This book has been on my TBR since November of 2013. It is one of those books that I always look at on my shelf and say "I'm reading that next". Then I never read it next. I put it on two different TBR challenge lists for 2019. I'm trying to read more pages over the summer than my ten year old. I guess it was finally time to read it next. 

About 50 pages in and I'm like "WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS?!?!" Another 20 pages in, I'm crying about something. Another 30 pages in, I'm screaming about how wonderful the writing is. Repeat that pattern for 700 pages. My husband will tell you that this scenario is the reason noise cancelling headphones were invented. Sorry but Llewelyn and Joanna are much more compelling than Sheldon and Amy. Prove me wrong. Seriously, he's on one side of the room laughing hysterically and I'm on the other side crying hysterically. It must be true love.

Penman's characters are always magnificent. Justin de Quincy is one of my literary boyfriends. He also needs more books if any of her publishers are reading his. Her Eleanor of Aquitaine is Eleanor of Aquitaine. There is no one else. Fight me on this. Ask the person who tried to tell me Allison Weir's Eleanor was better. It does not end well. I also believe that Richard Burton is the ultimate Henry VIII (and Thomas Becket and Mark Antony). If you can't tell I'm feeling pretty argumentative today. It must be the humidity and non-stop thunderstorms. I had a point I was trying to make here and I got side tracked.

The point was John. King John I of England is not typically a character we are suppose to like or feel sorry for. We are suppose to hate him (much like a certain author wants us to hate Henry VIII, again another post). We are suppose to want him fall in a Sarlacc pit. We want to see him drawn and quartered. We are not suppose to think he gets a raw deal. We are not suppose to see all of the good things he did for England. We are not suppose to feel bad for him because at the end of the day most of his family screwed him over. Penman manages to throw all of that out the window. Don't get me wrong, this John is not without flaws. This John is still manipulative, calculating, and full of Angevin temper. This John is also a father, a husband, and a man who does truly care about the people of England (not the nobles, the people). He is the kind of complex bad guy who you can't help but be kind of attracted to and scared of at the same time. 

I could easily give each of the main players their own review. They are the kind of characters that stay with you long after you have put the book back on the shelf. Llewelyn has made his way on to my list of literary boyfriends. Joanna had me in tears. Why can't she just be happy? Why can't the Welsh just love her like Llewelyn does? And who doesn't love a woman who lights her husband's bed on fire? Angela Basset has nothing on Joanna. 

Somewhere in the middle of all these characters is Wales. Reading Penman's descriptions of Wales reminded of the way I felt the first time I watched The Lord of the Rings. The way Jackson swept through New Zealand made me want to book a flight at that moment. I felt the same way about Wales. I want to visit 13th century Wales. I want to see waterfalls. I want to climb cliffs. I want to sit on the beach. I also want the English to leave the Welch alone. Just let them have their cows and mountains and log homes. 

I need to wrap this up. I could go on and on about this novel. At the end of the day, unless you read it for yourself, you won't understand. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go track down the next two books in this trilogy. 

Here is my top 25.  In no particular order (though most of them are series).

1. The Count St. Germain Series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Yarbro's series is about the Count St Germain, who in her series is a vampire, and his adventures throughout history.  The original five are Hotel Transylvania, The Place, Blood Games, Path of the Eclipse, and Tempting Fate.  Other stand outs in the series, imo, include Blood Roses, Better in the Dark,  and the three Olivia novels.  The series can be read out of order, and the historical period tends to be different per book.

2. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman

Moonight is completely right about Penman, and this is book is just great.  If you have read Daughter of Time and not this one, something is wrong with you.

3. The Egyptian historical books by Pauline Gedge 

Gedge has written other historical than her ancient Egypt books, but they are the best.  There are two trilogies' (The King's Man and Lord of Two Lands), a duology (House of) and three stand alones.  She has a book about the Roman conquest of Britain.

4. Benjamin January Series by Barbara Hambly

Hambly's long lasting mystery series follows Ben, a freed slave who has trained as a doctor in Paris.  He returns to New Orleans shortly after the purchase where he is only seen as a piano player.

5.The Accursed Kings by Maurice Droun (at least 1-3)

Apparently this series inspired George R R Martin.  It traces the fall of the Valois dynasty.

6.The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy

It isn't really the true Hansel and Gretel, but the fairy tale set in WWII Poland.  The best part is what Murphy does with the Stepmother and witch characters.

7. Robert Lawson's Ben and Me as well as Mr Revere and I

Lawson wrote quite a few children's books about animals.  Ben and Me is about Ben Franklin told by a mouse, and Mr Revere and I is the famous ride retold by the mare that Revere rode.

8. The Eleanor of Aquitane novels by Elizabeth Chidwick

It's true that Chadwick seems a bit centered on William the Marshall, but her books about Eleanor are superior.

9. Joplin's Ghost  by Tananrive Due

This is one of those alternate time novels.  Part of the novel concerns Scott Joplin, the other part the girl who has his cursed piano.  Its really, really good.

10. A  Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

This doorstopper is set during the French Revolution/Terror.  You can smell Paris.

11. Wildflowers of Terezin by Robert Elmer

This book is set in Nazi occupied Copenhagen and is about a pastor and a Jewish woman making it though the war and falling in over.

12. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Wein's book is told by two young women who are part of the British SOE group sent into occupied France.  

13. The Three Musketeers by Dumas

I mean, is there a book that has been filmed more?

14. The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie

The story of a girl from the Germanic tribes as they resist Rome.  The ending fight in  the arena is kick ass.

15. The Collaborators by Reginald Hill

This novel follows the lives of several people in Occupied Paris.

16. An Instance at the Fingerpost by Iain Pear

A mystery told in four different points of view.  

17. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Takes the gothic, adds the history and lesbians.

18. The Hound and the Falcon by Judith Tarr

Tarr's series is set during the Crusades and follows a young priest who may be able to do magic.

19. The Terror by Dan Simmons

The basis for the AMC series.  The novel reveals what really happened to the Franklin expedition to find the Northwest passage.  It is a slow book, but that's part of the point.

20. The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd

Ackroyd's book imagines what might have happened if Charles and Mary Lamb (she killed their mother in a fit of maddness) had met William-Henry Ireland (the men behind the Shakespeare fraud).

21. Cassandra Princess of Troy by Hilary Bailey

Epic retelling of Troy.

22. Segu by Maryse Conde

Set in Africa as Islam and transatlantic slavery invade, the novel chronciles the lives of a family.

23. Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

George's novel set some critics off because she has Henry contend that Kat of A was lying.  But it is told in Henry's pov, so well, duh.  If anyone captured his voice, she did.  I just people would stop putting the book in the history section.

24. The Memory Man by Lisa Appignanesi

One of the best books about WW II.

25. David Ashton's McLevy

This series started as series on BBC radio.  It is based on the real McLevy who patrolled Edinburgh during the reign of Queen Victoria and published his memoirs.  In addition to the radio programs, there are a series of books.  Well worth a read.

I really wanted to savor this novel. Knowing that when I finished, there were no more Justin de Quincy books, was kind of a bummer. I didn't want to rush through only to be sad at the end. You know what they say about the best laid plans.........

I couldn't take this book slowly. I was hooked from the beginning. The pairing of Justin and Durand was brilliant. I know they have worked "together" in previous novels but never really have they had to make it obvious they are on the same side. If that doesn't make sense, read the books. I promise you won't be disappointed. Anyway, I loved the Justin and Durand pairing. It was medieval good cop/bad cop. I would love to read more books featuring that dynamic.

It's unfortunate Penman has never had the opportunity to really wrap this series up. The end certainly left an opening for future books. However, Penman has said on several occasions that her publisher won't release any more de Quincy books. *Sigh* I guess I will just have to settle for the other Penman novels I have not yet read. 

This book was everything I would hoped it would be and more! I was enthralled from page one, wondering what Joanna's fate would be, watching her star rise and fall, and then rise again as she was reunited with her husband, Llewelyn. 

From the onset, Joanna expected nothing more than a meager existence, one of never having enough and wondering sometimes what the next meal would be, to the daughter of the Count, and then daughter of the King of England. Base-born as she was, she made an excellent marriage, one of her father's, King John of England, choice. She was not happy with the arrangement at first, but fear grew into trust and then into love. The story of Joanna, John, and Llewelyn is one to leave anyone's head spinning and wondering how a woman would have managed to try and please both her father and her husband, and to keep them from killing the other when the need arose. She used her love for her father to bring about several peace treaties with her husband, although none of them lasted for long. Joanna found her patience tried, not only with her husbands children, but with her own family. She strove for unity in a time of war, when each was looking to expand their borders and their land holdings. Her story is truly one that is wrought with war, love, hate, and peace. It seems that for Joanna, peace was never on hand, and there are times when I was reading the book that I truly wondered how she could have endured so much, and yet managed to survive the outcome each time, looking for the best in each situation. Her formidable spirit, even though she was very gentle and sometimes to meek for her own good, played itself out into the very best of characters for her, and she allowed her faith to lead her through life, trying to maintain what she saw as normal wherever she went. Through her life in exile after her affair was exposed, and then winning back the affections of each of her children, and finally her husband was something that was unheard of in her times. For she truly was Eleanor of Aquitaine's granddaughter. Her grandmothers teachings had not gone unheard by young Joanna who brought much more out of those stories and quiet times with her grandmother than anyone could have thought she would have. 

From the start to the finish, this book was so hard to put down! I found myself catching a page here and then when I had a few minutes to spare, and even putting everything else aside in order to get some extra reading time in. This was a story so amazing! Sharon K. Penman did a remarkable job in bringing the stories of these three lives into the light again and giving them breath once more.

Well, that took me long enough to read! I kept getting distracted from the book to read other things, in part because for me the story just wasn't holding together well. I understand that the book was showing just how random an investigation can be, with many loose ends and unanswered questions. But when I reached the point where we find out that Gervase's death wasn't tied at all to the Richard plot, and that therefore it was all an undortunate coincidence, I was disappointed. And then the very last pages are filled with a series of revelations that come fast and furious, after chapter upon chapter where these plot points had lain dormant. I don't expect every thread to be connected, but the story here was just too dispersed to hold my interest.

Also, as I mentioned in an earlier post, although the setting is historically accurate, for some reason I wasn't feeling as inmersed in the time period as I have in other novels set around this time.

In all, it was an interesting reading experience, but I'm not sure I'll read any of the sequels.