Neil Kemp said:

No is the quick answer, Elliemarianna. But I do have “Danger To Elizabeth”, which I bought in 1974 and is I believe one of her first books. Her notes on sources are extensive and something many of today's writers could learn from (you know the guilty authors without me adding names!).

Thank you for your reply The reason I ask is I borrowed that book from the libary a few months ago. I believe it was either that book, or Elizabeth's women: Tracy Borman, that the author claims Anne was raped by her uncle when she was 7. I hadn't read that anywhere before, and wanted to know the source for it. I looked for it in the library a couple of times but haven't been able to find it as of yet. I'll have another look this afternoon. It's quite a shocking claim to say the least…

Neil Kemp said:

(you know the guilty authors without me adding names!).

 

We wouldn't want to summon them by mistake would we?

I've just started a bok by Margaret Mayhew called I'll Be Seeing You. It's a world war 2 book about an American bomber pilot (Romance/Secrets type of book)

That's about as much romance in a book I can stand, lol! I could NOT read Mills and Boon rubbish if it was the last book in the world, I hate stuff like that!

I was on Amazon.com (ordered Starkey's Virtuous Prince) and I saw that Weir's Mary Boleyn biography is being released on October 4th here in the United States. But obviously some have read it, as you can see from the reviews which ranked it **** out of *****, and a couple I found interesting, like this one:

There are lots of facts, a huge amount of information, but for my tastes, there was too much explaining why other researchers' and authors' conclusions were wrong. Much of that detail would have been, in my opinion, better put in footnotes or endnotes. Also, the author seemed to take it a little too personally when she thought others' conclusions were different than her own. There was also too much repetition, reading a fact in one place only to find the details repeated in another, in a different context. The information about Mary's probable birth date seemed like it would never end.

AND

Apparently there are only 2 surviving letters in Mary's own writing, but they are not really examined in great detail. I did not get any real sense of a person behind the exceptionally limited facts about her life as I read the book. As the author tells us, we do not know when she was born, died, where she lived for very large portions of her life. We really do not even know when she was supposed to have been the mistress of either of the 2 kings mentioned in the title, so we can't put the affairs into context. We don't even know what she looked like–I am not sure who that is on the cover as it does not say in my reviewer's copy, but it is not Mary Boleyn. (MY SIDE NOTE: Is there not ONE portrait normally claimed as being Mary? This one here>>> )

There is a lot of padding about what she would have worn, the fashions of the times and whether or not she was 'racy' or gossiped about, but again, any primary source material is very sparse.

I think this was my main concern, that as there is not much known about the woman, we would get a 400 page book of padding. Yes, according to Amazon, the book is 400 pages! Now I don't mind that if I'm actually going to learn something. I mean, this is a first for me learning that there were two letters in her handwriting — and now I'm curious as to whether they were intimate family letters or something more because that can often tell you a lot. I just get the impression that I will walk away from this book knowing as much as I did when I picked it up. (Whereas with Norton's biography on Margaret Beaufort, I finally feel as though I know a Tudor who had been an enigma to me).

So…have any of you read it yet? Are you reading it now? Do any of these concerns mentioned in these two reviews make you hesitate? I'll admit it — I'm holding back a bit myself. And Claire — if you're reading this, is there any chance we might see a review of it here?

I am considering a book called Bathsheba's Breast, based on recs from the ladies at the forums on http://www.breastcancer.org As you might guess, it's about breast cancer through history. I'm a little nervous, though, I don't know if I'm far enough out to be unemotional about it. It might upset me and it might make me very, very glad I didn't live even 100 years ago.

The name of the book comes from this portrait of Bathsheba, by Rembrandt:

An anecdote from the book describes how:

In 1967, an Italian surgeon touring Amsterdam's Rijks museum stopped in front of Rembrandt's Bathsheba at Her Bath, on loan from the Louvre, and noticed an asymmetry to Bathsheba's left breast; it seemed distended, swollen near the armpit, discolored, and marked with a distinctive (skin) pitting. With a little research, the physician learned that Rembrandt's model, his mistress Hendrickje Stoffels, later died after a long illness, and he conjectured in a celebrated article for an Italian medical journal that the cause of her death was almost certainly breast cancer.

Kinda scary that he faithfully reproduced the signs of an illness that probably neither were aware of at the time of the painting, but it does speak to how accurate his paintings were. If I do get the book and read it, I'll let you know what I thought of it.

Just finished “Mary Boleyn” by Alison Weir.  I agree with Claire's review. 

I just started the new bio on Catherine of Aragon by Giles Tremlett, and I'm impressed so far. We usually only get a cursory view of her childhood, but — in what might be a first when it comes to biographies on her — Tremlett is even able to develop her life from birth in fairly decent detail. And a lot of it is based on the records of her treasurer who recorded every single purchase so that we know her wardrobe, when she first learned to ride, etc. We get the impressions of the English ambassadors who saw her for the first time when they visited Spain to begin the discussions of her marriage to Prince Arthur. We learn a lot about her family life (Isabella of Spain was a very devoted mother, a trait Catherine inherited), and boy they were a traveling bunch. Seems like it was one end of Spain to another LOL So it's amazing seeing the Spain of that time as Catherine likely saw it when she and her family were on what seems like a never-ending move, sometimes on crusade, sometimes just to consolidate their kingdom. And for the first time, we even get to read excerpts of the “love” letters between Arthur and Catherine.

I have to admit, I'm learning a lot about the Spanish court. I had no idea that for the majority of the time it was segregated by sex out of propriety, but they still knew how to have a good time. And Isabella and Ferdinand were an amazing couple — Isabella was a queen in her own right, not just a consort or a regent, which is something she had in common with her granddaughter Mary I.

Anyway, Catherine's in England now. I can't imagine what she must have thought of the contrasts between say London and the Alhambra. She's met her future father-in-law and her future husband, as well as her future brother-in-law/husband. Although her mother has told Henry VII not to make a huge fuss or spend a lot introducing the infanta to England, so far it's been a great spectacle and the reader can understand how Catherine was still so beloved 3 decades after her arrival.

Can't wait to read the rest!

I finished Elizabeth Chadwick's The Scarlet Lion. This book completes her two-book set on William Marshal. It ends with his death in 1219, and I wept uncontrollably at the end. What a great man The Marshal was. A true knight in shining armour. Oh, if they only made all men like him!

I also read Stephen Booth's Cooper/Fry series of mystery novels set in the beautiful Derbyshire. They are excellent novels, especially The Black Dog and Dancing with the Virgins. They are above par when it comes to the British mystery genre.

I am now starting London by Edward Rutherford.

I just started reading To Die For, by Sandra Byrd.

Duchess, I felt the same after reading Chadwicke's books. A real-life hero in every respect.

Sharon, how do you like “To Die For?” I looked in the libraries and they have other by Sandra Byrd, such as “Let Them Eat Cake,” of which the title is enough, but I didn't order it, as I want to wait for “To Die For” before ruining my looking for humor attitude by this author. I've never read her, but when I read what Claire sent, I couldn't help but laugh and I do love to read “stuff” like that every once in a while.

I am now reading, “The Last Queen,” about Joanna of Castile, mother of Charles V, King of Spain, and Holy Roman Emperor, at  the time of “The Great Divorce” She was Katharine of Aragon's older sister, in whom Katharine sought help as well as that of Charles V, and not granting the dispensation led to England's break with Rome, and Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn (my favorite).

With so much out there, and having read so much, it's very interesting going out to the family tree that connects everything ultimately to Anne Boleyn – if one likes to look at it that way. Thank you!