House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family
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After her grandmother died, Hadley Freeman travelled to her apartment to try and make sense of a...
Mexico City Metro Map - with route planner
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Mexico City Metro includes a full map of Mexico City’s Metro system (known locally as the Sistema...
Miami Airport (MIA) Flight Tracker Radar
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Flight tracker premium. #1 airport app For Miami (MIA, FLL, PBI) plus every airport in the world...
Doha Airport (DOH) Flight Tracker Radar serving Qatar and emirates
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Flight tracker premium. #1 airport app For Doha and every airport (2500+) you get: +Live Arrival...
Broken Sword 5
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Episode 1 - Paris in the spring Shots ring out from a gallery… a robbery… a murder… and the...
D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
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The dramatic, untold true story of the extraordinary women recruited by Britain's elite spy agency...
Gideon's Angel
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He came back to kill a tyrant. He found the Devil instead. An amazing historical novel with a...
ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Queens Lady in Books
Dec 8, 2022
Joan no longer has a place at court, and her husband falls out of favour when his enemies gain considerable influence with the King.
It was really interesting to learn about the inner workings of the English court and the precarious line that courtiers had to tread. Joan also gave some insight into some significant historical events: the Field of the Cloth of Gold in France, Princess Margaret’s marriage to King James, the arrival of Catherine of Aragon, and accompanying Princess Mary to Paris when she marries King Louis.
I’m an absolute sucker for historical fiction, and I loved the details and the very human, realistic style this book was written in. And I really liked Joan.
The ravens are a constant - after all, Joan is the Lady of the Ravens. Bu they’re not as central to the storyline this time.
I don’t know whether this will just be a duology, or if there’s more to come, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Highly recommended.
ClareR (6054 KP) rated Daughters of Sparta in Books
May 21, 2023
First of all, these books read as historical fiction, NOT as myths. There are no gods or goddesses intervening in the lives of mortals, messing it all up. The mortals are all perfectly capable of doing that themselves.
Secondly, the women are strong in the context of the time they live in, not by our modern standards. Women were completely reliant on their husbands and families; sold off to the men who would most benefit their fathers. As is the case with Klytemnestra (spelt with a ‘K’ here, but it can be a ‘C’ as well!) and Helen.
To be fair, both women have a lot about them. Klytemnestra commits the ultimate two fingered salute to her husband, and Helen removes herself from the possibility of dying in childbirth. There’s also the fact that Helen seems to be constantly searching for affection and love. Denied both by her mother, she doesn’t get those things from her husband either, probably because they never get to know one another. And Paris certainly doesn’t show her love or affection once they get to Troy. She must feel supremely uncomfortable around the other women in Troy once the Greeks turn up and start killing all of their husbands.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Greek myths where the gods are involved, but I really like this version too. Really very enjoyable, I raced through this book. I’m hoping that Claire Heywood has another retelling in the pipeline!