11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good education in pre-conquest Saxon England, the story of an amazing Queen and an ending that's drawn out past enjoyment, November 14, 2007
This review is from: Hollow Crown (Paperback)
I've never had any interest in pre-1066 England or history really once the Dark Age sets in. I like some ancient history, before the Dark Age, and I like pretty much everything after the Norman conquest of England. But that space of time in between just seems like this vast era of lawlessness and chaos and no written records and it al seems so...bleak to me. Like how when I was little watching black and white movies made me think the world used to be in black and white. This is how I feel about the era between say 400 AD and 1066 AD. Like it's black and white. Possibly this sentiment comes completely from learning absolutely nothing about this era in school. But regardless, reading this novel was like taking some kind of expedition into the unknown world for me.
And I'm happy to report the realm of Saxon England is no longer the great unknown. "A Hollow Crown" is basically the life story of Emma (who lived in an era when people didn't have last names, only descriptions of jobs or location, or maybe their father's first name in some form) who was married to two kings of England and was the mother of two more. She was also daughter of the Duke of Normandy and great aunt of William the conqueror. She was married to King Aethelred of England when she was 13 years old and was married to him for 18 years, during which there were numerous Viking raids, several attempts to overthrow the King and a great deal of internal strife. Then after Aethelred dies, in order to keep her crown, she marries Cnut, a Viking himself who basically gains the crown by right of conquest and is later thought by the English people to be a saint. They were married for 14 years. Emma was also the mother of King Harthacnut (who I had never heard of before) and King Edward the confessor, who later was canonized.
It's an understatement to say this woman had a remarkable life. She was Queen for over 50 years, the power behind the throne in her sons' reigns and a true ruling partner during Cnut's reign. She was intelligent, brave and ahead of her time in many ways. During the time she was Queen there were 7 different Kings of England, and reading about her I learned a lot.
1. Under Saxon law once you were crowned Queen you were Queen until you died or resigned your title. So Emma was Queen even during the periods of time her first husband was in exile and there was a new King of England, and she was also Queen during her sons' reigns.
2. The horror of the Viking raids. It was just terrible, seasonal devastation that the English could never pull together a large enough (and brave enough) army to fight off. Whole villages were wiped out, people killed, raped, stolen away with their livestock and valuables and what was left was burnt to the ground. This could be avoided if they paid the Vikings to stay away, but that was only a short term solution. The Vikings were so powerful that eventually they became the Kings of England (which stopped the raiding.)
So, like I said, I learned a lot but I have mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that were very good, and parts that dragged on. The chapters in this novel are very short-no more than 6 pages-so it felt more than a little disjointed and I felt the characterization of some of the major characters was off. Cnut turned from pillaging-loving Viking to great and noble King so fast t made my head spin. Harthacnut goes from being potential sociopath child who enjoys killing animals and watching people be tortured to a pretty decent guy. That kind of mind set just doesn't go away. Edward is portrayed as almost mentally retarded he's so stupid and his brother Alfred isn't much better (though maybe they were that way-who knows?) Emma loved her children from her marriage to Cnut but by marrying him she could never see the children of her first marriage because they were a threat to Cnut's crown and he would kill them if he saw them (and she seemed to have no problem with that.) in fact her whole attitude about children was just weird and totally non-maternal. Like she wanted to drown Cnut's sons from his first marriage because they threatened her son's right to the throne. Also I never really understood why she wanted to marry Cnut in the first place. The idea in the book was so she could retain her crown, but it never made it really clear why that was so important to her, aside from the fact that she got so seasick that just going back to Normandy would be torture, which doesn't seem like a good enough reason to marry someone you consider a cruel, dangerous Viking.
All in all this is a good book. It just seemed to drag near the end and I really wanted to be done with it, which isn't a feeling I like to have with books. You should want to finish them to know what happens and how it ends, not just want it to be over so you can put it away. But the writing was pretty good and there parts that were edge of your seat action so...
Four stars and I look forward to reading more by the author.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting look at Saxon England prior to the Conquest, November 22, 2007
This review is from: Hollow Crown (Paperback)
"A wife of two kings and mother of two more" and thus begins the long and complicated tale story of Emma of Normandy, sent at the age of 13 to marry Aethelred of England who earned the well deserved nickname The Unready, and they have two sons Edward (The Confessor) and Alfred. England is constantly being bedeviled by the Danish Vikings, who come once a year to wreak havoc and demand money, and finally due to Aethelred's incompetence the Danish conquer England and Emma and her family flees in exile to Normandy. After Aethelred dies, Emma makes the choice to remain Queen of England and marries the Danish conqueror, Cnut, which turns out to be a much more successful marriage than the first one.
Although I quite enjoyed this tale of a strong Queen who was determined to hold onto her crown at all costs, I have to agree with another reviewer that it does tend to bog down and drag at times, and while this was an entertaining read, it doesn't quite come up to a five star read. I very much appreciated the author's notes at the end where she quotes her sources and points out what is known and what she has surmised, etc. Still, if you are interested in learning more about pre-conquest Saxon England, this is a very good start, along with the sequel,
Harold the King which I plan on reading in the near future. Side note, the book info page states the page count at 500+ pages, it is actually 864 pages.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book About a Shadowy Time in History, February 8, 2006
This review is from: Hollow Crown (Paperback)
Hollick has written a doorstopper of a book about Emma, twice Queen of England and mother of two more Kings. Since I hadn't known very much about this period in English history, I picked this one up in the hopes that Hollick would make the time come alive. And she did! Emma became a three-dimensional woman with complex layers. Hollick gives us reasonable explanations for Emma's motivations and also does a good job of keeping track of all the confusing characters that dance across the pages. Though this is a very long book, it reads quickly and is fascinating. My biggest quibble, which keeps me from giving the full 5 stars, is that Hollick really needed some major editing toward the end of the book. Way, way too many comma splices and run-on sentences! Hollick has done a good job, however, of telling the tale of a woman with her own rich life whom all of us should know. Recommended.
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