tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post5687378740809872451..comments2024-03-14T05:56:44.390+00:00Comments on Edward II: Novel Review: The Vows Of The PeacockKathryn Warnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-58433226621860668672012-10-18T08:02:51.638+01:002012-10-18T08:02:51.638+01:00I understand that, Jo! There are novels I really ...I understand that, Jo! There are novels I really like too, even if they're not historically accurate. Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-30654557591784356332012-10-15T13:05:53.487+01:002012-10-15T13:05:53.487+01:00I read and re-read this book as a teenager and hav...I read and re-read this book as a teenager and have loved it in memory as well as fact. I am sure there are inaccuracies but somehow for me that is not an issue. I have read many books since about the period so have a fairly good idea of the true facts, It makes no difference to my love of this book. In fact have just taken my copy of the shelf to lend to my 12 year old daughter.<br />Jo SJo Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-40037657309834886432012-04-16T13:54:22.314+01:002012-04-16T13:54:22.314+01:00Hehehe! I soooo have to write that scene. :-)Hehehe! I soooo have to write that scene. :-)Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-64556441793971042792012-04-15T21:19:23.459+01:002012-04-15T21:19:23.459+01:00Now I have an imagie of Mortimer touching Isa'...Now I have an imagie of Mortimer touching Isa's freckles, one by one. "This is land and of the earl of X and this the estate of the baron Y, and look, here we have the manor of Z .... darling, I <i>love</i> those freckles of yours."<br /><br />And Isa swoons with pleasure about his manly playfulness and gives him all those lands. :DGabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-34526858337072106702012-04-15T05:47:02.369+01:002012-04-15T05:47:02.369+01:00I sense indignation among some of Isabella's f...I sense indignation among some of Isabella's fans towards Edward for not falling madly in love with her. As though physical beauty is the only criterion for falling in love! And I also wonder if her beauty is overstated - English chronicles don't mention it - only a French poem about her and Edward's trip to France in 1313.Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-43571380492974550962012-04-14T20:42:25.261+01:002012-04-14T20:42:25.261+01:00It doesn't matter how beautiful Isa was - she ...It doesn't matter how beautiful Isa was - she just wasn't Edward's type ;> But it is so annoying - it's like 'how dare he not fall in love with her! She's just too beautiful not to!'Anerjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305237339979790391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-67009240710374196732012-04-13T05:49:23.682+01:002012-04-13T05:49:23.682+01:00Hi Elizabeth - so glad I wasn't the only one w...Hi Elizabeth - so glad I wasn't the only one who felt like that! :) It gets so tedious to have this perfectly amazingly beautiful Isabella in novels all the time. You could be right about the 's'! ;Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-70683147680031203512012-04-13T05:29:47.797+01:002012-04-13T05:29:47.797+01:00I remember reading this book and I also was annoye...I remember reading this book and I also was annoyed by how beautiful Isabella was - I hope some author dares to put a freckle (oh my!) on her one of these days. God forbid, maybe a pimple! My one serious contribution to this would be to ask you if maybe the spelling of Elizabeth with an 's' could be in favor of the Beauchamp French ancestry? Perhaps that is getting too involved for this book?Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863958329151143572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-15528208445818231412012-04-12T18:54:17.009+01:002012-04-12T18:54:17.009+01:00Exactly, Anerje! He's said to be graceless, a...Exactly, Anerje! He's said to be graceless, and on the rare occasions he appears is just rude and unpleasant. It's very hard to see why Edward loves him so much. Roger Mortimer and Isabella are physically described numerous times.Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-46905465827762366802012-04-12T18:48:55.763+01:002012-04-12T18:48:55.763+01:00Haven't come across this novel before. Thanks ...Haven't come across this novel before. Thanks for blogging about it. Piers Gaveston sneering, I can cope with (he does it in every novel practically!), but graceless?! Even chroniclers of the time describe him as graceful and well-mannered, and hence a suitable companion for Prince Edward. And as Piers is often sneering, Mortimer is just soooo manly! And Isa so beautiful....And Ed weak and at his cups. All so predictable, eh?Anerjehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305237339979790391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-35441956605169169012012-04-12T18:25:25.124+01:002012-04-12T18:25:25.124+01:00Funnily enough, that novel occurred to me too afte...Funnily enough, that novel occurred to me too after I posted the comment! ;)Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-47305535514304689172012-04-12T18:23:56.113+01:002012-04-12T18:23:56.113+01:00Margaret George wrote a novel about Henry VIII nar...Margaret George wrote a novel about Henry VIII narrated by his "fool," Will Somers, that worked quite well. Of course, she had Somers quoting very long passages from Henry's "secret diary," which I suppose could be called cheating. :)Undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16214242522330278662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-57152383064014651362012-04-12T14:17:43.145+01:002012-04-12T14:17:43.145+01:00Agree, Undine. It can be very problematic, either...Agree, Undine. It can be very problematic, either for the reason we state, and also because, if the narrator is present for every major historical event of the time, it can feel very implausible and oh-how-convenient. It's a rare novel that mixes fictional characters with real people and actually feels 'right' to me (not counting walk-on parts, of course, only major fictional characters). Two that do it really well, IMHO, are Valerie Anand's Gildenford and The Norman Pretender, set between 1036 and 1066. There's another Edward II novel which is narrated by his Fool, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's like and whether I enjoyed it or not. (Which is probably telling, as if it worked well, I'd most likely remember it.)Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-90510814780100100262012-04-12T13:59:45.710+01:002012-04-12T13:59:45.710+01:00I've never understood why writers of historica...I've never understood why writers of historical fiction are so fond of using minor characters as narrators. I suppose they're trying to bring a "unique perspective" to the story, but--as you indicated in your review--the reader usually winds up feeling the actual novel is taking place just out of view, and you're left feeling rather cheated.<br /><br />Although I suppose that with books as silly as this one sounds, that's just as well.Undinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16214242522330278662noreply@blogger.com