Crown) and Emperor Charles.

I love the descriptions the author uses, such as “her face was crisscrossed with faint lines, like delicate parchment paper left too long on a table, unused.”

I found the story overly long and somewhat confusing at times as I struggled to understand the complicated code about the prophecy, but all in all it is worthwhile reading for historical fiction fans.

Note: This book is rated C = clean read, although there are some religious expletives.

About the author:
Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Crown, is a writer and magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of InStyle, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. Her latest position is features editor of Du Jour magazine. A native of the Midwest, she graduated from the University of Michigan. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

You can learn more about her on www.nancybilyeau.com.

Reviewed by Sandra

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher and Amy Bruno from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
Published by Touchstone
ISBN: 978-1451626865
Published September 2012
Trade paperback, 409 pages

It is the year 1537 in England. Henry VIII has broken with the Catholic Church and people are being burned at the stake for being papists. This is the setting for an exciting debut novel with an unlikely heroine, a 27-year-old Dominican novice nun, Joanna Stafford. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, she leaves her home, Dartford Priory, to support her cousin, Margaret, and witness her burning at the stake in London as a rebel papist.

After witnessing her cousin’s death, Joanne and her father are captured, put in the Tower of London and accused of interfering with the king’s justice by the Duke of Norfolk who is intent on destroying Joanna and all her aristocratic family. Enter wily Stephen Gardiner, Catholic Bishop of Winchester, architect of Henry’s divorce from Katharine of Aragon. He offers Joanna freedom and the life of her father if she will agree to find a religious relic, the lost crown worn by Saxon King Athelstan - “the Athelstan Crown”- and give it to him.

The crown, the legend and the curse attached to it will “change the lives of every man, woman, and child living in England – and beyond” according to the Bishop. Joanne must find it or forfeit her father’s life. She agrees to return to the nunnery where the Crown is supposedly hidden and is begrudgingly accepted back into the religious community. Strange things begin to happen and an important representative of the King is murdered by someone using the Priory’s reliquary as the murder weapon.

When a friar is arrested for the murder, Dartford Priory is put under suspicion. This is the time of the dissolution of the monasteries and nunneries by the King and Cromwell. The priory with its nuns and friars risks being dissolved. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story as Joanna and Brother Edmund, a friar who is attracted to her, pursue the mysterious Crown, first at Dartford then at other abbeys. Secret passages and doors in abbeys are traversed and hints woven into tapestries are examined in pursuit of the Crown.

A brief historical look at the origins of religious relics and the reasons people revere such objects as fingernails, hair, teeth of dead “saints”, the nails that pierced Jesus, etc, helps the reader to understand why the Crown of Athelstan is so important. Anyone who has read and/or watched “The Da Vinci Code” may clue into it.

I very much liked Joanna’s character. She is a strong woman who is willing to risk her life to save what she most values, including her religious calling. She is attracted to Brother Edmund but her novice vow of chastity complicates matters. She is intelligent, courageous and quick-thinking, more suited to an aristocratic life than to a nunnery. On the other hand, it is through Joanna that we understand why the quiet, contemplative life of a cloistered nun is so special in their search for spirituality and usefulness to God.

The story is based on authentic events. Margaret Bulmer really was burned at the stake for high treason. And as everyone knows Henry VIII was a real king. The monasteries and religious houses really were dissolved during the Reformation. This is historical fiction at its very best.

The author paints a vivid picture of 16th century life. We see, smell and hear life in the castles, inns, hovels and the Tower of London. History, intrigue, murder, villainy, mystery, mysticism, religious vocation, love – all are covered in this not-to-be-missed book!

Note: This book is rated C = clean read.

Reviewed by Sandra

Disclosure: I bought this book and was not told how to rate or review this product.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Once Upon a Rose by Judith O'Brien

Once Upon a Rose by Judith O’Brien
ISBN: 978-1451677690
Published by Pocket Books
Published: 1996
Paperback, 352 pages

I haven’t had this much fun with a book in a long time. It is totally amusing, hilariously funny, and best of all, it deals with one of my favorite subjects – time travel!

Deanie Bailey is a country-western singer making a music video at Hampton Court in England in the 1990’s. While she is dressed in 16th-century style clothes for her video, she goes into the maze for a bit of privacy when she experiences what she thinks is an earthquake. In reality she has been pulled back in time to 1540. She encounters a man she believes to be an actor but who proves to be Christopher Neville, Duke of Hamilton, and aide to King Henry VIII. She must now learn the ways and customs of the time and Christopher “Kit” helps her to do that. Deanie falls in love with him. When“Kit” makes a paper airplane for the king, Deanie realizes that he is also a time traveler, but from the 1940’s wartime era.

King Henry is captivated by beautiful Deanie who claims to be from Wales as an explanation for her “strangeness”. He wants to make her his mistress (no surprise there) which she manages to avoid. She sings a medley of Patsy Cline hits, like “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy” and “Sweet Dreams of You” for Henry (imagine Dolly Parton meets Henry VIII) and he sings “Greensleeves”, his own composition, to her. Deanie becomes lady-in-waiting and friend to Anne of Cleves, Henry’s 4th wife. And though she wants to return home to the US, Deanie feels compelled to stay in England in 1540 in order to prevent the death of Anne at the hands of Cromwell. “What if we somehow have changed history?” Deanie says. As we know Anne of Cleves was divorced from Henry, escaped death and remained friends with him.

Eventually Deanie and Kit return to present-day England together via the maze, but once back in the present she is unable to find him. For some unknown reason they are separated for months until Deanie sees him in the audience at one of her concerts and the rest is history, as they say.

There are “thee’s” and “thou’s” aplenty so as to make the feel of the book authentic as are the descriptions of the clothes and head coverings of the time. Words take on alternate meanings depending on the when they are said. For example, Deanie says “I don’t know about you, but these dogs are barking.” Kit responds, “Dogs? I hear no hounds.” “No, I mean my feet hurt. These stone floors are about as comfortable as asphalt in July.” And how do you explain Velcro to someone of the 1500’s? And what about donuts? Deanie makes them for the king and he loves them!

If you like time travel, the Tudor era, Southern belles and good ole’ boys and above all, humor, you will enjoy this tale.

Note: This book is rated P = religious expletives and swear words
and S = sexual scene.
I will count this book toward the 2012 Time Travel Challenge.

Reviewed by Sandra

Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my local library and was not told how to rate or review this product.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner (Book tour)

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C.W. Gortner
(Rated: S, V, P)
Ballantine Books
ISBN: 978-0345501875
Published May 24, 2011
Trade Paperback, 420 pages

Reading C.W. Gortner is like stepping into the past and into the intimate life of a historical character we think we know. But Gortner's impeccable research coupled with his talent for bringing out the possibilities of what may have happened both from a historical and human standpoint easily captures the reader until he is swept away into an emotional journey.

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici does exactly this. It is the personal tale of one of the strongest and controversial women who ruled France during the most difficult years of religious warfare when Protestants, also known as Huguenots, wanted freedom to worship. The story begins when she is a child and flees her native Florence and follows her tumultuous marriage to a king whose mistress took over the raising of Catherine's children and on into her fight to keep her sons on the throne until her death.

It's true that Catherine was ruthless, but she also suffered considerably. There were times when my heart ached for her and other times when I shuddered at the lengths she went to produce an heir for France and to keep the Valois line alive. With the Guise family and the churches vying for power she had to be cunning and forthright if she wanted to stay in the game. Treachery, betrayal, warfare and death were a constant in her life. Gortner brings all of this out with superb storytelling. It's an absorbing tale. Four hundred pages and not one boring scene.

Needless to say, this book propelled me to research more about this much-maligned Queen and the events that surrounded her life. I love books that teach me history through a fascinating story. This is an ambitious novel and Gortner meets the challenge with a well-written and well-told story. After reading and loving his last book The Last Queen, I did not expect any less. Fans of historical fiction will not want to miss this one.

Note: There are several explicit sex scenes in this novel. The massacre of St Batholomew's Day is also described in horrific detail. Catherine does consult with an astrologer and she herself has visions of her future. Like many of her time it was believed that being a seer was a gift from God. This paranormal aspect does not dominate the story but is part of it.

About the Author:

C.W. Gortner is the author of the acclaimed historical novels The Last Queen, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, and The Tudor Secret. He holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis on Renaissance Studies from the New College of California. In his extensive travels to research his books, he has danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall and experienced life in a Spanish castle. He is also a dedicated advocate for animal rights and environmental issues. Half-Spanish by birth, he divides his time between Northern California and Antigua, Guatemala. You can visit the author online at www.cwgortner.com or his blog at http://historicalboys.blogspot.com/.

You can read more reviews on his tour stops here.

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Historical Fiction Challenge and Italy in Books Challenge

Disclosure: Thanks to the author and Pump Up Your Book Promotions for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.