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Tudor England!
Description of my chosen time period or place
What draws me to this tumultuous time period? The drama, of course. You cannot MAKE UP a story better than factual history. Henry VIII, 6 wives, breaking from the Catholic Church, beheading not one but two of his wives, divorcing two others, and a questionable sanity to say the least. It's fascinating that all of this crazy drama and political upheaval actually happened. It's insane! And what I also love is how much peopel fictionalize about all the players, major and minor, in books today. There is always another story to tell, another person's persepctive to to look through, a conspiracy theory to discover. I love it all.
Favorite books I've read from this time period or place
IN TRANSIT// It was quite difficult narrowing this down...so I did the best I could.Tarnish by Katherine Longshore--This book...this book is everything that is right with giving Anne Boleyn the justice she deserves. Longshore writes a novel that depicts Anne before she was Queen and before she even caught the eye of Henry. It is a beautiful and poignant portrayal of the woman she was to become and it breaks my heart in the best way possible. Review
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory--I loved this book because it takes on so many different perspectives. From Jane Boleyn to Anne of Cleves to Katherine Howard we get a huge chunk of history and 3 wives referenced in this very dangerous time period. I loved that it fictionalized these women and made them real. I remember being enthralled by this book and mostly because of all the different POVs we get.
Wolf Bride by Elizabeth Moss--This is an erotica series set in Tudor England. We get another outsider view of Anne Boleyn and an insider's look at Henry. I LOVED this book. The romance had nothing to do with the Tudors but it was affected by the politics. This is a super hot, super fun read and I can't wait for more.
A books I want to read from this time period or place that I haven't read yet.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel {Goodreads}--I've heard excellent this about this series. Even if my girl AB is not portrayed in the best light, I'll still read any and all things Tudor.
The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives {Goodreads}--I've had this nonfiction for a while and I cannot wait to get a more objective view of her last days and her life that led up to it...*squeel*
Rebel Bride by Elizabeth Moss {Goodreads}--The second in the erotica trilogy taking place during Henry VIII's reign...yep, sign me up.
What are your favorite time periods to read about?
Seriously in love with this feature, I LOVE historical fiction!! And Tudor England is one of my favorite time periods too! (I totally count Elizabethan England in there because like you said, she's a Tudor). Tarnish was such an amazing, fantastic book and even knowing how it would end, I was so sad. It was really well written. I loved Gilt also, need to read Brazen soon. And omg you are one of the only other people I know who has read The Boleyn King trilogy! It's AMAZING! I love that it still feels like real historical fiction even though it's an alternate timeline. It had me wishing William and Dominic were real. I'll have to check out the other books on your list, especially Innocent Traitor. My aunt gave me Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies a couple years ago, haven't read them yet hah. And I never read erotica but.... you have me really curious about Wolf Bride! Have you read Margaret George's books on Henry VIII or Elizabeth? I own Elizabeth, haven't read it yet. Loved her books on Cleopatra and Mary Magdalene though. Great post, can't wait for the next one Kelly :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
ReplyDeleteYour homegirl AB! Haha. I love that history isn't sure how to depict her. Is she a wicked seductress? Is she power hungry? What were her motivations? Or was she just a girl who happened to catch the king's attention, felt trapped, and had to play the game with high stakes? You really can't think up a plot that rivals Henry VIII and his era -- all that he saw, said, did, and touched altered English history. Makes you wonder what it was really like.
I'll admit I tend to find the thrill and drama and political intrigue easier to take in by watching movies and TV shows depicting that time period, but I DO have Longshore's BRAZEN (outside character, but AB still appears), and you've pretty much convinced me of Andersen's BOLEYN KING trilogy.
I'm going to assume you've been to England and immediately saw Hampton, correct? That was my big trip expense when I went to London -- I HAD to see where this king lived! While I wandered the maze, I kept singing that BBC Horrible Histories song (I hope you know what I'm talking about...? Just in case: http://www.schooltube.com/video/123d1074578941487a5f/).
I really enjoyed this post!
Snap! I love the Tudors especially anything to do with Anne Boleyn. I think the book that might appeal to me the most would be Tarnish, I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Tudor England and I love to read about it as well. I own a ton of Philippa Gregory's books both from her Tudor Court series and The Cousin's War series (which was right before the Tudor dynasty). I can tell you're really interested in Anne Boleyn and I haven't read anything about her specifically yet so I'll definitely save this post and check these books out on Goodreads.
ReplyDeleteWolf Hall is now a TV show as well, which I'll probably binge watch this summer. Have you checked it out yet?
Woohoo! I'm so excited about Time Travel To and collaborating with you + Han that it's almost ridiculous, but not quite ;) I'm definitely not surprised by your choice of time period, as I KNOW that you love the Tudor era! I've read quite a few historical fiction novels for this era and enjoyed them as well, but there are definitely more I need to check out (at least based on your list up there). So loving this post!
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for the War of the Roses era (right before the Tudor time period). I've read some non-fiction books about the time period, but I haven't read any historical fiction about this time period (except Shakespeare's Richard III). I do have some of the books from Philippa Gregory's the Cousin's War series, and I'm pretty excited to start that soon.
ReplyDelete