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125 of 138 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting read but based on very little evidence., 9 Oct 2007
I enjoyed this book. It's interesting and informative about the time and the courts of Edward III and Richard II. It's fairly well researched about the time and Weir writes in an engaging style.
However Katherine Swynford left nothing behind, we have nothing written by her and nothing about what she thought or said. We know so very little about her and it shows. Countless times throughout the book Weir has to use phrases such as 'Katherine might have been here or there', 'She may have done this or that' and 'We can only imagine what she felt' because we simply do not have enough evidence about what she was doing or where she was. It's because of this that Katherine's voice simply does not come through in the book. We do not really get much of an idea of what she was like, or what she felt or thought.
Also I noticed that Weir relies heavily (especially in the first few chapters) on the chronicler Jean Frossairt and yet on page 104, when she disagrees with something he's recorded, she tells us that "his sources can hardly have been reliable. He was, after all, writing long after these events." and yet she is happy to rely on him at other times in the book, I'm assuming because there is no other information available.
So although I've taken issue with a couple of things I did, nevertheless, enjoy reading the book and it's as thorough as it can be with so little evidence.
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50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The two Katherines, 8 Feb 2008
I don't think I can be the only reader who, although very eager to read this book, felt a certain amount of trepidaton and yes, that is because one of my all-time favourite historical novels is Anya Seton's Katherine. Alison Weir has been very kind to me, I think: although her own research has clearly shown Seton's errors and conjecture and she has not swerved from presenting the facts as she has found them, at the same time she has not callously tried to destroy my rose-tinted images completely. So while I would rather believe, for instance, that John of Gaunt married Katherine entirely out of love, and that he had always been faithful to her, I can accept Weir's far more realistic point of view. Yes, many things about Katherine in this book are still speculation, due to the huge gaps in time when there is no record of her, but they are intelligent, considered speculation and offered to us as such. I enjoyed this portrait of Katherine Swynford immensely and was able to appreciate even more than before how extraordinary her life was. But I was still able to read Seton's novel with great pleasure, although I did have to suspend belief just a little more than I used to.
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92 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alison Weir never disappoints - an exceptional book on an exceptional medieval woman by an exceptional author, 4 Nov 2007
The late Queen Mother is supposed to have said that titled and powerful men do not marry their mistresses. Well, we know that she was very wrong on this her brother-in-law did and her grandson too. But she had point as such men usually did or do not as like the late Sir James Goldsmith said that this "leaves a job vacancy".
One of the few exceptions was Katherine Swynford: she made it from royal mistress to royal wife. She had been for more than 20 years the mistress of Prince John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster and titular King of Castile, before they were married and she became even for a very short period only - England's first lady. What caused scandal today was even more scandalous in the 14th century and this reputation sticked to Katherine. However, the reality of it all was quite different. Katherine was a well educated woman of her time, who managed her own destiny and estates, managed to hold the love and esteem of the royal duke, her children by him, the Beauforts, were not only legitimated but became well respected and highly intelligent members of England's ruling class and their off-springs became England's monarchs. On top she was held in high esteem by King Richard II and her step-son king Henry IV. This alone, is already quite an achievement.
Alison Weir follows the destiny of Katherine in a brilliant way. She simply has indeed a unique talent to tell a story. Her reputation as one of the foremost popular historians is well justified. As there are limited sources available she put things into perspective, analyses the sources and the "agenda" of the writers. She re-creates the life of Katherine in an understandable way and is academically correct without being scholarly. All this helps to understands better life and times of Katherine Swynford.
I appreciated very much the whole of the book: genealogical tables, the illustrations and the appendix on Anya Seton's novel "Katherine" made the book a great reading experience.
I do not share the criticism other reviewers' on the maybes because Katherine Swynford left nothing behind, we have nothing written by her and nothing about what she thought or said. Well, this is not the 18th century when people tended to write long letters. We are in the 14th century and direct evidence is scare. We have to fill gaps by deduction. And here Mrs. Weir is honest by pointing out when she makes an informed guess. I find it usually more irritating when a guess is presented as a fact.
I feel less happy that she portraits the Duke of Lancaster in a too favourable light. It is a bit of a whitewash. This applies as well to the relationship of Katherine and the Duke which was against the public morale of the time. Maybe she is a bit too one-sided.
But this does devaluated this great book. I enjoyed to 100% and can only recommend it.
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