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Review
'Perhaps the greatest gifts Anya Seton brings to her historical novels are the zest of her narrative, the life she breathes into the most insignificant characters, and the atmosphere of the era she evokes around them' (Books and Bookmen )
'Brilliant historical construction' ( Evening News )
'Miss Seton's enthusiasm for both character and period is infectious. Katherine emerges a glowing, vital figure' (Daily Telegraph )
'Anya Seton takes us into other worlds, making us live for a few hours on a grand scale'
'Brilliant historical construction' ( Evening News )
'Miss Seton's enthusiasm for both character and period is infectious. Katherine emerges a glowing, vital figure' (Daily Telegraph )
'A great adventure, powerfully told'
(Philippa Gregory )'Anya Seton takes us into other worlds, making us live for a few hours on a grand scale'
(Women's Journal )
'wonderful historical novels'
(Alison Weir ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Daily Telegraph
‘Miss Seton’s enthusiasm for both character and period is infectious. Katherine emerges a glowing, vital figure’
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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First Sentence
IN THE TENDER GREEN TIME of April, Katherine set forth at last upon her journey with the two nuns and the royal messenger. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
IN THE TENDER GREEN TIME of April, Katherine set forth at last upon her journey with the two nuns and the royal messenger. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
80 of 83 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Katherine de Roet, mistress and later wife of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, through her children by John is the ancestress of just about every Royal English line - Plantagenets, Tudors and Stuarts. I first read this book when I was in my early teens and am still reading it 40 years later. Jewel bright in its descriptions, it takes the reader through turbulent times in the 14th century. So much we can never know, but it seems that the affair between Katherine and John was a great love story - they eventually married. It inspired me to visit her tomb in Lincoln Cathedral and the little Lincolnshire village of Kettlethorpe where she once lived. Was she as beautiful as the book implies? I would have loved to have met her.
48 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anya Seton's Katherine is both a romance and an historical novel. It is the story of Katherine Sywnford (nee de Roet) and of course her romance with John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, from which union sprung the Beaufort line. The historical detail is good and characterisation is excellent. Some of the novel is seen from the view of Katherine's brother-in-law, Geoffrey Chaucer, and extracts of his poetry are used in chapter headings. Seton makes her characters sympathetic, but real. You can clearly see the attraction of the powerful John of Gaunt, but his faults not passed over and it is clear where the pride of the House of Beaufort came from! I found Seton's portrayal of Richard II to be quite unsympathetic, but this worked within the context of her story, so I shan't quibble too much as I did find this hard to put down once I got going!
The only thing I would really have liked would have been a bit more of an historical note at the end, in the style of Sharon Penman, giving a little more information on some of the characters and events. There is some of this in the introduction, for example on the existence of Blanchette, but I feel it would have been better at the end and enlarged on slightly. The only biography I have seen available on Katherine Swynford has been very short, and Seton says most of what we know of her is from where her life intersects with that of John of Gaunt, so I would be interested in knowing how Seton surmised other events she depicts, and her reasoning on decisions on the fate of Blanchette who has seemingly not been acknowledged by all historians.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just re-read this book for the third time,having fallen in love with it many years ago in my early teens.Anya Seton's characterisation of the people thronging this book is its main strength, but the historical research places it firmly in its period and really brings those times to vivid life for the reader, without being stuffy or worthy. Anya Seton draws the reader into the medieval world of England as it really must have been, describing life for the rich and poor, and those in between, in a way that is completely credible. Katherine's story is amazing and uplifting, and of course the fact that it is true makes it all the more entrancing. If you believe in 'love conquers all' and enjoy stories set in the past, this is the novel for you. A real page-turner that will make you wish you had a time machine to travel back to Katherine's era. I can't recommend the novel highly enough!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Katherine by Anya Seton
I read this book many years ago, when it was first published (1954) and am giving my age away. It was my first real introduction to English history, other than boring school... Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Green
Fantastic read
I absolutely love this book and first read it as a teenager more than 30 years ago. Since then I have read it repeatedly. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Sandigirl
Katherine by Anya Seton
As with all my Amazon purchases so far, this book arrived promptly, was securely packed, and exactly in the condition stated, but at a fraction of the price of most shops. Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. Holmes
An absolute classic - you must read this book
To say that a book is one of the best you have ever read is a statement not to be made lightly but in this case it is entirely justified. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jayne
Katherine
Love love love this book, very well written and very interesting historical references. Came very promptly from Amazon as usual. Read more
Published 7 months ago by bernie
Brilliant! Gripping! Unputdownable...
I can never make up my mind whether this title or `Green Darkness' green Darkness is my favourite Anya Seton novel. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Annie
What a page turner!
I last read this larger than life story when I was fitteen years old. My eyes were popping with wonder then. Now, 50 years later, I no longer read romances. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Lucille
Katherine
This is a true story well told. The other Katherine who was a commoner and married a guy who became king!
Published 12 months ago by Ms. C. Roberts
Wonderful....a bit loo long though
This is a really wonderful book which I thoroughly enjoyed, however, I really struggled to get through the last 150 or so pages. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Catherine
Katherine on Kindle please!
I loved this book when I read it as a teenager and would love to read it again. Please Amazon put it on Kindle! I have asked the publisher to do just that.
Published 14 months ago by Chorister
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