Random Readings: So Many Kinds of Novels...

"The Copper Beech" by Maeve Binchy; awhile back, I read her "The Lilac Bus" and didn't care for it. But a friend advised that it was her least favorite of Binchy's novels. So I tried this one; it was more enjoyable, light, cozy reading.

Anne Perry's "Death in the Devil's Acre" seemed a contrived Victorian detective plot starring an unlikely pair of young lady sleuths. Meh. Plus, if reports are true, the author took part (as a teenager) in the murder of a friend's mother.
She and the friend served time as juveniles and were freed. Still, I can only consider the profound sense of terror and betrayal suffered by the victim.

I'm late to "The DaVinci Code"-party. The book, by Dan Brown was published at the turn of the current century. I heard so much about the book and the plot that by now, I was underwhelmed. But I enjoyed "google-researching" the many paintings, ideas and sites mentioned in the iconic novel. It was not as well-crafted as I expected.

"Earthly Joys" by Philippa Gregory is the best of the latest batch of books, in my opinion. The plot centers on the famous Tudor/Jacobean gardener and collector, John Tradescent (the Elder). Complicated relationships are explored, between husband and wife, father and son, master and servant, king and country people.
Tradescent believes in the old feudal system, with loyalty to king and master. His family is more progressive, but there is consistent tension. His loyalty to is master, the Duke of Buckingham could have gotten him killed. There is an uncomfortable encounter, when the servant is seduced by the master. You feel for the Gardener: he is caught in the turbulent world leading up the the English Civil War. There is a companion novel "Virgin Earth" about The Younger John Tradescent, the son.

"The Queen's Fool" by Philippa Gregory

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    Another Tudor-Era fantasy by the author of "The Other Boleyn Girl"; the narrative of the story is in first-person told by an interesting young female character. Hannah Verde (or Green, in English) is the daughter of a Marrano book dealer running from the Spanish Inquisition during the reigns of Edward and later Mary I. After his wife was burned as a heretic in Spain, the father and daughter (for her protection, dressed as a boy) flee across Europe to settle in England. Hannah has visions (Hannah is probably suffering from PTSD, after the sudden capture and execution of her beloved Mother). She sees a glowing white Angel behind Sir Robert Dudley when he arrives at her father's shop; she is "begged a fool" by him and made a retainer. Eventually, her visions and common sense take her to the inner-circle of Queen Mary's Court. Mary assigns her as an intermediary with her sister, Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth. She finds herself up to her ears in Courtly plots. She is like a "fly on the wall" in the interesting places of those times.
    And, she has a boyfriend, too. Her father as arranged for her to eventually marry a young Jewish doctor who is not enthusiastic about Hannah's life at Court. They are on-again, off-again through much of the book, he wants a traditional wife, Hannah is 400 years too early for feminism and cross-dressing; because of her gift, she is able to talk back to the high nobility of England with no punishment.
    The book was readable, I wish there was more about the way of life of the secret Jewish people who blended in to society in public, but kept their faith in private. One character, John Dee, an early English scientist used fictional Hannah to foretell the future. I googled him to learn more about his historic alchemy and obsidian mirror he used like a crystal ball.

Listening to Books on Tape again...

...I know I could use an ipod and download from the library; after my walkman wears out, I'll do that. Meanwhile, I just finished a sad but well-presented Tudor-opus by Philippa Gregory: "The Boleyn Inheritance". Really, it's three parallel stories (with three different readers)about Henry's 4rd and 5th wives, Anne of Cleeves and Catherine Howard, with the lesser known stange story of Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford.
Lots of heads rolling; but Hans Holbein the Younger, one of Henry's painters figured into the "Anne of Cleeves" story; I realized I knew little about this artist, so got a book from the library called "Hans Holbein the Younger--Painter at the Court of Henry VIII" Stephanie Buck and Jochen Sanders. The gorgeous book was meant to go with a 2003 exhibit of a large body of Holbein's work. I am reading all the essays about the works; Holbein made intricately accurate sketches of his subjects, then executed the painted portraits from those, I learned. Holbein had the knack of capturing the subjects' very souls in these sketches; many people at Henry's Court had themselves painted to sketched by Holbein.