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Azenkūras Līgava (2013)

by Joanna Hickson(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Apgāds «Kontinents»

series

Catherine de Valois

review 1: Other reviewers have told the story of this book much better than I could ever hope to do, so I shall tell you things personal to me. First, if this was the author's first book, then she has done a tremendous job. Is it beginner's luck? We shall see in the next novel about King Henry V and his Agincourt bride, Catherine. The author balanced the competing forces in this book into a very good story. Catherine's brother Charles, the rightful heir to the French throne, is exiled because his own parents and Catherine have sided with Henry V. The French king did so through insanity. Catherine did so out of duty, while knowing she was a pawn tossed about to the highest bidder. She knew that she could use her influence and power better with the French and English courts ... morefor the good of both countries married to King Henry. The French Queen did so because she reckoned her chances of keeping her influence and power better with Henry rather than with her own son. This is a queen who literally does not recognize her own children which seems far fetched to me, but I am not the Queen of France living in the time of the Hundred Years War. Much of the narrative centered around the wet nurse, Mette, who loved and cared for Catherine and Charles more than she did for her own children. Because Mette figured into every aspect of Catherine's life, I elevated her too much. She was, after all, a fictional character, albeit one with all the good qualities I could ever hope to possess. I had met King Henry in AGINCOURT by Bernard Cornwell. I liked him there, and I liked him here. Catherine's brother, Louis, did not factor into the balance much at all because of his early demise due to either obesity, too much wine, or poison. Pick one or all three. However, he was the most interesting character in the parade due to his obesity, love of wine, or poison. Again, pick one or all three. The author's desciptions of his grabbing the sweets rang true much too close to home and made me hungry. The Duke of Burgundy was a vile and evil man who was a major player for whom I felt nothing but reprehension.To me, a simple reader, this book is an exceptional read. The author's writing mechanics were excellent. I can picture her in the role of Mette which may account for the balance I mentioned above. Most historical fiction writers that I read include a note, an apology of sorts, telling the reader what is fact and what is fiction. The author did not leave an adequate note in my copy of the book, so I spent a lot of time in Wikipedia while reading the book and can say that history and fiction meshed quite well.Thank you, Ms. Hickson, for a Good Read.This book was free or specially priced from Amazon.
review 2: I knew a little about Catherine de Valois prior to reading this book but not as much as I know other famous women in history which is a bit surprising given that she is the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. This novel is told from the point of view of her nursemaid, Guillamette. The tale starts with Catherine as an infant and it progresses until just after her marriage to Henry V. (I don't think I've giving anything away here as the history is well recorded.)The story focuses on Catherine but also on Gullamette, called Mette and her family. This I found interesting because it showed the differences between the classes. France was not exactly well governed with Charles VI - modern historians are not sure what his brain disorder was but whatever it was it certainly passed to Henry VI in England through Catherine. I enjoyed reading this tale of a girl's change from child to strong young woman. It was a time when women had little power and control over their own lives - even women of wealth. Catherine was little more than a pawn for her mother then her brother to play as they tried to negotiate with Henry V of England. Catherine and Mette were well developed characters as were Mette's children. Some others were more caricatures - Queen Isabelle for example seemed to be a one note character and with the lack of an author's note I had to go a'googling and much of what I found disagreed with the portrayal in the book. I respect the fiction part of historical fiction but I also welcome a note at the end of a story to help me parse that fiction from fact.The Agincourt Bride was an easy read - I don't think it took me much more than a day and a half. I had the benefit (?) of a power outage which gave me many hours of uninterrupted reading time. I did find myself lost in the story and not wanting to put it down to cook dinner. It did keep me enthralled despite some undeveloped characters and somewhat of a misnomer if you ask me on the title - Agincourt barely appears in the book and Catherine doesn't marry Henry V until several years after that decisive battle.I am very much looking forward to the next chapter (and book) in Catherine's life as told by Ms. Hickson - The Tudor Bride. less

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