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All for Love: The Scandalous Life and Times of Royal Mistress Mary Robinson

by Amanda Elyot

Actress, poetess, novelist, essayist, playwright — Mrs. Mary Robinson was all of these as well as a devoted wife and mother, until her husband at last severed all her affection with his licentious, degrading behavior. Though she was immensely intelligent she made rather bad choices when it came to matters of the heart. She was referred to as ‘the Perdita’, the role she played when first admired by the Prince of Wales. ‘All for Love’ is another play she starred in. Mary is quite a heroine with one distinct flaw — her devotion to men who treat her badly, though through these experiences she gained the knowledge needed to pen her many great works. I’m impressed by the author’s vocabulary and writing style, as well as her knowledge of eighteenth-century culture, politics and society. In fact, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year!

It looks as though I have again entered the world of the Duchess of Devonshire, and unwittingly. Last summer I read the biography Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana. Though I do not read many non-fiction books cover to cover, I did this one because I was asked to review it. Once I was into it, I found the world of the elite Ton very interesting. There was much about Georgiana, as she and her sister were very close and shared many of the same vices and attraction for scandal. I had resolved to read Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire as well, but it hasn’t made it to the top of my list as yet. Now I am reading a book I picked up quite a while back. All for Love: The Scandalous Life and Times of the Royal Mistress Mary Robinson by Amanda Elyot has been sitting patiently on my shelf for long enough. I started it yesterday and am almost finished. Georgiana is one of the supporting characters, and I know quite a few names already. I love being able to tie books together… it is one of the most alluring aspects of historical fiction. I have also in my possession Perdita’s Prince by Jean Plaidy, which is also about Mary Robinson. All of this reading will have me craving to go and see the new movie The Duchess, about Georgiana and played by Keira Knightley. Though it comes out in September and I may not be feeling up to going to the theater at that point (my baby is due in October).

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen

by Syrie James

A fictional account of Jane Austen’s life during the period that is missing from her letters, this story focuses on a startling possible scenario and answers as to why one may not want such history available to future generations.  It is known that Jane’s sister Cassandra destroyed, partially and in whole, many of Jane’s letters.  The most noticeable absence of correspondence seems to be the years just before the publication of Sense and Sensibility.   Jane had not touched her manuscripts in years - could there have been a relationship that sparked a new fervor in Jane which caused her to take out her manuscripts and finish rewriting them?  Who helped her get published anonymously?  All of these questions and more are answered in this exciting, though sometimes familiar, story.

Gone with the Windsors

by Laurie Graham

Written by a Wallis Simpson friend in diary format, Gone with the Windsors is not unlike the popular British series Bridget Jones’ Diary, except Maybell is a bit more old-fashioned and reserved than Miss Jones. The socialite’s life includes planning parties, shopping for the perfect outfit and trying to meet the elite and the royal. When the Baltimore girls, Wally and Maybell, find their way into HRH’s inner circle, things will never be the same.

Being unfamiliar with this particular time in British history, I did learn a lot about the customs and the pastimes of the various classes as well as the hierarchy of royal families. Fashion, food, furnishings and modes of travel are described in detail.

The main characters are given great quirks and personalities, but there are a lot of names to keep up with. Most of them are mentioned several times and so you’ll want to remember with who is who. As the story gets closer to the war it gets more interesting and less trivial. It’s fascinating how differently people viewed the situation.

I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it as a light, fun read, but as historical novels go it is not in my list of favorites.

Mistress of the Sun

by Sandra Gulland

“The author of the internationally acclaimed Josephine Bonaparte trilogy returns with another irresistible historical novel, this one based on the life of Louise de la Vallière, who, against all odds, became one of the most mysterious consorts of France’s Louis XIV, the charismatic Sun King.

Set against the magnificent decadence of the seventeenth-century French court, Mistress of the Sun begins when an eccentric young Louise falls in love with a wild white stallion and uses ancient magic to tame him. This one desperate action of her youth shadows her throughout her life, changing it in ways she could never imagine.

Unmarriageable, and too poor to join a convent, Louise enters the court of the Sun King, where the king is captivated by her. As their love unfolds, Louise bears Louis four children, is made a duchess, and reigns unrivaled as his official mistress until dangerous intrigue threatens her position at court and in Louis’s heart.

A riveting love story with a captivating mystery at its heart, Mistress of the Sun illuminates both the power of true and perfect love and the rash actions we take to capture and tame it.”

The Princess of Celle

by Jean Plaidy

This story begins with a family of brothers, of whom one will inherit the family titles and fortune: Hanover, Celle and Osnabruck. When it falls on the one brother least eager for the responsibilities, Duke George William, he passes it on to a younger brother with a few concessions — the main one that he continues his bachelor life and never marries, as there can be no rivals to the brother who takes on the family affairs. As life would have it, during George William’s travels he discovers the one woman he would settle down with, and she won’t have him any other way than through a respectable ceremony. A civil agreement is drawn up and George William signs extra documents stating that any children he has will not rival his brother’s, Ernest Augustus, for the lands and titles.

Meanwhile, George William settles into a happy family life. He and his wife, Eleonore, soon discover they made a grave mistake by allowing their lands and riches to go to the younger brother upon the Duke’s death. They have but one child, a girl, and she stands to lose almost everything due to the agreement. Her mother plans a great marriage for her to another German principality, but is thwarted by Ernest Augustus when he suggests a marriage to his eldest son, the bad mannered and ungainly soldier, George Lewis (the future King George I of England). The beautiful girl, Sophia Dorothea, must leave her loving home to marry into the rival family she has been taught to hate all of her young life.

The marriage turns out quite miserable, though produces two adored children. Sophia Dorothea’s father-in-law has a reigning mistress, Clara von Platen, who loathes the princess and concocts many schemes to dishonor or shame her. After years of neglect, the princess finally falls for a Swedish wandering solider, Count Konigsmarck, who has also caught the eye of Clara. Through him Clara plans the ultimate downfall of Sophia Dorothea.

Once the story settles down with the life of Sophia Dorothea it becomes very interesting. Though he is not a saint, Ernest Augustus seems to be a mostly fair and honest man, and ends up his daughter-in-law’s champion in many cases, though his choice of mistress causes most of the problems.

I enjoyed this book, but it is not one of my favorite Plaidy novels — there was plenty of political intrigue, but of minor states. Sophia Dorothea was too good and Clara von Platen too bad and they didn’t seem to be equal rivals. In any case the story wasn’t as juicy as the one told of Sophia Dorothea in Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics by Eleanor Herman, which I read last year. Apparently there are surviving letters between Sophia Dorothea and Count Konigsmarck which detail their relationship. The Princess of Celle does not center around their relationship, though the book jacket description makes it seem as much (which is why I chose to write my own synopsis this time). Overall, however, it is worth reading as it gives a good background of England’s George I and how he came to the throne.

The German Bride

by Joanna Hershon

“Berlin, 1865. Eva Frank, the daughter of a benevolent Jewish banker, and her sister, Henriette, are having their portrait painted–which leads to a secret affair between young Eva and the mercurial artist. This indiscretion has far-reaching consequences, more devastating than Eva or her family could have imagined. Distraught and desperate to escape her painful situation, Eva hastily marries Abraham Shein, an ambitious merchant who has returned home to Germany for the first time in a decade since establishing himself in the American West. The eighteen-year-old bride leaves Berlin and its ghosts for an unfamiliar life halfway across the world, traversing the icy waters of the Atlantic and the rugged, sweeping terrain of the Santa Fe Trail.

Though Eva’s existence in the rough and burgeoning community of Sante Fe, New Mexico, is a far cry from her life as a daughter of privilege, she soon begins to settle into the mystifying town, determined to create a home. But this new setting cannot keep at bay the overwhelming memories of her former life, nor can it protect her from an increasing threat to her own safety that will force Eva to make a fateful decision.

Joanna Hershon’s novel is a gripping and gritty portrayal of urban European immigrants struggling with New World frontier life in the mid-nineteenth century. Vivid and emotionally compelling, The German Bride is also a beautiful narrative on how far one must travel to make peace with the past.”

Royal Escape: In which a dare-devil King with a price on his head fools his enemies and terrifies his friends

by Georgette Heyer

“Dispossessed of crown and kingdom, the young Charles II must flee for his life, across Cromwell’s England bound for a Channel port and a ship to France. But the irrepressible King, with his love of adventure and his unmistakable looks, is not an easy man to hide.”

I enjoy Georgette Heyer’s writing and Charles II is my favorite British monarch. I’m adding this to my reading list for 2008!

I have volumes 1 and 2 in my collection and I just ordered the rest of the set from Alibris for $1.99 per book.

• The Princess of Celle Vol. 1

• Queen in Waiting Vol. 2

• Caroline, the Queen Vol. 3

• The Prince and the Quakeress Vol. 4

• The Third George Vol. 5

• Perdita´s Prince Vol. 6

• Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill Vol. 7

• Indiscretions of the Queen Vol. 8

• The Regent’s Daughter Vol. 9

• The Goddess of the Green Room Vol. 10

• Victoria in the Wings Vol. 11

I can’t wait to start reading this series. I had planned to complete the Norman and Plantagenet series first, but a single seller had all of these and combined the shipping — couldn’t pass that up!

The Venetian Mask

by Rosalind Laker

I knew I was taking on a bit of a heavy read when I started this novel, but I finished it in less than 3 days. Extremely detailed, the story takes place in Venice during the time of the French Revolution and the final days of Carnival and mask-wearing. This particular place and time period is very fascinating with the elaborate costumes and laws surrounding them. I would recommend those who read this novel to do a little background research on Venice, Carnival and masks beforehand, to have a good idea of what each type of mask described looked like, as there are so many. A good website for background information is  http://www.bauta.it .

Marietta and Elena’s lives are wound around one another, first as orphans taken in at the premier music school, the Ospedale della Pieta and then through marriage to great rivals.  Though the wives would like nothing more than to end the on-going feud, the women have very little power and must use deceit and persuasion to continue their friendship.

It is rare to find a novel with so many profound characters.  Even the background characters had depth to their personalities and convincing motives for their actions.  I really like this author’s writing style and hope to read To Dance with Kings and The Golden Tulip soon.