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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best in medieval historical fiction,
By strega2 "strega2" (USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Crown in Candlelight (Hardcover)
I'm hoarding my copy of this undeservedly out of print novel. Jarman tells the story of Katherine of Valois, wife of Henry V, hero of Agincourt, and her later passionate love affair with the Welsh bard Owen Tudor, ancestor of the Tudor dynasty. Jarman's skill at weaving atmosphere and color brings Katherine's childhood to chilling life, as the daughter of a lunatic King and a cruel, amoral mother. She brings her usual scrupulous historical accuracy to the novel, and her gift for portraying characters of greath depth is always evident. The actual historical figures spring to life: Plantagenet and Valois royalty, Welsh patriots and bards, as well as a fascinating array of mystics, witches, crossbowmen, peasants and nobles. Jarman's novels are as finely detailed and vividly colored as the tapestries from the period she portrays. Her portrayal of Katherine--sensitive, vulnerable, passionate, amid the turbulence and danger of the decaying Middle Ages--is memorable. This is a fine historical novel, and well worth searching for.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Search out this book if you can, it's a real winner!,
By
This review is from: Crown in Candlelight (Hardcover)
Quite simply, "Crown in Candlelight" is one of the very best historical novels I have ever read. I do not know why it is out of print. In any event, it is well worth searching out."Crown in Candlelight" tells the story of the love between Katherine of France, daughter of the mad king Charles VI and widow of the hero of Agincourt, Henry V; and Owen Tudor, her Welsh servant who was also a poet and musician. These two are not rendered as cardboard "romance novel" cutouts. Katherine grows and evolves from being an abused child and lonely young woman used as a marital pawn, to being a strong, passionate wife and mother; and Owen goes from being a shallow womanizer to devoted husband to Katherine and father to their sons. Owen and Katherine are wonderful, sympathetic characters and you will be rooting for them all the way. Jarman also hews very, very closely to actual historical detail (all the main characters and most of the minor ones actually lived!) and brings the 15th century in all its glamour and squalor to life. With one major and a few very minor exceptions, the events in this book actually happened (as closely as they can be reconstructed). One thing that is played for drama in the book, but did not actually happen - Humphrey Duke of Gloucester did not send Katherine to Bermondsey as punishment for marrying a Welshman; Katherine actually retired to Bermondsey to die of metastatic breast cancer. However, that is really the only falsified event in the book. (Incidentally, for an English or French woman to live with or marry a Welshman in that time period was equivalent to a white woman marrying a black man in the 1950's.) Buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy of this book, sit back and enjoy! I had tears in my eyes at the ending - yes, the lovers led tragic lives but remember, their great-great-granddaughter was Elizabeth I, so they triumphed in the end!
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a terrific read!,
By
This review is from: Crown in Candlelight (Hardcover)
I am really surprised that I picked a winner in this book. I got it through a Month of the Book club because I am fascinated by any tidbits of Henry the Fifth. Little did I know how wonderfully written this book is! Too bad it is hard to find a copy of this book because I really think people should shoot this on to the top of the bestsellers list!!For those of you who do like history and historical fiction based on true facts ... I would recommend that you run and get a copy of this book. It's wonderfully written and you will be enrapatured by the author's story. People often has mistaken notions about royalty especially in the middle ages. Jarman points out that not all is cake and jewelry for royals, especially for royal princesses who later become queens. This book is about Katherine, Henry V's bride, who later spawned the Tudor dynasty. This book takes Katherine through her rough and lonely childhood. She is the daughter of a mad king of France and a perverted queen, always caught in the middle of the tug-of-war between her parents. Then it details her marriage to the king of England who comes over to reclaim England's ancient claims on lands in France. Then after the king died and while as queen mother of Henry VI, she finds love again with Owen Tydier, later named as Owen Tudor. What a fanastic read through the cobblestones of historical reading! It just makes me want to read more on English and French royalty. I would definitely hate to be a royal ~~ it's not easy as it sounds. But hey, it's like a glimpse into the past and one can dream, right? I recommend this book highly! I hope that you'll be able to find a copy of this book. It's one that is full of surprises and you can't help yourself reading it all in just a few days. 2-15-02
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