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18+ teosta 181 jäsentä 21 arvostelua

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Includes the name: Judith Arnopp

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Yleistieto

Sukupuoli
female
Kansalaisuus
UK
Koulutus
University of Wales
Ammatit
historical novelist
Lyhyt elämäkerta
Judith Arnopp graduated from the University of Wales, Lampeter in 2007 having gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Creative Writing and a Master of Art’s degree in Medieval Studies. She now combines those skills to write historical novels, reflecting the medieval period as experienced by women. [retrieved 12/18/2012 from Amazon.com]

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This is the final novel in the author's trilogy tracing the life of Margaret Beaufort, one of the most powerful women of the late Medieval period, as the mother of the first Tudor King Henry VII. This traces the reign of her son, the final remnants of the War of the Roses, the famous pretenders Lambert Simnel and the much more threatening Perkin Warbeck, and other rebellions such as the Cornish uprising. As is always the case at this period of history, the main concern among the rulers is the provision of male heirs to the throne and, less essentially but desirably, a clutch of daughters to form marriage alliances on the international stage to England's benefit. We follow Margaret's emotional rollercoaster as the ruling family descends from three sons born to King Henry and Elizabeth of York, a very healthy position, to only one, the future king Henry VIII, following the death of the heir Prince Arthur. There are more tragic deaths of royal children: Edmund the third son; one of the daughters Elizabeth; and the final daughter Katherine who dies shortly after her mother dies in childbirth ("It takes time to recover from the loss of a child. It is even worse when that child has lived long enough for us to recognise their laugh, understand their humour, and know their sorrows and fears."). The key relationship though is that between Margaret and the King her son, and as lays dying, she reflects that "since my thirteenth year, Henry has been my reason for breathing, my reason for rising each morning. He was living proof of my faith in God's goodness, and the only living creature that I have loved more than I love myself."… (lisätietoja)
 
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john257hopper | 1 muu arvostelu | Dec 16, 2023 |
Little is known about the real Eadgyth, so the author was free to create a personality for this book's heroine, along with inventing believable situations that Eadgyth may have experienced.

Ms Arnopp also does a good job with her characterization of King Harold II. The child characters are also excellent.

It's a book of two-halves, with the first part being set in Wales, and the other in England, covering the years that build-up to the 1066 Norman Conquest. Most chapters are engaging, with just a few that are a little too slow paced.

Only two things to criticise. First, the dialogue at times sounds too robotic because little of it features contractions. I encounter this in a lot of historical fiction, and indeed in period TV dramas and historical films. I guess it's to give the speech an older feel, but I believe in contemporary language for a contemporary audience (minus modern-day slang), otherwise it sounds robotic, if not unnatural.

The one aspect I really didn't like was the prologue. Reason being, it's set after the main body of the story. It's a pet hate of mine when books, films, and TV shows open at or near the end of a story. This often robs one or more elements of suspense. It's not to big of a deal in 'Peaceweaver', but the novel would've benefitted more without this glimpse into the future in the opening pages.

In the most part, though, this is a commendable debut novel. I appreciate the author's storytelling skills.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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PhilSyphe | 3 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Oct 6, 2022 |
This is the second volume in the author's trilogy of novels tracing the life of Margaret Beaufort, scion of the house of Lancaster and mother of the future English king Henry VII. This novel covers the period after she married Henry Stafford right up until the victory of her son at Bosworth in 1485, a full quarter century.

Being told entirely from Margaret's first person viewpoint, the various battles and dramatic political events of the conflict known to later generations as the Wars of the Roses, are imparted to her through the arrival of breathless messengers reporting back victory, defeat, or the shocking desertion of one of the principal actors to or from one side or the other. This narrative approach, while historically accurate, sometimes irritates me in historical fiction but here it illustrates effectively how a powerful political figure like Margaret Beaufort is marginalised from the main action as a woman. The most dominant emotion in her mental landscape though is desperate regret and worry about her separation from her son Henry for almost the whole of his childhood and indeed his adulthood until his military and political victory at the age of 28.

The dramatic events of 1483-85 are vividly told; like many historical novelists she appears to be a believer in the innocence of Richard III over the Princes in the Tower and indeed she does not believe they were murdered, or at least that nine year old Richard was not murdered, to judge by the plot of another of her novels. I don't share her view on this, but it is a well told version of events and Margaret comes across as a real three dimensional human character.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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john257hopper | 1 muu arvostelu | Sep 22, 2022 |
This is the first of an uneven length trilogy of novels dramatising the life of Tudor matriarch Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII. This covers only the first 14 years of her life, but this packs in a lot, a betrothal when she was only 7 and a marriage to another man at the age of 12, and giving birth, with great difficulty, to her son, after the death of her husband Edmund Tudor of plague. At the end of the novel she is being introduced to the man who is to be her third husband, Henry Stafford. Telling a novel from the point of view of a child, albeit an intelligent and observant one like Margaret Beaufort, can be a challenge to put across, but she comes across quite realistically here.… (lisätietoja)
 
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john257hopper | 1 muu arvostelu | Jun 12, 2022 |

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Teokset
18
Also by
1
Jäseniä
181
Suosituimmuussija
#119,336
Arvio (tähdet)
3.8
Kirja-arvosteluja
21
ISBN:t
22

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