Comments on Edward II: Rules for historical fact and fiction on Edward II...

That'd be great, to keep in touch via Facebook! ...

2009-06-28T09:16:39.399+02:00

That'd be great, to keep in touch via Facebook!

LOVE the rules, which are laugh out loud funny - I haven't read too much Anne fiction, but even I was nodding with recognition at lots of them! I'm especially fond of the Mary Boleyn one, no. 6. Great, spot-on review of TOBG, too.

Yes, I know exactly who you mean :-) I was going t...

2009-06-28T08:59:58.835+02:00

Yes, I know exactly who you mean :-) I was going to say more, but I'll take it to Facebook instead ... I reposted the Anne rules on my review of TOBG at Amazon as well because a couple of my Ammie friends wanted to see them, and my friend Kellie has just come up with several more that are utterly hilarious!

Thanks, Rachel! I had enormous fun writing these ...

2009-06-28T08:05:16.014+02:00

Thanks, Rachel! I had enormous fun writing these (though they do also make me clench my teeth at the blatant double standards of certain writers regarding Ed and Isa) and I'm really glad to hear they inspired some Anne rules - I'll pop over to Facebook now and have a read.

LOL at your names for Ed and Piers in Confession! I keep quiet these days about my opinion of that novel, as a friend of the author (you probably know who I mean) has never forgiven me for daring to say that I didn't think it was the greatest piece of lit ever written and that I didn't adore all the characters more than I love my own mother. :-)

PS. I agree with you on the portrayal of Vicious Q...

2009-06-28T03:45:53.022+02:00

PS. I agree with you on the portrayal of Vicious Queen!Edward in "Confession" (not to mention Rentboy!Piers) - I loved that book when I first read it, then after I finished it found myself thinking, "Hey, HANG on ..." Overall I liked it as a *story* if that makes sense, and reviewed it positively, but I have issues with it as a portrayal of the real people, and could have done without the stereotypes. Similarly with Purdy's novel about Jane Boleyn (I'm a massive George and particularly Anne Boleyn fangirl, so I get a bit protective of them when it comes to fiction!) - I was drawn into the story, but afterwards was going, "WTF?"

I've been remiss in not commenting before, but I l...

2009-06-28T03:21:23.396+02:00

I've been remiss in not commenting before, but I love and adore these! Your post inspired a group of us on Facebook to come up with our own Anne Boleyn novel rules (which started out listing the cliches, then got progressively more and more bizarre ... although, only slightly more bizarre than Nicholas Sander's propaganda or some of the plot elements of a few recent books. Which says a lot, really).

Thanks, Sue - glad you liked them! Glad too that ...

2009-01-09T11:25:00.000+01:00

Thanks, Sue - glad you liked them! Glad too that you enjoy reading hsitfict from this period - always great to meet Ed II fans. ;) Have to admit though I'm not a great fan of Confession, thanks mostly to the portrayal of a shrieky Ed, which I found very cliched.

Awesome post. As a lover of historical fiction of ...

2008-12-30T00:05:00.000+01:00

Awesome post. As a lover of historical fiction of this period, I could not agree more with your rules. Sadly I've found them to be all too true in most of the work I've read.

Just finished Confession of Piers Gaveston, an awesome, if not totally historically accurate, take on the early period of Edward II.

Thanks for posting,
Sue

Hmm, don't think I'll be rushing to read any Maria...

2007-05-31T12:02:00.000+02:00

Hmm, don't think I'll be rushing to read any Marian fiction if that's how they portray her, Joanne! :)

I love Mary Stuart to pieces, but I can't stand mo...

2007-05-28T13:19:00.000+02:00

I love Mary Stuart to pieces, but I can't stand most Marian fiction. She's either portrayed as a stupid slutty girly girl or Catholic-tyrant-in-training, or is a sainted damsel in distress. *sighs*

I think Mary was generally a kinder, more approachable person than Isabella, but was an over-confident gambler who was not always the best judge of character. What drives me crazy is when people say, "oh, why didn't Mary act like her cousin Elizabeth, who died safely in her bed!" Mary's circumstances were not similar to Elizabeth's, as Mary was the queen of a poor vassal state (the state of which verged on anarchy most of the time) and she didn't have a lot of room to manoeuver. A lot of her sometimes inexplicable decisions seem like the 16th century political equivalents of Hail Marys (I can see her saying later, with a shrug- "well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!") Besides, Mary doesn't strike me as the sort who would want to safely die in bed... she strikes me as being a bit of a risk-loving adventurer, which is probably why I find her so appealing.

Thanks very much, Blue Jean! Haven't read many (i...

2007-05-21T15:38:00.000+02:00

Thanks very much, Blue Jean! Haven't read many (if any) Mary novels, but books about 'powerful, empowered women' tend to follow the same format, I suppose! :)

Have you read my two posts on Queen of Shadows? They're two of the latest posts, May 2007. Agree with the shudder...;)

ROTFL! This was fun!! It really cheered me up af...

2007-05-20T06:25:00.000+02:00

ROTFL! This was fun!! It really cheered me up after reading *shudder* "Queen of Shadows".

If you change the name "Isabella" to "Mary, Queen of Scots", "Mortimer" to "Bothwell", and "Edward II" to "the Earl of Moray/assorted Scottish nobles", you have a perfect template for "Mary, Queen of Scots" novels too.

Blue Jean

Hi Mip. It's so funny that you should mention Ras...

2007-05-08T11:45:00.000+02:00

Hi Mip. It's so funny that you should mention Rashomon - I'm fascinated by the notion of telling a story from different perspectives, and that film inspired me. A few months ago, I started something along those lines, in multiple first person, from Edward, Isabella and Hugh's POVs. I haven't worked on it for ages, but I loved doing it - getting into all their heads was great, and all of them had secrets the others didn't know, misinterpreted the others' behaviour, and so on...;) I must get back to it - it was great to plan and write. (Maybe also including Roger, or even Eleanor de Clare).

I would LOVE to see a Rashomon-style retelling of ...

2007-05-08T00:25:00.000+02:00

I would LOVE to see a Rashomon-style retelling of Edward II's reigns, perhaps with Edward, Isabella, Roger, and Hugh each giving their own side of the story. Most historical fiction authors tend to pick one character and follow them slavishly -- but I think it'd be absolutely fascinating to see the same events from four different perspectives. Each person is the hero of his or her own story, after all.

just pointing out that i AM reading this thing, ju...

2006-03-04T09:24:00.000+01:00

just pointing out that i AM reading this thing, just that i don't have many smart things to reply to it so i just lurk in a corner. but i'm still on board, it's all very interesting :)

Loved the list! All sadly all too true!

2006-03-03T21:45:00.000+01:00

Loved the list! All sadly all too true!

Thanks, Wil and Sarah! My campaign to rehabilitat...

2006-03-01T12:25:00.000+01:00

Thanks, Wil and Sarah! My campaign to rehabilitate Edward II continues....!

Just found your site via Sarah's Bookarama. Great ...

2006-03-01T00:32:00.000+01:00

Just found your site via Sarah's Bookarama. Great rules list and terrific subject overall...I look forward to more!

Exemplary Rules, Alianore. As a result of reading ...

2006-02-27T21:46:00.000+01:00

Exemplary Rules, Alianore. As a result of reading them, I've consigned the MS of my sorry Edward II and Isabella novel to the Flames of Shame.

Gabriele, the story of Edward's demise may or may ...

2006-02-27T18:49:00.000+01:00

Gabriele, the story of Edward's demise may or may not be true - in my view, it's more likely to be symbolic than real. It's far more likely that he was smothered, or poisoned. I think medical opinion tends to the view that the 'hot poker'method would kill you within days, not minutes or hours. Hideous! :(

'Cashelmara' and 'Braveheart' have a lot to answer...

2006-02-27T18:20:00.000+01:00

'Cashelmara' and 'Braveheart' have a lot to answer for :-)
Puzzled as to how Isabella is both a Warrior Princess (though, I trust, in something more sensible than a leather bikini) and a Victim.

And Isabella was so right to have Edward killed in...

2006-02-27T18:17:00.000+01:00

And Isabella was so right to have Edward killed in an especially cruel way: by shoving a ramshorn up his behind and then insert a hot iron poker through it. After all, he's always been mean to her. ;-)

Don't know if that's true, though.

Title and author escape me at present, but I remember having read a novel where most of those points have been (mis)used.

Bravo Alianore, that was absolutely wonderful! You...

2006-02-27T16:42:00.000+01:00

Bravo Alianore, that was absolutely wonderful! You really did have me 'laughing out loud!'