Victoria by Daisy Goodwin

★★★★

Three Sisters, Three Queen by Philippa Gregory

★★★★

Another entertaining historical fiction novel from Philippa Gregory - I don't think I've missed a single one of her books since I started reading them several years ago.  I'll admit, many of them have started blending together, but I still enjoy them.  This novel tells the stories of three different queens: Katherine of Aragon, Mary Tutor, Queen of France, and  Margaret Tutor.  Gregory has touched on these women in various degrees in her previous novels, but this gave a new perspective of no only their individual lives, but the connects that they had with one another.

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

★★★ 1/2

"Her favorite summer memories were not of events themselves, of picnics, sea bathing, tennis afternoons and cricket matches, but of watching Hugh and Daniel enjoying them and locking into memory the delight in their faces and their open hearts."

This historical novel is set in Rye, a small town in East Sussex of England, in the year 1914.  It is, essentially, the "summer before the war" and everything is going as usual: Hugh Grange has returned for the summer from his medical studies to live with his Aunt Agatha and Uncle John.  His cousin Daniel is trying to publish his poetry.  The town is in the process of hiring a new Latin master.  And in the mist of everything, the country may be going to war.

And then Beatrice Nash arrives with her bicycle and crate of books and her free-thinking spirit soon takes the town by surprise.

I loved the author's first book, 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand' and was looking forward to this one as well.  Unfortunately, this one just didn't work they way I expected it to.  The beginning had the same wonderful small-town charm of 'Major Pettigrew' and I loved the character of Beatrice, but then the novel started to go off in all different directions.  There were too many new characters introduced and I felt that the focus drew further and further away from Beatrice and Hugh.  The book dragged on and on and then the ending felt far too rushed and I found myself not caring as much about the characters as I should have.  

That being said, I still enjoyed a lot of aspects of the book.  I really liked the description of Rye and the feeling of pre-war England.  The Belgian refugees also added a very unique aspect to the books and created a lot of comparisons to later periods of history.

The Lake House by Kate Morton

★★★★★

"Life was like that, doors of possibility constantly opening and closing as one blindly made one's way through."

I have loved Kate Morton's books ever since reading 'The Forgotten Garden' a few years ago - with her most recent being 'The Secret Keeper' and could not wait to read this one!  I literally had a count down to the publication date, but life has a way of distracting me lately and I ended up waiting a month or two to read it.  Well worth the wait!

In usual Kate Morton fashion, The Lake House, is full of intrigue, family secrets, and unexpected connections - with some history and a little romance thrown in there as well.  The novel weaves back and forth between 16-year-old Alice Edevane in 1933, living at her family's estate, the 'Lake House' and a young women named Sadie seventy years later who, while on leave from her job as a detective, stumbles on the old house.  Left in ruins after the family's baby son, Theo, mysteriously disappeared on the night of the annual Midsummer party, the house is full of secrets waiting to be unraveled.  Coping with her own troubled past, Sadie begins to dig deeper into the Edevane's past and soon finds herself absorbed in finding out exactly what happened to Theo on the night of the party.

This one took me a little while to get into, - there was a lot of things going on in the beginning that took sometime to come together - but after a few chapters, I was hooked.  Kate Morton has the wonderful ability to connect story lines in both the past and the present with seamless effort.  Her fairy-tale like description of her settings are beautiful and captivating and this novel was not exception.  And the characterization is spot on - by the middle of her novels, I feel so absorbed in the characters and, as much as I can't stop reading the book, there is always a huge part of me that doesn't want it to end because I will inevitably have to leave the characters behind.

A wonderful book by an amazing author and storyteller!  I can't wait to see what else Kate Morton is up to next.

This book was #2 on my top ten list of 2015.

The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory

★★★★

" 'He's coming for you,' is all she says. 'This is how he always does it.  He's coming for you, Kat, and I don't know how to save you.  I'm packing Bibles and I'm burning papers, but they know you have been reading and writing, and they are changing the law ahead of me.  I can't make sure you obey the law because they are changing it faster than we can obey.' "

I first fell in love with Philippa Greogry after reading The Other Boleyn Girl' about four years ago and have since read pretty much everything she has written...except her earlier and more contemporary novels.  I haven't read any of those yet and don't know that I will.  I just finished reading 'The King's Curse' - which was marketed as the sixth of her Cousins' War novels, but which also serves as somewhat of a prequel to her Tutor Court novels as well.  It was a really interesting transition and I'm glad that I waited awhile to read this so that I could start it right after finishing 'The King's Curse.'

This novel - technically the fourth in the Tutor's Court series - follows Henry VIII's sixth and final wife, Kateryn Parr from right before her marriage to the King up until his death in almost four years later 1547.  Even though I have read a lot about Tutor history, I did not know much about Kateryn Parr before reading this book.  I under the impression that she was not in danger from the King and I was surprised how close to death she became.  One has to wonder, if Henry VIII had lived longer, if he would have changed his mind - yet again - and set her aside to marry a new queen...or even ordered her to be put to death.  

A central theme in this novel was the reformation of the English church.  I don't know much about this topic, so I'm not exactly sure if everything was accurate or not, but I was really interested to read more about the history of the Church of England.  I had previously thought that the change in believes were focused on Henry VIII being able to divorce his second wife, Anne Boleyn in order to remarry.  Although this was a factor, the novel went into much greater detail of the many changes that the reformers wanted to see in England to convert back to a more truer religion that better represented God's teachings.  It was fascinating to read about a women who was so instrumental in the events that took place and had thoughts and ideas of her own that were among some of the first to be published by a women.  

I greatly enjoyed this book, but I've come to a conclusion that Philippa Gregory's books aren't at great as I once thought they were.  I'm not sure if her writing has changed or if it is mearly that I have grown as a reader.  Sometimes I feel like a lot of her characters blend together and aspects or dialogue is repeated - but I suppose that's what happens when writing one novel after another set in similar historical periods and place.  I usually find myself taking awhile to get into one of her new novels, but once I do I finish it in a few days.  I still love reading her books and was really interested in new characters amongst those mentioned in her previous novels.  She has a knack for taking lesser-known women in history and crafting engaging characters and story lines set in the historical backdrop of some of the most interesting time periods of history.

I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next...

The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory

★★★★

"Life is a risk.  Who knows this better than me.  Who knows more surely that babies die easily, that children fall ill from the least cause, that royal blood is fatally weak, that death walks behind my family like a faithful blood hound."

Cousins' War #1 - The Lady of the Rivers

Cousins' War #2 - The White Queen

Cousins' War #3 - The Red Queen

Cousins' War #4 - The Kingmaker's Daughter

Cousins' War #5 - The White Princess

I have been a huge fan of Philippa Gregory ever since I read 'The Other Boleyn Girl' back in 2008.  I read all of the Tutor novels, the Wideacre Trilogy and some of her other stand along books, and then dove into the Cousins' War series a few years later.  I somehow missed that she had two recent books out and finally had the time to go back and read this one before reading 'The Taming of the Queen.'

This is the sixth book in the Cousins' War series and tells the story of Margaret Pole - daughter of George, Duke of Clarence (brother to King Edward IV and King Richard III) and Isabel Neville.  She was also the cousin of Elizabeth of York (King Henry VIII's mother) and lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon.  She pretty much sat on the sideline of every major event of the time period and was constantly on guard for her family's safety after both her father and young brother were put to death for treason to the crown.  

I didn't always like Margaret, but this was a really interesting book to read.  She did whatever she could to remain in favor with whoever was king at the time (often at her own family's expense), but I suppose this is a direct result of constantly being in fear of being suspected of going against the King, particularly Henry VIII.  After having read all of Gregory's previous novels, it gave a whole different perspective on several of the characters she wrote about.  It took me awhile to get into the book, but by the time I got to the middle, I finished the rest in a few days.  It was a little annoyed at some aspects of writing - especially the focusing on key historical characters before they played a significant part in history and explaining every one's relationships in the dialog, but I was usually able to see past this and cough it up to Gregory using this to allow the reader to follow the complex history spanning several decades. 

One of my favorite aspects of this novel, was the unique connections to both the Cousins' War novels and the Tudor Court series.  The book was able to draw so many different connections between all of the main figures in Tudor history as well as many lesser known individuals - especially women - who played a major role in England's intriguing history.  It could just just as easily been written as a prequel to 'The Constant Princess' and made me want to reread all of the novels again - maybe someday!  

And now onto 'The Taming of the Queen'...

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

★★★★★
"Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing.  It meant believing you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically."

"Nevertheless, the book gave Jack a feeling he had never had before, that the past was like a story, in which one thing led to another, and the world was not a boundless mystery, but a finite thing that could be comprehended."

My historical fiction book for LIS 642 - Reading Interests of Adults

The Pillars of the Earth is an historical fiction novel centered around the building of a Gothic cathedral in twelfth-century England.  The epic story spans over five decades and intertwines the lives of several main characters.  The book begins when Tom Builder and his family come across Kingsbridge Priory with Ellen and her son Jack while looking for work as a builder after his wife passes away.  They seek refuge for the night, but when the church burns down, Philip Prior offers Tom the position of master builder to rebuild the cathedral.  Nearby, the son of a lord, William Hamleigh is rejected an offer of marriage by Aliana, the daughter of the Earl of Shiring.  William’s family seeks revenge by proving Aliana’s father is a traitor to the new King Stephen and takes over their land.  Left penniless, Aliana and her brother Richard end up in Kingsbridge trying to rebuild their lives.  As the cathedral is build, the lives of each of the characters become more and more connected and new characters are introduced. Kingbridge begins to grow and prosper each year, but is faced with constant barriers due to the ambition of William against the people of Kingbridge and the Priory.  

This book has been on my “to-read” list for a number of years but, at 974 pages, I haven’t gotten a chance to get around to reading it until now.  Historical fiction has always been my favorite genre to read.  When selecting a book from this genre, I found that I had read all of the “must-reads” listed except The Pillars of the Earth, so I decide to give it a try.  It took me a little while to get into, but once I got through the first couple hundred pages, I became obsessed with the story and couldn’t put it down!  Luckily, the fall semester was ending and I had a lot of time to read.  This book had everything that I look for in a great historical fiction novel - lots of history and description, interesting characters, tons of emotion, and enough conflict to keep the story interesting.  I loved the description of twelfth-century live (which I haven’t read too much about) and liked learning about the details of building a large cathedral and living in a priory.  I very much enjoyed the storyline, but my favorite part of the novel was the characters.  I was intrigued by each individual story, their relationships to one another, and how they each played a unique part in the building of the cathedral.  I couldn’t wait keep reading to find out what would happen to everyone in the story and kept rooting for them to find their own “happy endings.”  The Pillars of the Earth is one of the best books I have read in a long time and one that I will want to come back to again and again - granted that I have the time!

This book was #4 on my top ten list of 2014.

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

★★★★★ 

"What he wanted was to find that world-within-the-world where he could be himself by himself."

" 'That must be something to discover a book that nobody's ever heard of or everybody thought was lost.'

'It's every bibliophile's dream,' said Francis, and Peter knew in a second that it was his own."

Let me start off by saying that I kind of have a thing for the whole "book-about-books" concept.  I love books, and reading, and libraries - so ultimately reading about any of those things usually catches my attention.  This one was no exception.  It was the last of the seven books I got for Christmas last year.  I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to put up the official list, but it should be up in the next few days or so.  I've been reading/listening to a lot of average books lately and it was a wonderful surprise to find a book that I couldn't put down.  Luckily, I was working at the volleyball gym this weekend and my husband was up north hunting, so I was literally able to spend most of the last few days reading :)

This book had so many wonderful aspects - books, libraries, booksellers, romance, and Shakespeare.  I loved the writing style and the different story lines that were woven together.  This novel was ultimately three stories in one:

1.) In the year 1995 is a young man named Peter Byerly.  Nine months after the death of his wife, he is struggling to pick up the pieces of his life.  When I first started the novel, I assumed his was much older than he was.  He is essentially an "old soul," reflecting on his quiet life with his wife and working in the English countryside as an antique bookseller - I was surprised to learn how young he was!  When Peter receives a call about a estate sale of old manuscripts, he is thrown into following a mysterious and dangerous book trail beginning with the time of Shakespeare.  He also meets a women named Liz whom he tries not to like, but just might end up falling for.

2.) Woven into Peter's journey is the story of him and his wife, Amanda.  Both quiet and lovers of books, the two meet in college at the library where Peter works.  I loved there love story.  It was simple and beautiful and cute and romantic and tragic.  It made me cry - a lot.  I kept hoping the ending would turn out differently, but of course it didn't.  And I kept wanting to read more about them.

3.) The third story is one of an old book - a very old book that was Shakespeare used as the material for his play A Midsummer Night's Dream.  This was the same book that Peter was investigating.  This story traced the book throughout history and readers discovered how it ended up at an old home near Peter.  I found it particularly interesting to read about Shakespeare's time and how stories were passed down through different sources.

Another aspects of this novel that I found to be really intriguing was that off book repair and book preservation.  As a college student, Peter first finds himself working for the library's circulation department.  After he approaches one of the workers in special collections about repairing and old book that he knows Amanda will use, he spends the rest of his college years - and career - learning about and repairing old books.  I do basic book repair as part of my job at the Andersen Library at UW-Whitewater and it was really interesting to read about book preservation - especially the process of rebinding books.  And, of course, I loved all of the library jargon! 

All-in-all this was a great book!  I was debating on if I should give it 4 1/2 or 5 starts.  The story line of Peter and Liz trying to solve the mystery of the old book was a little farfetched.  It seemed a little too much like the Da Vinci Code - which I liked, but I didn't always feel that it fit in with the rest of the story.  I have, however, decided to give it 5 stars - simply because of all the "book-ness" of the novel and for the fact that I couldn't put it down.  And because of how much I loved Peter and Amanda's story.  Highly recommended for anyone who loves books and libraries!

This book was #6 on my top ten list of 2014.

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

 ★★★★

"Fortune's wheel takes you very high and then throws you very low, and there is nothing you can do but face the turn of it with courage.

Cousins' War #1 - The Lady of the Rivers

Cousins' War #2 - The White Queen

Cousins' War #3 - The Red Queen

Cousins' War #4 - The Kingmaker's Daughter

This is the fifth book in Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series.  I enjoyed it a lot, but not quiet as much as some of the others in the series.

After Elizabeth of York's lover (and uncle) Richard III is killed in battle, Henry VII takes the thrown and Elizabeth as his new wife and queen.  This union is meant to reunite the houses of York, Lancaster, and Tutor and put an end at last to the Cousins' War.  King Henry soon learns that his throne is still not save and struggles against those who are faithful to the Yorks.  When a young man claims to Elizabeth's lost brother Richard (one of the princes in the tower), she is forced to chose between her family and her husband.

It was really interesting to see the story go full circle in learning about different perspectives of women involved in the Cousins' War.  Caught in between the old family and the new, Elizabeth struggles to support both her husband and mother's family.  I was surprised at how many times the York's tried to claim the throne and how easily it could be lost.  Woven into the story was Elizabeth's fear that the curse that her and her mother placed on those who murdered her brother's will come back to haunt her own family.  One of my favorite parts of the book was the introduction of Elizabeth and Henry's children who would play an even bigger part in England's history - Arthur, Margaret, Queen of Scots, and the boy who would one day grow up to be Henry VIII.

And now to wait until September 9th when the sixth and final book, The King's Curse, is released!

The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory

★★★★★

"Once I was the kingmaker's daughter, raised in the knowledge that I would be one of the great ladies of the kingdom.  Now I am queen.  This should satisfy my father and satisfy me, but when I think of the price we have paid, I think that we have been cheated."

Cousins' War #1 - The Lady of the Rivers 

Cousins' War #2 - The White Queen

Cousins' War #3 - The Red Queen

Having read a lot of so-so novels lately, it was such a relief to dive into another Philippa Gregory novel. I have read and enjoyed almost everything that she has written to date and I loved this book as well!  

This is the fourth book in the Cousins' War series and tells the story of Anne Neville and her older sister Isabel, daughters of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and known as the "Kingmaker" for his powerful role in fifteenth century England royalty.  As a young women, Anne grows up being a pawn in her father's plans to put a new king on the throne that he can rule through.  He uses his daughters to marry potential heirs to the throne and Anne is left a widow at fourteen with her sister married to the enemy and her mother fleeting for her life.  Anne escapes a life of sanctuary when she marries Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother to former King Edward IV.  She lives out the rest of her live with power and riches beyond her father's dreams, but quickly learns that these also come with a price.

After reading The White Queen (Elizabeth Woodville) and the The Red Queen (Margaret Beaufort), it was really interesting to get a third prospective of the Cousins' War (also known as the War of the Roses).  I am really enjoying this series.  The Tutors are always so popular as far as English history goes, and this family was just as interesting, if not more so.  I'm always amazed at how many battles and rivals there was for the throne of England between the House of Plantagenet, Lancaster, and York.  I kept having to remind myself that all of the major events actually happened and weren't just there to keep the story going.  I love how Philippa Gregory is able to show this period in history between three different point of views - espeically the Battle of Bosworth Field when Henry VII claims the crown from the York house Richard III and marries Elizabeth of York to unite the houses.

And now onto The White Princess - which, thankfully, is sitting on my bookshelf :)

This book was #10 on my top ten list of 2014.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

★★★★

"What if we had a chance to do it again and again, until we finally did get it right?  Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Goodreads Summary: On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

This was somewhat of a difficult novel for me.  It was a bit confusing and I wasn't sure I "got" everything. Even though I struggled to get through it at times, there were many things that I loved about this book.  I read a lot of books, and I sometimes find myself reading the "same story" over and over again.  Kate Atkinson managed to take a simple concept (being born over and over again into the same life) and create a unique and complex story.

Each time Ursula is reborn, her life takes a slightly different path.  She managed to avoid one disaster after another, but then ends up with a different problem. I kept hoping that Ursula would finally "get it right," but that wasn't really the goal of the story. This novel is more about life more than anything and how it is effected by the everyday choices that we make.  I also loved the the novel was set in England during both World War I and II.  Usually books tend to focus on one war or the other.  I also really loved all of the different characters that Atkinson created to weave in and out of Ursula's life.

This book was #8 on my top ten list of 2014.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (audio)

★★★★★

"...the fields might fall to fallow and the birds might stop their song awhile; the growing things might die and lie in silence under snow, while through it all the cold sea wore its face of storms and death and sunken hopes...and yet unseen beneath the waves a warmer current ran that, in its time, would bring the spring."

Goodreads Summary: In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.

But when she discovers her novel is more fact than fiction, Carrie wonders if she might be dealing with ancestral memory, making her the only living person who knows the truth-the ultimate betrayal-that happened all those years ago, and that knowledge comes very close to destroying her..  

The above photograph is a picture of Slains.  I found it through Google images when searching for the book's cover and it describes the book perfectly.  I can't say enough good things about this book...I absolutely loved it and the narration on the audio book was amazing.

I've read a lot of past/present historical fiction novels, and this is by far one of my favorites.  I loved the description and instantly was intrigued by the characters.  I usually have a tendency to like the parts in the past better, but this one was a dead tie.  This novel was extremely well-written and unique.  I knew it was going to be a 5-star from the very beginning and I loved the idea of using the writing of a historical-fiction novel as the contemporary story!  The research process was really interesting and I loved being able to learn more about it as the author did.

All-in-all and excellent book and a great new author to read!  I came across this when a patron returned it at the library and am so glad I picked it up.  I loved listening to the narration, but there was a lot to take in and I often found myself having to look back at the book and look up the historical characters and dates to make sure I was getting everything.  I am very much looking forward to reading the second Slains novel, The Firebird, but I may read the novel this time around!

This book was #1 on my top ten list of 2014.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

★★★★★
"Children don't require of their parents a past and they find something faintly unbelievable, almost embarrassing, in parental claims to a prior existence."

I have been a huge fan of Kate Morton - and this one ranks right up there with my favorite, The Forgotten Garden.  I was so excited to hear a new book was coming out, especially one about World War II, that I couldn't wait to read it when I got it for Christmas this year.  Once I started, I couldn't put it down.  

The novel begins in England in the 1960s where 16-year-old Laurel is celebrating her younger brother's birthday with her family.  When she sneaks away for some much needed peace and quiet, she witnesses a scene that will change the way she sees her mother forever.  Daydreaming in her tree house, she is brought back to reality when she notices a strange man walking to her parents house.  She watches with horror as her mother violently stabs the man with a cake knife.  After the incident, her parents never mention it again and the family continues living there happy life.

Fast-forward to 2011 and Laurel returns to London with her brother and sisters to visit her elderly mother.  When Laurel sees that her mother doesn't have much time left, she is determined to figure out her mother's story and why her "perfect" mother would murder a stranger in their kitchen.  

In true Kate Morton fashion, the novel alternates between Laurel's search and her mother's past in war-torn London in the 1940s.  The book was very engaging, the characters were wonderfully developed, and I just loved the description of Laurel's mother and the people of her past.  I thought I had this book figure out so many times, but was pleasantly surprised by the ending.  Everything fit together so well and I was left in awe by the outcome.  I can't wait to get my hands on Morton's next novel!

This book was #2 on my top ten list of 2014.

Major Pettigew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

★★★★

"The world is full of small ignorances.  We must all do out best to ignore them and thereby keep them small, don't you think?"

"Life does often get in the way of one's reading."

This novel was really cute!  Essentially a love story between 68-year-old retired Major Pettigrew and a 58-year-old shopkeeper from Pakistan named Mrs. Ali. Brought together by their love of literature and drinking tea, the unlikely individuals become friends in a small villiage in England.  Fighting pressure from their family and neighbors, the friendship begins to blossom into something more as the two struggle to find love at an older age.  It got a bit slow in the middle, but this charming novel is a wonderful tale of life lessons and finding just what you need at a later age in life.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

★★★

 " 'One must always be careful of books,' said Tessa, 'and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.' "

" 'You know,' Gabriel said, 'there was a time when I thought we could be friends, Will.'

'There was a time when I thought I was a ferret,' Will said, 'but that turned out to be the opium haze. Did you know it had that effect? Because I didn't.' "

I read this book as part of a workshop on book discussions that I attended last week in Madison called Reading by the Lake.  Only finished it a couple of days late...

This book was ok.  It had a lot of really interesting fantasy and steampunk (I learned what that was this weekend!) elements.  When a young girl named Tessa travels to England in 1878 to live with her brother, she is captured by the Dark Sisters.  She is suddenly thrown into an underground world of vampires, warlocks, and demons and learns that she has an ability as well - the ability to transform into another person.  She is recused by the Shadowhunters, where she begins to learn about herself and is caught up in the mysteries underworld.

I'd say that the book was an average young adult fantasy novel.  It had some unique twists with the characters and elements of the early industrial revolution. I really liked the historical aspects of 19th century England and Tessa's love of books.  The plot was so-so, but it caught my attention enough to finish the book. 

Virgin Earth by Philippa Gregory

★★★★
" 'I've been in my father's shadow all my life, John said, more to himself than to the silent man.  When I came here for the first time it was virgin earth for me, because it was somewhere he had not been, with plants that he had not seen, a place where he had not made friends and where people would not always know me as his son, a lesser copy of the real thing.' "

Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory

★★★★
" 'I with we had called them 'Tradescantia' when Lord Cecil first gave them to you to grow.  You were the first to grow them; you had the right.'

Josh shrugged his shoulders as if it did not matter what they were named as long as they grew tall and strong.  'The name does not matter.  Rights do not matter.  But to grow a new tree, to put a new tree into the gardens of England - now that is to live forever.' "

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

★★★★★

"The wheel of fortune tells us that we all only want victory.  We all want to triumph.  But we all have to learn to endure what comes.  We have to learn to treat misfortune and great fortune with indifference.  That is wisdom."

This is Philippa Gregory's third novel in the Cousins' War books.  The serious centers around women in the England's War of the Roses and this book tells the story of Jacquette, Duchess of Luxembourg.

Philippa Gregory is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.  I first fell in love with her wonderful story telling of the Tudor court when I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" and have been reading her looks religiously ever since.  I love her ability to bring history to life and center on many of history's lesser known female characters.  The Cousins' War series tells of a not as popular, but still just as exciting and scandalous time in England's royal history.

This book was #6 on my top ten list of 2012.

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

★★★★

" 'Yes, Your Grace,' I correct her.  'I am My Lady, the King's Mother, now, and you shall curtsey to me, as low as to a queen of royal blood.  This was my destiny: to put my son on the throne of England, and those who laughed at my visions and doubted my vocation will call me My Lady, the King's Mother, and I shall sign myself Margaret Regina: Margaret R."

Cousins' War #1 - The Lady of the Rivers
Cousins' War #2 - The White Queen 

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

★★★★★

"Your house's emblem should not be the white rose but the old sign of eternity...the snake which eats itself.  The sons of York will destroy each other, one brother destroying another, uncles devouring nephews, father's beheading sons.  They are a house which has to have blood and they will shed their own if they have no other enemy."

"Poor Mulusina, who tried so hard to be a good wife had to leave the man who loved her and go back to the water, finding the earth too hard.  Like many women, she was unable to fit exactly with her husband's view.  her feet hurt: she tried to dance to please him, but she could not deny the pain.  She is the ancestress of the royal house of Burgundy, and we descendants, still try to wake in the paths of men, and sometimes we too find the way unbearable hard.

Cousins' War #1 - The Lady of the Rivers