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#222 ~ Her Mother’s Daughter

Jennifer — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:00:50 +0000

* This post is brought to you by the nearly 2 feet of snow Mother Nature brought our area over the weekend. Since I couldn’t be out doing last minute Christmas stuff, I spent some time catching up on my reviews. *

Her Mother’s Daughter: A Novel of Queen Mary Tudor by Julianne Lee

I’m not sure how common it is, but I have some very clear memories of friends at sleepovers daring each other to look into a mirror and say “Bloody Mary” several times. I don’t remember any one actually doing it. We were all too freaked out by what might happen if we did. In Her Mother’s Daughter, Julianne Lee used the Bloody Mary folklore to encompass her story of the life of Queen Mary Tudor. Lee begins her story at the very beginning, when Mary is the beloved daughter of King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. Once Henry set his sights on Anne Boleyn, she quickly fell from Grace. She no longer received the affection from her father to which she had grown accustomed and she was separated from loving mother. She was declared a bastard, removing her from royal succession. Even still, her father made no plans for her marriage. Without her mother, her father, or a husband, she was left all alone in her early years in the dangerous waters of Tudor England.

Julianne Lee, all too aware of Mary’s reputation, set out to write an even-handed novel about this Tudor monarch. Was she at heart an irrational, murderous woman or did she become the Queen she became due to her circumstances? She structured the novel by beginning each section with a reflection from Mary addressed to the sleeping girls at the slumber party. The story behind the reflection is then picked up by others, both gentry and commoners. This worked well for me because we got the details that only those heavily involved in the drama or living with its fallout would know. It illustrated very well how much Mary’s life was impacted by events and people well outside of her control.

I am not an expert on the life of Mary Tudor, but I knew the basic story when I began this novel. Lee held my interest throughout. In one section, I was so absorbed into the book that she raised my hopes of Mary finding love. I really enjoyed this novel. There was only one part of the story that didn’t work for me well was when it followed Philip after he left England. I understand the intent of that section, but especially since this novel begins with the young girls to whom Mary is appealing, Philip’s exploits are more explicit than necessary. Whether you are new to the Tudors or someone who enjoys this time period as much as I do, you should give Her Mother’s Daughter a try.

Other Voices

Devourer of Books

*******

I would like to thank Kaitlyn from Berkley/NAL, Penguin Group USA for sending me a copy of this novel for review.

Excellence in Blogging

Literate Housewife — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:28:46 +0000

It is with great joy that I announce that The Literate Housewife Review has been nominated to the Blogging Excellence award by Julianne Douglas at Writing the Renaissance! I am so honored!!!

Being nominated requires the nominee to tag additional blogs, but I want to anyway! The following are the blogs that I enjoy and find enriching me as a reader:

Devourer of Books We found each other’s blogs through Library Thing and I couldn’t be more happy. A wide variety of books are reviewed here and some of the best book giveaways. I know that this nomination pales in comparison to your wedding day, but here’s to you, Jen!

Reading Adventures I found this blog through my membership at HistoricalFiction.org. I go here for some wonderful reviews on historical fiction. This is the book blog I’ve been reading the longest. And this blogger can read! Marg has cleared over 100 books already this year. I bow down before her!

Passages to the Past This is a relatively new historical fiction blog, but Amy does something that I love – she includes a song with each of her reviews, providing a little bit of a soundtrack. What a brilliant way to further define the feeling of a book!

Fyrefly’s Book Blog This has got to be the most beautiful blog I visit. Not only is it just nice to look at, the variety of books reviewed is really nice. I’m bound to find something here I haven’t seen elsewhere.

Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage Doesn’t the blog title say it all? I fell in love with this blog the first time I read the title. Chartoose has a great sense of humor and her reviews and other posts about reading and life are very entertaining.

Kathleen’s Book Reviews This blogger has a passion for books and I am really inspired by the way she fights against internet plagiarism. We seem to have similar tastes in books. It was nice to know that I’d probably love Aberrations before I even started reading it.

B&b ex libris Bethany has a wonderful, warm book blog. She writes some great reviews and from time to time we’re treated with pictures. I really enjoyed the read-a-thon. Her pictures were really portraits of the reader as a young woman. Bethany won my Mrs. Lieutenant contest and I’m looking forward to talking about the book with her when that time comes.

Books on the Brain Lisa’s blog is like a sandbox for readers. She regularly features interviews or guest posts from authors. I love her posts about what authors are reading. I also look forward to reading each installment of her series in celebration of book clubs. It’s nice to know that there are some great reading groups out there.

Letters on Pages What makes this blog unique is that Adam only reviews non-fiction books. If you need a dose of this world in your reading, check out his blog for some inspiration.

I could go on and on nominating book blogs, but I really should leave some blogs for my well-deserved recipients to nominate.

Congratulations to everyone! I can’t wait to explore new blogs with your nominations!

The Library

Jennifer — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 08:26:08 +0000

Below is a listing of each book I’ve read and reviewed here at The Literate Housewife Review in alphabetical order by book title. For titles beginning with “The,” “A” or “An,” use the second word to locate the review.

Click on the title to go to the review.

123~ A~ B~ C~ D~ E~ F~ G~ H~ I~ J~ K~ L~ M~ N~ O~ P~ Q~ R~ S~ T~ U~ V~ W~ X~>/span>Y~ Z

123

37 by Maria Beaumont
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

A

Aberrations by Penelope Przekop
Accident in August, An by Laurence Cossé
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Admit One by Emmett James
Angel’s Game, The by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Annunciation of Francesca Dunn, The by Janis Hallowell
April & Oliver by Tess Callahan
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
Art of Social War, The by Jodi Wing
Artist’s Proof by Lander Marks
Art of Racing in the Rain, The by Garth Stein
Autobiography of Henry VIII with Notes by His Fool, Will Somers, The by Margaret George

B

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Baggage Claim by Tanya Michna
Bel Canto by Anne Patchett
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell
Blue Notebook, The by James Levine
Boneman’s Daughters by Ted Dekker
Boleyn Inheritance, The by Philippa Gregory
Bought by Anna David
Brothers Boswell, The by Philip Baruth
Brothers of Gwynedd, The by Edith Pargeter
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham

C

Camel Bookmobile, The by Masha Hamilton
Capote in Kansas by Kim Powers
Castaway Kid by R.B. Mitchell
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Chemistry for Beginners by Anthony Strong
Cider House Rules, The by John Irving
Civil General, A by David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill
Cleaning Nabokov’s House by Leslie Daniels
Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran
Constant Princess, The by Philippa Gregory
Conqueror, The by Georgette Heyer
Constitution Translated for Kids by Cathy Travis
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Coventry by Helen Humphreys
Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The by Mark Haddon

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
False Colours by Georgette Heyer
Family Fang, The by Kevin Wilson
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris
Firemaster’s Mistress, The by Christie Dickason
Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffery Stepakoff
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader
Foreign Tongue by Vanina Marsot
Forgery of Venus, The by Michael Gruber
Four Seasons, The by Laurel Corona
French Mistress, The by Susan Holloway
Front Porch Prophet, The by Raymond L. Atkins

G

Gardens of Water by Alan Drew
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Genius and Heroin by Michael Largo
Gilding Lily by Tatiana Boncompagni
Girl Named Zippy, A by Haven Kimmel
Girl’s Guide to Modern European Philosophy, A by Charlotte Greig
Girl Who Played With Fire, The by Stieg Larsson
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The by Stieg Larsson
Glass Castle, The by Jeannette Walls
Glass Room, The by Simon Mawer
Goldengrove by Francine Prose
Go With Me by Castle Freeman Jr.
Goodbye Cousins, The by Maggie Leffler
Good Person Guidebook, The by Richard Bayer, PhD
Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam, The by Chris Ewan
Graveyard Book, The by Neil Gaiman
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

H

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
Hand That First Held Mine, The by Maggie O’Farrell
Have I Got a Guy for You by Alix Strauss
Heart in Port, A by Emily Givner
Hedge Fund Wives by Tatiana Boncompagni
Heretic Queen, The by Michelle Moran
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Her Mother’s Daughter by Julianne Lee
Help, The by Kathryn Stockett
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
House and Home by Kathleen McCleary
Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, The by Alina Bronsky
House at Riverton, The by Kate Morton
Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham
Hunger Games, The by Suzanne Collins

I

I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Ice Queen, The by Alice Hoffman
Immortal by Traci Slatton
I Never Saw Another Butterfly edited by Hana Volavkova
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
Irresistible Henry House, The by Lisa Grunwald
i Tetralogy, The by Mathias B. Freese

Lace Reader, The by Brunonia Barry
Lady and the Unicorn, The by Tracy Chevalier
Lady Elizabeth, The By Alison Weir
Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
Last Queen, The by C.W. Gortner
Last Werewolf, The by Glen Duncan
Last Wife of Henry VIII, The by Carolly Erickson
Laura Rider’s Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton
Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading by Maureen Corrigan
Legends of a Suicide by David Vann
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Little Stranger, The by Sarah Waters
Looking After Pigeon by Maud Carol Markson
Lost Diary of Don Juan, The by Douglas Carlton Abrams
Love in a Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Love Like No Other, A edited by Pamela Kruger and Jill Smolowe
Love Marriage by V. V. Ganeshananthan
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

M

MacBeth A Novel by A. J. Hartley and David Hewson
Madonnas of Leningrad, The by Debra Dean
Mansfield Park Revisited by Joan Aiken
March by Geraldine Brooks
Match for Mary Bennet, A by Eucharista Ward
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin
Mermaid Chair, The by Sue Monk Kidd
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Midwife of the Blue Ridge by Christine Blevins
Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb by George Rabasa
Mistaken Identity by the Van Ryn and Cerak families with Mark Tabb
Mistress, The by Philippe Tapon
Mistress’s Daughter, The by A.M. Homes
Mixed Blood by Roger Smith
Mom Squad, The by Christine Weiser
Moonraker by Ian Fleming
Monsters of Templeton, The by Lauren Groff
Months and Seasons by Christopher Meeks
Mrs. Lieutenant by Phyllis Zimbler Miller
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes

N

Namesake, The by Jhumpa Lahiri
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July

O

Off the Menu by Christine Son
O, Juliet by Robin Maxwell
One Can Make a Difference edited by Ingrid E. Newkirk
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Other Boleyn Girl, The by Philippa Gregory
Other Queen, The by Philippa Gregory
Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering

P

Painter from Shanghai, The by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean
Paris Wife, The by Paula McLain
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
Perks of Being a Wallflower, The by Stephen Chbosky
Plugged by Eoin Colfer
Portrait on an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The by Muriel Spark

Q

Queen’s Fool, The by Philippa Gregory
Queens of England by Norah Lofts

R

Rabies Mom by Pat Carroll and Jack McGowan
Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein
Ravens by George Dawes Green
Real Life & Liars by Kristina Riggle
Regina’s Closet by Diana M. Raab
Reliable Wife, The by Robert Goolrick
Reluctant Widow, The by Georgette Heyer
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Return, The by Victoria Hislop
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon
Rubies in the Orchard by Lynda Resnick
Ruined by Paula Morris
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

S

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman
Seamstress, The by Frances De Pontes Peebles
Secrets of Happiness by Sarah Dunn
Secret Speech, The by Tom Rob Smith
See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody by Bob Mould
Seeing Stars by Diane Hammond
Serendipity by Louise Shaffer
Shadow of the Wind, The by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Shrink Rap by Robin A. Altman
Signora da Vinci by Robin Maxwell
Silent Ocean Away, A by DeVa Gantt
Silent Thunder by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Sinner’s Guide to Confession, The by Phyllis Schieber
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Sister, The by Poppy Adams
Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
Song of Hannah, The by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
Songs for the Missing by Stewart O’Nan
Soul Catcher by Michael C. White
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Spot of Bother, A by Mark Haddon
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen
Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick
Surviving Ben’s Suicide by C. Comfort Shields
Sweetsmoke by David Fuller
Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer

T

Tainted by Brooke Morgan
Tea Rose, The by Jennifer Donnelly
Thirteenth Tale, The by Diane Setterfield
Threadbare Heart, The by Jennie Nash
Through Tempest Forged by Barbara Passaris
Time of My Life by Alison Winn Scotch
Time Traveler’s Wife, The by Audrey Niffenegger
Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
Torn Skirt, The by Rebecca Godfrey
Trauma by Patrick McGrath
Trespass by Rose Tremain
Trespassers will be Baptized by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock
Triumph of Deborah, The by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
Tudor Rose, The by Margaret Campbell Barnes
Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot
Two Brother: One North, One South by David H. Jones

War on the Margins by Libby Cone
Way the Crow Flies, The by Ann-Marie MacDonald
When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge
White Queen, The by Philippa Gregory
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Will I Ever Know by Charles Henry
Winthrop Woman, The by Anya Seton
Witch’s Trinity, The by Erika Mailman
Without a Map by Meredith Hall
Wives of Henry Oades, The by Johanna Moran
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Y

You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
You’re Not You by Michelle Wildgen

Z

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers