Although the general public remembers Henry VIII as a tart-chasing tartar, many modern historians such as Lacey Baldwin Smith have defended the king as a rather “prudish” man with more wives than mistresses. In her new book, The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women’s Stories, Amy Licence disagrees. She argues that… Read more The Six Wives & Many Mistresses of Henry VIII: The Women’s Stories
I am, I confess, a big ol’ fan of marine life. I love to go to Aquariums. Love it. I am entranced by sea life. Take me whale watching and you can see me faint with happiness. Find me an otter and hear me squee with joy. Thus, I think it appropriate that I salute… Read more Happy 30th Birthday Monterey Aquarium!
A friend of mine, Claire Ridgway, who writes non-fiction books about the Anne and George Boleyn and who does not agree with the Kell/McCloud syndrome theory but is a nice person nonetheless, has launched The Tudor Society. It is “an exclusive membership club for all those who love Tudor history and who want to keep… Read more The Tudor Society
I hope many of you are enjoying your Monday off. (Although I know several people in the service industry who have to work today – including moms!) This post is just a quick reminder that, like Memorial Day, this holiday marks something for which people died. “It all started with a bad recession in the… Read more Happy Labor Day!
I loved reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books as a child. Then when my girls were old enough, I started to read the series to them and discovered that I had to edit the crap out of the lavish racism lest my daughters burst into tears with horror. Which then inspired me to ponder the… Read more The Real Little House
This weekend I bought and then voraciously read a book by Pauline Kiernan entitled Filthy Shakespeare. I was a wonderful read for a potty-mouthed Tudor enthusiast like myself, but is not for those whom the Anglo-Saxon derived earthy words for body bits and sex offend. Let’s just say that while the book dealt with Tudor… Read more Merry Old England
I am a big fan of author Jeannie Lin. She writes fiction set in Imperial China and it is hella well done. My favorite of her books are The Lotus Palace and The Jade Temptress. I cannot heap enough praise on them. Not only is she an excellent wordsmith, she is one of the rare… Read more Tudor China?
I recently bought Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway’s new book, George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat, and I was very glad I did. The blurb for the book promises a lot of information: “George Boleyn has gone down in history as being the brother of the ill-fated Queen Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry… Read more Review of George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat
The Daily Mail has run an article interviewing Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb and I am torn equally between happiness and tears about it. Dr. Lipscomb is a renown historian and the author of several books, including one I found to be extremely valuable during my research, 1536: The Year That Changed Henry VIII. It is an… Read more Please leave Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb’s hair out of it
On May Day, 1464, six-year-old Katherine Woodville, daughter of a duchess who has married a knight of modest means, awakes to find her gorgeous older sister, Elizabeth, in the midst of a secret marriage to King Edward IV. It changes everything-for Kate and for England. Then King Edward dies unexpectedly. Richard III, Duke of Gloucester,… Read more Book Review: The Stolen Crown