Customer Reviews

The Loves of Charles II: The Stuart Saga

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read the original Stuart Saga by Jean plaidy. Especially 'Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord' would have the same story base as this one. It might have been re-published which would explain typographical errors that the other reviewer mentions.

I love Charles II for all his faults. He was the last King who really was in charge. If anything at all is a fault with him, he loved too well. After him, English monarchy lost its power - as House of Hanover came into picture - as the parliament grew in its place instead.

I'm usually a fan of historical fiction, especially novels about Charles II. However, I couldn't get into this book--or rather, three books rolled into one.

Originally published in 1956 and 1957, these three novels focus on the relationships Charles II had with his sister, Henriette; his wife, Catherine of Braganza; and his mistresses, Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine, Louise de Keroualle, and Nell Gwynne. Although the books are well-researched, the characters have no depth or believability. Even Charles, who was actually a pretty charismatic guy, comes off as a cardboard cut-out. The novels read like historical nonfiction in some places. The relationship between Henriette and her husband's boyfriend Lorraine is never fully explored, when it was suspected (at the time) that he poisoned her. The language of the novels seems stilted, in a way, with a very conservative, 1950s view on sex, a major part of Court life during Charles's reign. Another thing I didn't like (and this may be because these books were intended to be completely separate) was that they would rehash old material--for example, Charles's return to London and his coronation were described several times, in context with his relationships with the women in the novel.

I agree with other reviewers, who say that there were many typos; it looks as though they just copied the older editions for this reprint and didn't make the necessary changes.

I have been reading Jean Plaidy's older works, starting with "The Bastard King," in their original printing from about 1970. There were many typographical errors in those older editions. Sadly it appears that the publisher of her newer editions (released in trade paperback format with updated cover art) has simply re-set the existing text without proofreading.

This book is actually three of Plaidy's former novels bound together into one book, since they all deal with Charles II and his reign. The first book (regarding his exile and time spent attempting to regain the kingship) had no typos that I noticed. However, towards the middle of the second book several obvious ones crept into the text: "he wanted to keen on the King's good side," "she was leased to see him," and so forth. These became more frequent towards the end of the second book and occurred fairly regularly throughout the third book. In addition the third book had some fairly glaring typos of a worse type: "She wanted to go I hawking that afternoon..." "Buckingham .e was fuming at this treatment..." Overall it feels like the proofreader started off at the beginning of the book with a glass of wine and ended by finishing a few bottles. The book is slipshod in this respect and this is why I give only 4 stars.

As to content and writing style, this is all very much typical Plaidy and succeeded in keeping me interested in most of the characters. I've never noted Plaidy to make a serious biographical error before, but in this book she cites "Monsieur D'Artagnan" being in command of Louis XIV's forces in a battle, and D'Artagnan is a wholly fictional character. I believe that in writing historical fiction, the people and known circumstances should be kept as accurate as possible, but known fictional elements should not be introduced into the story, and so this mention of Dumas' D'Artagnan struck a very false note with me.

However, it was good reading; it kept me entertained and painted a good portrait of the Merry Monarch. Recommended, and Plaidy has redeemed herself by not continuing to portray male rulers as male monsters (see my reviews of The Lady in the Tower and Victoria Victorious for more commentary on this).

Book One,

I was pleasantly surprised that Charles II first love was his baby sister "minette", Henriette d' Orleans. From the very beginning this first book was all about Henriette, it was written from her point of view. Henriette was a tiny baby when England had taken a turn against her father Charles I. Opening with her daring escape to France she was only two years old. In the care of a trusted noble woman they disguised themselves and fled to France to where the banished queen Henrietta Marie was. Since the disposed queen was French it was the safest place for her to flee to. Depending on the generosity of their French relations they lived in exile in France.

Plaidy has a way of seamlessly bouncing between characters and this read was no different. Following all the loves of Charles to others might have been a tangled mess but this was not the case for Plaidy. From Charles sisters, mother, and his mistress Lucy Waters. Lucy must have flown under my radar but she was the one who gave birth the king's first legitimate bastard. The child became the Duke Mammoth.

Book Two,

I can say this portion of the book was not exactly my favorite. Why not high on my list? Just look who is the main protagonist in this is...Barbara Countess of Castlemaine. She has not always been a favorite of mine and for good reason. She was a witch...not in the literal sense but personality wise. This did answer for me how she had manages to sink her claws into Charles in the beginning.

Catherine of Braganza, sweet, innocent and fully sheltered her whole life had no idea what life she had stepped into when she married Charles II. In her early years there was much issue in Portugal as far as the ruling rights were concerned. It was lightly touched on in the book and honestly I have no prior knowledge of Catherine. Pious and sweet natured she went to England with high hopes of love and was bitterly disappointed when her Charles wanted his mistress the notorious Barbara in her list of maids of honor. I do have to say that even though Catherine typically is portrayed as a wuss, she was not when it came to this one issue. She stood firm on and the issue of Barbara and it cost her Charles love. Charles being that man that he was really did not enjoy confrontation or women upset and it just pushed him away from her even farther into Barbra's bed.

Book Three,

I enjoyed this last portion of the book. I love "Nelly" and her quick wit. She was a fiery one when she wanted to be which I always thought was humorous. Nelly had two children with Charles and was pushing for them to get titles. She finally got her way when she beckoned her child to come to her and referred to him as a bastard, Charles was so appalled that he granted him his title right away. I love her antics my favorite was when she brought sweet meats to another of the kings mistresses and she had laced them with a sort of laxatives so that Charles would come to her that night. She was Charles lighthearted mistress and he always knew her to be in good cheer and always unconditionally faithful and loving to him. Charles owned her heart, she had eyes for none other than him.

Louise de Keroualle on the other hand is right up there with Barbara Castlemaine. Lousie was cold, ruthless, and always calculating her next move. She was a lady in the court of France to Charles sister Henrietta. When the siblings last met in Dover Henrietta had brought Louise with her as a companion on the trip. Charles being Charles a beauty never eluded him and Louise was no different. Louise was sent to Charles upon the sudden death of his sister as a comfort from the king of France. In reality she was a spy and she did everything in her power to make sure that the treaty that was signed at Dover was fulfilled. I do not like Louise and I am not sure if I ever will. In many reads she is the one who puts on the water works with Charles to get what she wants it was all a game to her.

I do not think she ever really loved Charles, at least not like good Nelly did. One good thing I can say about Louise de Keroualle is that she knocked Barbara Countess of Castlemaine of her spot of head mistress. On the other hand it was a case of the better of two evils.

All in all the two leading ladies of this book were with Charles to the end. An end it was too, poor Charles to me medically speaking it sounded like he had a stroke or a brain aneurysm. I figured a stroke when it was stated that he slumped on one side. Louise de Keroualle the witch was allowed with him because she was of noble birth but poor Nelly was not allowed near him or could not get to him, it was not stated. Charles last reference to Nelly has always haunted me when he told his brother who would be king next that "Please let poor Nelly not starve". To me it has always been a reminder that even in the end he really loved Nelly.

I won this book, bought on Amazon

This is the second book on Jean Plaidy's series about the Stuarts. No less interesting than the Tudors they don't get talked about as much when it comes to English royalty. In school the most I ever heard of was the deposition of Charles I, and how Oliver Cromwell came to power, and that was that. You hear very little of the Restoration and that's unfortunate.

Here Plaidy fixes that problem for an American reader. In her characteristic fashion you get a very good feel of Charles II's licentious court. This book, which is really three books in one (The Wandering Prince, A Health Unto His Majesty and Here Lies Our Sovereign Lord) tell the tale of Charles from even before his reign, when he was just a wandering prince all over the continent of Europe to his death.

I like how Plaidy chooses to tell the tale using the greatest loves of his life, one of whom is his sister, Henriette. I feel that not only do you get to know Charles very well, but you also get to know the women who helped to make his court famous. I liked that Plaidy chose just the important ones and didn't bore you with the large amounts of women that must have been there.

The first part of the book chronicles Charles' exile through the eyes of Henriette, his youngest sister, and Lucy Walter(a fling) who produced his favourite son. I liked this part the best because when I read Loyal in Love: Henrietta Maria, Wife of Charles I (A Queens of England Novel) I felt like I didn't get to know who Charles was, even when Henrietta Maria was also working for his return to the throne. You get a very nice view of Charles when he was young and carefree.

The second part of the book is told mostly through the eyes of his wife Catherine of Braganza. I would highly recommend reading The Merry Monarch's Wife: The Story of Catherine of Braganza (A Queens of England Novel) also because I feel these books to be companion pieces. I really enjoyed this part of the book because I felt I got to know Catherine better too. This shows that Charles wasn't always the man anyone thought him to be, but you still feel as if he's the best man.

The third part of the book I wasn't as thrilled with. I felt a bit bored and let down at times and wished for it to end. I wasn't as interested in Louise as I was with Nell, and I sometimes felt as if Plaidy spent too much time on Louise. But it's still not too bad. Here Charles is much less carefree and Plaidy brings this out in her masterful way. You feel the weight on Charles' shoulders as his reign draws to a close.

Overall it's a good book to read. Pretty long, but worth the time.

I have read and enjoyed many of Jean Plaidy's novels and this is the one I liked least of all. It was frequently repetitious and at times quite boring.

Well written in parts, interesting in parts, but as a whole, an unmoving book. I found the story disjointed, and while the characters are well written, there's something fundamentally missing I can't quite put my finger on.

Having read "Queen of the Realm" I expected more, but then having read that Jean Plaidy died sometime ago, the only explanation I came up with was someone else is completing her unfinished works, and not up to the same level of talent.