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Katherine: The classic historical romance

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The duchess was today dazzling as the southern May, having dressed to please her husband's taste, in full magnificence of jewels and ermine. Her silver-gilt hair was twined with pearls and she wore her gold and diamond coronet. She smelled of jasmine and Katherine adored her. Only years later did the lovers meet again after much pain and turmoil and spend three years of marriage before John of Gaunt's death. I'm so glad to have finally read this one! It has been on my TBR list for approximately 45 years -- since high school!!

Katherine - Kindle edition by Seton, Anya. Literature

On the whole it reads more like Jane Smiley’s Greenlanders. Or the horrible “Freydis” who appears, by the way as a malevolent actor in the Greenland community in this book. Like a romantic adventure, moved by the characters but never developing them deeply. The only interesting insights came near the end when Merewynn, living as a descendant of Arthur even though she now knows herself otherwise, falls into a depression and is saved only by a moral choice to confront the truth in her new life. I kept thinking of Khal Drogo as I read Hugh. (I mean, come on, who doesn't just think of Khal Drogo on the regular?) The parallels between Hugh and Drogo's sexual brutality of their early marriages is pretty clear. But the difference is that Danaerys guided him to change, and Katherine just shut down and endured her fate. Now, I know that Dany is fictional, and Drogo was played by Jason Momoa so YUM, but to Dany, he was just as terrifying and rough at first as Hugh was to Katherine. She accepted her marriage to Hugh, and she endured it, but had she made an effort to guide him to being gentler, I think he would have responded. He truly did love her, and wanted to be with her, but she was too young and bitter about him to allow herself to feel anything but indifference toward him. She walled herself off.Okay, then how about the writing? We may know what happens but the author can sprinkle the story with good prose and keen insights to keep us reading. Katherine is based on the true story of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt from 14th Century England. John, a younger son of King Edward III, was one of the richest and most powerful men of his day. His marriages were strategic alliances — but the great love of his life was Katherine, the humble, orphan daughter of one his father's heralds.

Katherine by Anya Seton - AbeBooks Katherine by Anya Seton - AbeBooks

Katherine is a 1954 historical novel by American author Anya Seton. It tells the story of the historically important, 14th-century love affair in England between the eponymous Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of King EdwardIII. a b c d "Anya Seton, author of historical novels". Chicago Sun-Times. 11 November 1990. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014 . Retrieved 8 July 2013. (subscription required) Aside from the pacing issues, I will say that this was a really well constructed story. There is a huge amount of detail that went into it, from the characters, to the time period, to the political situation and uprisings and, for the most part, all of that worked really well. I never felt confused by what was happening, or who was who, which is always a risk when you have multiple characters named the same or similar things, or nobles whose titles and lands change, thus changing their names. Seton did well keeping everything straight and as clear as possible. However, there were some errors that I found in the book, which might be due to the edition or printing - little things like Roger Leech vs Roger Leach. Seton married twice. Her first marriage at the age of 19 was to Rhodes scholar Hamilton Cottier. They had two children, [2] Pamela and Seton Cottier. [5] Her second marriage was to investment counselor Hamilton (Chan) M. Chase in 1930. Together they had one daughter, [2] Clemency, and they divorced in 1968. [8]

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Not just a tale for the avid reader of British historical fiction, this would also be suitable for someone who has not tried this genre. Beware, starting with excellence may spoil you a bit!

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