This weekend my wife and I went to go see The Favourite, the new movie about the triangle between Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill, and Abigail Hill. It's a really good movie (Olivia Colman deserves an Oscar just on the basis of her physical performance in the role, so don't be surprised if she is completely snubbed) though as with just about every historical film Hollywood produces it takes its share liberties with history.

 

The thing is, I really couldn't say what those liberties were, as yet again I went into a historical film with only the vaguest familiarity of the personages and events depicted. This did absolutely nothing to detract from my enjoyment of the film as a film, yet barely a scene went by when I wasn't annoyed with myself for not being able to gauge the historical veracity of what was being shown. This was especially true of the depiction of Queen Anne, whom I had long thought of as the most capable of the Stuart monarchs (granted, the competition here wasn't fierce) yet in the film she comes across as anything but. So, what was truth and what was dramatic license?

 

I have a simple fix for this, of course, which is to read some books. I'm familiar enough with the context so that general historical works are unnecessary, so I'm going to focus on biographies of the major figures portrayed. This means starting with Queen Anne, and while I have long planned on reading Edward Gregg's biography of her I'm going to start with Anne Somerset's instead, for the simple reason that it's the more easily acquirable of the two. After that I'll probably tackle ones on Sidney Godolphin and Robert Harley before getting to Sarah Churchill, as I suspect sorting out which book about her to read is going to be a challenge.

Anne of Brittany was raised with the knowledge that she would rule the Duchy of Brittany. With the premature death of her father, she is thrust onto the political scene at the tender age of 14, and the intrigue is just beginning! Beset with those around her who would rather control her than allow her to be the headstrong young woman she was, she quickly learns that friends cannot always be trusted and those who can should be kept close.
With the turmoil around her, she chooses a marriage alliance which is quickly broken and another marriage set in motion. With the death of her husband, she marries his successor, being crowned for the second time as queen of France.

The tragic details of this young queen are laid out with the upmost respect, and the love that the people she ruled over is plain to see with her own tragic demise.
Great for readers of any age, but written for YA readers.

Anne Neville is one of the shadow queens of England. While we have glimpses of her through records, not enough remains to paint a clear picture of her. What we do know is through the lives of her husbands and father. Traitor, Princess, Wife, Widow, Wife, Mother, Queen. Anne Neville packed quite a bit of living into a short lifespan. She was only 28 years old when she died, but she lived more than most people do today in 80 years.

Through the brief glimpses that we are given, Michael Hicks attempts to paint a picture of this lady of the shadows, but I found myself disappointed. He seemed more interested in making a villain of Richard III than trying to glean out more information on Anne Neville, even painting her as complicit in some of what he called "Richard's schemes" but also Anne herself using Richard to gain what she wanted.

I have been wanting to read this book, but I was completely disappointed with the entire read. I felt that to much of the author's personal bias went into writing this book, therefore the waters were muddy even before anyone tries to pick history apart and paint a more thorough picture.
I would not really recommend out this read. While some personal bias is fine, everyone has it, this author goes above and beyond, making the read completely un-enjoyable.

This was a comfort reread that I completed on my Kindle Text-to-Speech between May 21 and June 8th, 2014. Anne Stuart is my all time favorite author. Her skill with writing romance is evident in her category Harlequin books as much as her mainstream books that she writes now. She has a way of combining romance with edgy danger and suspense to make the kind of book that a romance fan who loves action, thrillers or suspense can enjoy for equal components. She shows the knowledge of key elements to a scintillating romance story: A compelling hero, a likable and identifiable heroine, a scenario that allows tension to grow and culminate into a lifetime love, and plenty of moments of enjoyable, sigh-worthy scenes between said hero and heroine along the way. Reilly is the kind of guy you'd want to be stranded in the jungle alongside (if you want that at all). He's the strong silent type, and beneath the rough edges, he is a decent person with a firm moral compass. He's also sexy and strong and appealing in that luscious romance novel hero way. He's got more than enough bad boy appeal (or otherwise this wouldn't be an Anne Stuart book). I pretty much hate being hot and sweaty and dirty, so a jungle doesn't sound fun to me, but I love reading books where the hero and heroine slog together through a jungle because they are so much fun. Carlie is one of my favorite Stuart heroines. She's actually rather innocent (courtesy of spending nine years in a convent), but also has plenty of emotional scars from the tragedy of her past. She's soft but also strong, and not a pushover that makes a dominant hero like Reilly seem like a bully when he acts all gruff and grumpy. She's taken a lot of licks in her life, but she keeps on ticking. The chemistry between Reilly and Carlie is electric as it can only be in an Anne Stuart book. Even though the love scenes aren't that descriptive, they feel steamy to me. Because Stuart is so good at building tension. You can feel their attraction (reluctant at first) and the slow slide into love that makes it clear that neither will be able to walk away when they get back to safety. I had a happy, sappy smile of satisfied romance lover when I finished the book, even though I've read this at least twice before now (probably more). Timothy, the baby is an integral character. He reveals the vulnerabilities of both characters, and personalizes Reilly as a man who is tough as nails but also can be gentle and caring with an orphaned child. The scenario is exciting and fun, although more energy is focused on the romance since this is a shorter-length category romance. there is more than enough atmosphere present to buy the sense of risk of being in a war-torn country south of the border. Although this is from the 90s, it doesn't feel dated, but moreso classic. One of those tried and true romances from that period that I consider a sure thing when I need an escapist romantic pick-me-up. I am biased in the sense that I am a diehard Anne Stuart fan, but this is definitely one of my all-time favorites by her. Recommended! flag

I hate to review a book I haven't even finished but in this case it needs to be done. I am adding this book to the very short list of books I started and never finished. That list is now home to three books. I generally force myself to push through to the end of a book no matter how bad or how long it takes me. I can't do it with this book. I have had enough of the author portraying Anne Boleyn as some Renaissance version of Regina George. I am tired of the name calling (Catherine of Aragon is referred to by Anne Boleyn at one point as "Her Oldbagness") and bitter (Not to mention flat out ridiculous dialogue. At one point it is suggested that Henry uses the word "skedaddle".) I do not believe this was the type of person Anne Boleyn was. I believe Anne Boleyn tends to get a bad wrap among people and this book does nothing but further that stereotype. Maybe the author redeems Anne at the end. Maybe the author plans on some big twist in which Anne magically sees the light and becomes a loving, less snarky human being. Maybe but I'll never know. The addition of the fictional Lucy Cornwallis can't even save this book. I care nothing for her character. I know what happens to Anne Boleyn and her friends (Franky and Billy?!? No) at the end of the book so it's not like I'm really missing out on some big revelation there. If you are reading this review wondering if you should read this book at some point in the future, don't. Just don't. If I didn't have an entire stack of books calling my name, I might see this one through to the end but I know there are better books out there and I cannot be bothered to waste anymore time with this one.