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6:13 pm
January 3, 2012
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TinaII2None said
Boleyn said
I’ve now started The Virgin’s Lover by SWMNBN. I’ll give you my opinion once I’ve read it that is if I don’t throw it out of the window or decide we need a new roof as I’ve gone through it with sheer anger LOL.
A friend of mine gave me The Virgin’s Lover as a gift — she knew I loved to read and I guess she figured I’d like something Tudor related since she knew I’m a fan of that period. I read it beginning to end. I think the last time I saw it, it was being used for target practice, which is probably the best thing that happened to it.
That was my first experience with SWMNBN — it was definitely the last. What a dreadful piece of dreck.
Love it LOL.. I rather think the Virgin’s Lover is going to be used in something that doesn’t require reading it here too. I.E lining the Chipmunk cage.
It seems only apt that something that is such a pile of manure should end up covered in manure.
Semper Fidelis, quod sum quod
5:40 pm
June 7, 2010
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I finished reading “Lady Audley’s Secret” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I loved it!
I am not sure what to start reading next. Maybe “The Woman in White” or “Parades End.” Anyone read with of these. I recently purchased them at a secondhand bookshop.
"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn
11:28 pm
January 9, 2010
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^ Is that ‘The Woman in White’ by Wilkie Collins? It’s been a while since I read that but I did really enjoy it. A terrific psychological and ever so slightly creepy story. I can all to imagine that sort of thing happening to many a Victorian heiress.
9:19 am
April 9, 2011
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Is it sad that I only know of The Woman In White because of the Webber musical?
11:01 pm
November 18, 2010
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I didn’t know there was a musical…IIRC BBC did a series showing the story
It's always bunnies.
11:27 pm
January 9, 2010
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I remember that adaptation, it was good too. And it had that guy from ‘The Walking Dead’ as Walter Hartright.
5:25 pm
June 5, 2010
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Boleyn said
TinaII2None said
A friend of mine gave me The Virgin’s Lover as a gift — she knew I loved to read and I guess she figured I’d like something Tudor related since she knew I’m a fan of that period. I read it beginning to end. I think the last time I saw it, it was being used for target practice, which is probably the best thing that happened to it.
Love it LOL.. I rather think the Virgin’s Lover is going to be used in something that doesn’t require reading it here too. I.E lining the Chipmunk cage.
It seems only apt that something that is such a pile of manure should end up covered in manure.
At least the Chipmunks won’t have to read it!
I had never heard of PG prior to The Virgin’s Lover, and at first, I was very excited to read a story about Elizabeth and Dudley, but the deeper I delved into the book, the more and more I disliked it. When I was done, I remembered thinking that although none of us know these people on a personal level, her portrayal of them was so far out in left field, I was cringing with every page. Elizabeth was like some of the women you see on those morning “reality” shows (a guilty pleasure of mine) — the kind that come for help, but let the man continue to abuse them, want to return to said abusive man because they’re SO sure the man will change once he learns the truth (that she didnt’ cheat and the baby is definitely his). There was nothing of Henry and Anne’s daughter in this woman and that alone kept turning my stomach. She would be in Robert’s presence and it was as though she was under the spell of a Svengali — he could do almost anything to her and her lips might say no no but she’d barely put up a fight. (Sorry — but I didn’t like bodice rippers when they were popular LOL). It was only Cecil’s intervention that freed her up — I guess. I haven’t read any sequels. But you know what? Considering the author and her hatred for Anne, this nearly felt like another way to make a swipe. “I’ve lambasted Anne’s reputation — had her commit incest, commit murder, backstab her own sister. Now let me knock her daughter down a few notches, show everyone she wasn’t as independent and intelligent as people think.”
I can’t bring myself to read another of her novels, even out of curiosity. I might be missing something, but I don’t have a lot of time to waste 
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
5:37 pm
February 24, 2010
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Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual. In the interview on another post, she says she likes Anne. I don’t see it in her writing. If she treats Elizabeth the way she treats Anne, I’m glad I stopped reading her books.
5:41 pm
June 5, 2010
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Has/Is anyone read/reading Sandra Byrd’s latest ‘The Secret Keeper’ (which I know is the second in her trilogy and is supposed to feature Katherine Parr this time out)? I’ve been thinking about it but haven’t decided yet. I did enjoy ‘To Die For’ although sometimes it didn’t flow as well as I had hoped, but overall, it was a good read.
How about ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ (or is it Vampire Killer? I see it several different ways). Okay I admit it, the movie has me curious and I’ve been avoiding the book until now.
I loved ‘Virgin and Crab’ and ‘The Arrow Chest’ so much, and I can’t wait to read them again at some point. I also enjoyed ‘Isabeau’ and ‘The King Must Die’ which are about Isabeau of France, her lover Roger Mortimer and Edward II — although the latter novel proposes a rather controversial answer to the death of the King (and was the subject of major discussion in Ian Mortimer’s biography on Roger Mortimer, ‘The Greatest Traitor’).
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
10:22 pm
April 9, 2011
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Has anypne ever read The Expect One by Kathleen MacGowan (Ithink that’s the last name)? I was given it by a friend who thought I would enjoy, and reqding the back I thought it sounded ineresting but then I read the Author’s Note and it seems she is a bit out there and believes her book is fact that had to be disguised as fiction to protect her sources. But she needed to share what the world has kept hidden. Pretty much Jesus and Mary were married had children blah blah blah and the author claims she is a descendent of Jesus.
10:49 pm
February 24, 2010
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Sort of like the Da Vinci Code, eh? With the exception that Brown was writing a fictitious story. The Church had a problem with that book. Sermons and pamphlets were handed out telling Catholics not to read it. I remember my cousin having a fit because I was reading it. I wonder what they will say about this one. In that book the line of Jesus and Mary Magdalene was continued through the Merovignian Kings of France.
I’ve never heard of the book. I’d love to know what you think when you are done reading it.
3:04 am
January 9, 2010
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Bill, I read ‘The Expected One’ a few years ago. And I can honestly say it was the worst book I’ve ever read of its kind. Just awful. Not the plot, or the story, as I quite like those sort of historical mystery sort of stories (actually reading one now) but the writing. And the characterisation, the main character being a total Mary Sue. These sort of stories are always completely fantastical but in my view should always be backed up with good, solid writing to make it all even slightly plausible. And you’re right about the author being a bit out there, she does claim descent from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. And she’s also working on Anne Boleyn, being the person behind ‘the truth autopsy’ website, which just gives me a serious case of the ‘oh gawds.’ For more info check out Kathleen McGowans website. Please, I’m not trying to put you off or anything, this is all just my opinion!
Actually one of the better books along those sort of lines is ‘Labyrinth’ by Kate Mosse. Set in the Languedoc region of France, it involves the Cathars and all sorts of religion, legend, archeology and history. It really, really makes me want to visit Carcassonne!
4:30 am
June 5, 2010
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Sharon said
Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual.
Hi back Sharon and thanks.
PG claims she likes Anne? Well, as the old saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies! I’d hate to see a novel written by PG if she hated Anne.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
11:33 am
January 3, 2012
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TinaII2None said
Sharon said
Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual.Hi back Sharon and thanks.
PG claims she likes Anne? Well, as the old saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies! I’d hate to see a novel written by PG if she hated Anne.
Tina Can I please borrow your gun, so I can do a bit of target practise of my own, on The Virgin’s lover? I think it would be grossly unfair of me to expose my chipmunks to something as unpleasent as this book. Don’t want the RSPCA breathing down my neck.
Totally agree Sharon. In this book she’s made out that Elizabeth is a sex crazed thicko, whose afraid of her own shadow. Grrrrrr…
Semper Fidelis, quod sum quod
6:30 pm
February 24, 2010
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Boleyn said
TinaII2None said
Sharon said
Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual.Hi back Sharon and thanks.
PG claims she likes Anne? Well, as the old saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies! I’d hate to see a novel written by PG if she hated Anne.
Tina Can I please borrow your gun, so I can do a bit of target practise of my own, on The Virgin’s lover? I think it would be grossly unfair of me to expose my chipmunks to something as unpleasent as this book. Don’t want the RSPCA breathing down my neck.
Totally agree Sharon. In this book she’s made out that Elizabeth is a sex crazed thicko, whose afraid of her own shadow. Grrrrrr…
Now see…Hearing things like that, Boleyn, makes me feel better about not having read it.
Tina, believe it or not, that is the woman’s claim.
12:47 am
June 5, 2010
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Boleyn said
TinaII2None said
Sharon said
Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual.Hi back Sharon and thanks.
PG claims she likes Anne? Well, as the old saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies! I’d hate to see a novel written by PG if she hated Anne.
Tina Can I please borrow your gun, so I can do a bit of target practise of my own, on The Virgin’s lover? I think it would be grossly unfair of me to expose my chipmunks to something as unpleasent as this book. Don’t want the RSPCA breathing down my neck.
Totally agree Sharon. In this book she’s made out that Elizabeth is a sex crazed thicko, whose afraid of her own shadow. Grrrrrr…
Oh be my guest about borrowing it! Yes, save the chipmunks. I don’t believe in torturing animals
I guess the biggest thing that rubs me the wrong way when it comes to PG is that she claims to be a historian, and yet she manages to dream up things with no factual basis and then proceeds to claim that they are. I could be more forgiving if she was just another hack writer who hadn’t bothered to do research. Pretending to be something she isn’t, well, I guess that’s what makes her work even more egregious.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
12:50 am
June 5, 2010
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Sharon said
Boleyn said
TinaII2None said
Sharon said
Hi Tina,
Right on the money as usual.Hi back Sharon and thanks.
PG claims she likes Anne? Well, as the old saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies! I’d hate to see a novel written by PG if she hated Anne.
Tina Can I please borrow your gun, so I can do a bit of target practise of my own, on The Virgin’s lover? I think it would be grossly unfair of me to expose my chipmunks to something as unpleasent as this book. Don’t want the RSPCA breathing down my neck.
Totally agree Sharon. In this book she’s made out that Elizabeth is a sex crazed thicko, whose afraid of her own shadow. Grrrrrr…
Now see…Hearing things like that, Boleyn, makes me feel better about not having read it.
Tina, believe it or not, that is the woman’s claim.
Well as I said, that just makes her work even more egregious. I honestly wonder if she believes it.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
9:35 am
January 3, 2012
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SWMNBN a Historian? I doubt she knows what the word means. Bloody silly woman..
I don’t think she knows the word research let alone do any when she’s tapping away at her computer.
This book is perhaps the most nerve grating I’ve read of hers, but I’m going to finish reading it just so that I never ever have to see the bloody thing again.
If we took what she has written about Elizabeth as sancasanct in this book, Elizabeth would go down in history as a sex crazed nympo, with the brain the size of a dried pea.
To coin a phrase from Comic Guy from the Simpsons “Worse book ever”
Semper Fidelis, quod sum quod
9:19 pm
January 9, 2010
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PG is got her degree in 18th century literature, though obviously in her mind that means ALL periods of history!
Having said that I’ve just been given a copy of her YA novel, which I will read at some point as the premise looks quite good. At least if turns out to be awful, I haven’t wasted money on it! Maybe she’s better suited to the YA/fantasy market
1:22 pm
April 9, 2011
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I’m still perservering with The Expected One in my allocated 20 minutes of reading during work time. And i must say at the moment it’s really not grabbing me like i thought maybe it would. And while reading I think I worked out why, with The Da Vinci Code the main dude stumbles across the secret and has to decipher clues and go searching for the truth. So far in this book, all Im getting is some woman having visions. It’s not really that exciting to wait for a vision to reveal the truth. Start the path to solving and chasing (please tell me there is chasing). I also have a problem with the passages from mary Magdalene’s supposed gospel. It just isn’t written in the form of the gospels I remember from my youth. Maybe I should pull out my bible to compare, but surely it’s not that hard to write in the style of the Bible, to get your point across. If this doesn’t pick up, I’m going to put it down and read Percy Jackson, I’m only sticking with it cause I know my friend is going to ask me how it’s going.
