Recommendation for Kelly

I asked audience members from the GWU Women's Literature discussion to tell me the kinds of books they like to read, and I promised to give them personalized book recommendations on my blog.

This one is for Kelly. She said she likes biographies/suspence/drama/Jodi Piccoult). I like Jodi Piccoult too, Kelly. I would recommend one of her books to you, but I bet you've already read a bunch of them. As soon as I saw what kind of books you like, I thought of a recommendation straight-away.

Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite authors who writes historical fiction. I think I've read all of her books. My favorites are the ones centered around the English monarchs--just because their real life stories are so sensational/dramatic. I'm specifically recommending The Virgin's Lover. It's about Queen Elizabeth's suspected long-time lover, Sir Robert Dudley. All of Gregory's books take historical info and fill in the blanks that history is missing.

The year is 1558, an especially dangerous time for England: no bishop will coronate Henry VIII's Protestant daughter, the treasury is bankrupt, the army is unpaid and demoralized. Meanwhile, the French are occupying Scotland and threatening to install Mary, Queen of Scots—on the throne. Ignoring the matrimonial advice of pragmatic Secretary of State William Cecil, the 25-year-old Elizabeth persists in stringing along Europe's most eligible bachelors, including King Philip of Spain and the Hapsburg archduke Ferdinand. It's no secret why: she's fallen for her "dark, saturnine" master of horse, Sir Robert Dudley, whose traitorous family history and marriage to the privately Catholic Amy make him an unsuitable consort. Gregory deftly depicts this love triangle as both larger than life and all too familiar; all three characters are sympathetic without being likable, particularly the arch-mistress Elizabeth, who pouts, throws tantrums, connives and betrays.

Kelly, feel free to have your friends contact me for book recommendations. You/they can contact me through my website www.girlclassified.com.

Lack of Fiction Coming out in the Spring of 2010

I perused Amazon.com's list of fiction books coming out in the Spring of 2010. There's a sorry lack of books by our favorite authors, and there weren't very many books coming out at all. I wonder if that's due to a bad economy. Good, established authors aren't putting out books right now because they don't think their books will sell as well as usual. And new authors aren't getting picked up by agents and publishers because in a bad economy no one is willing to take a chance on new writers. The only fiction book coming out that I'm mildly looking forward to is one by Jodi Piccoult. But nothing from Stephanie Meyers, Sophie Kinsella, Philippa Gregory, etc. I will say that James Patterson is putting out at least one new book this spring, but I'm not into that genre. For those of you who are, though, happy reading!

The War of the Roses Was a Historical Event

Did you know that the War of the Roses was an actual historical event? It occurred in England around Edward IV's time. The house of Lancaster (red rose) and the house of York (white rose) caused a massive civil war in England by pitting two sons against each other for the throne and creating a real-life Romeo and Juliet. Those people who favored Edward and the Yorks wore a white rose on their collars and those who favored the Lancasters wrote a red rose. Elizabeth Woodville, of the House of Lancaster, married reigning King Edward IV of the House of York in secret. They married for love, but they hoped to bring peace between the warring families at the same time. Instead, they could not bring the families to agree on a rightful king, and Edward is driven into excile. Elizabeth hides in the Tower of London.

During this time, one of England's greatest mysteries occurred as well. Elizabeth and Edward had two sons, one of them destined to be the next king. They are cared for by their uncle, at Elizabeth and Edward's dismay, and end up "missing". To this day historians know that the boys went with their uncle into the Tower of London, but they do not know what happened next. Neither of the boys were able to take the crown.

On a trip to England this year, we visited York, and wouldn't you know...their bridges and buildings still had white roses etched and painted in their sides. It seems the story lives even to this day...

Kat, you said that you were interested in historical fiction, and do I have a book for you! My recommendation is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. It's the story of the War of the Roses and Elizabeth Woodville.

The Constant Princess for Debbie T.

Hi Debbie! Debbie is my childhood friend who used to live across the street from me, starting in kindergarten when my parents moved to the area. We used to create mudpies in my backyard, stage waterfights, and braid bracelets out of multi-colored thread. Facebook, the social networking site of the 00's, brought us back into contact. Debbie, thanks so much for promoting the website for my book.

You told me you like non-fiction and romance novels. So my recommendation for you is the Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. I love all of her books, but the ones she writes about Henry the 8th's reign in England are my favorite. The Constant Princess is a love story, but it's also about girl power, and is has a bunch of accurate historical facts. All of Philippa Gregory's historical fiction are based very much on facts. She just adds insight where there are holes in the history.

I hope you enjoy it!