Katherine: The classic historical romance

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All but the very best romance fiction tends to deploy a limited number of character types: the heroine: vulnerable, pure, loving, the female villain: manipulative, sexual, heartless, the male villain: aggressive, uncontrolled, cruel, and the hero: loving, but often mistaken. The cardboard characters come ready-made, they are not forged by their particular experiences, by their history or by their society; nothing interrupts them working their way through their story to the happy ending. The part of this novel that’s hard to overcome is the style, which has the scent of the Harlequin Romance upon it. I also found it really perplexing that the serfs were anti-nobility, but pro-king. I mean, by all means, make all men equal, but that should include the king, to me. It's just strange that their animosity was aimed at those who, yes, had power over them, but completed glanced off the king which had power over those who had power over them. I think that was their mistake... they wanted to stop the abuses perpetrated against them, over-taxation, slavery, cruelty, and poverty, but put their faith in a young king who knew nothing but his own power and entitlement. And that hurt them, badly.

Katherine (Seton novel) - Wikipedia

Katherine Swynford is the subject of Katherine, by American author Anya Seton, one of the most enduringly popular novels of the 20th century. First published in 1954, when it was branded as “obscene and evil” by critics, it has never been out of print, and made the top hundred favourite books in the BBC’s The Big Read in 2003. My only quibble which is not going to make me lower my rating is having the book finish so soon after John and Katherine's marriage. Very historical romance and a bit disappointing The Duke of Lancaster. Yum. He was everything I imagine when I read regency romances - heroic, strong, practical, protective, cold, brave. And we saw a different side of him when he and Katherine were alone - he was actually the more sweet and loving one of them when they were alone - but I think at the end of the day he was a knight, through and through. Everything he did was for the betterment of his line, his family, and his king, but I never doubted that he loved Katherine. a b c d "Anya Seton, author of historical novels". Chicago Sun-Times. 11 November 1990. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014 . Retrieved 8 July 2013. (subscription required) High quality historical fiction is not like this. A good historical novel tells of characters who are entirely congruent with the known conditions of their time, and yet sufficiently independent in thought and action to stand out from the crowd, and for the modern reader to identify with them. They are rounded characters because they exist in a recognisable time and place and these circumstances work on them. A good historical novel is always conscious of the shared humanity that we all inherit: and – contradictorily – the way these deep instincts are moulded, repressed or even denied by the society in which we happen to be born.Their legitimation saw the Beauforts rise to the highest ranks at court and in society. Henry Beaufort became a cardinal, Thomas a duke and the guardian of the young Henry VI. John Beaufort, the eldest son of John of Gaunt and Katherine, was created earl of Somerset and died in 1410. His son, John Beaufort, duke of Somerset, was the father of Lady Margaret Beaufort, who married Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, and the mother of Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty.

Katherine - Historical Novel Society Katherine - Historical Novel Society

Another issue obscured by the anticipation felt by lubricious readers of an earlier time is the book's clunky prose. This is La Seton describing Katherine, in her youthful innocence, meeting her future baby-daddy's first wife: Bitterness at my blood lineage aside, this book has a couple of things going for it. It brings to life – as all decent historical fiction does – the world and inner thoughts of those who have left us nothing but marble effigies and flattened lifeless portraits. There is no chance I’ll forget the children of Edward III now. If only Mr. Beeman had made us read this book instead of memorizing genealogical diagrams of the English royals! I would have studied the Peasant’s Revolt with rabid interest, I’m sure.

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Katherine is based on the true story of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt from 14th Century England. John, a younger son of King Edward III, was one of the richest and most powerful men of his day. His marriages were strategic alliances — but the great love of his life was Katherine, the humble, orphan daughter of one his father's heralds. Through her granddaughter Joan Beaufort, who married James I, King of Scots, Katherine was the ancestor of every Scottish monarch from 1437 onwards, and thus of the royal House of Stuart following the union of the crowns in 1603. Another granddaughter, Cecily Neville, married Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, by whom she was the mother of the English kings Edward IV and Richard III, making Katherine the ancestor of every English monarch since 1461. Andrew C. Kimmens; Martin Seymour-Smith, eds. (1996). World Authors, 1900-1950. H.W. Wilson. p.2374. Perhaps there might not be included in his epitaph the one tribute to his knighthood that he knew he deserved: 'Il fut toujours bon et loyal chevalier.' (loosely translated: he was always a good and loyal knight)

Katherine - Anya Seton - Google Books

Anya Seton was one of the leading writers – mostly women – who dominated the discipline of historical fiction after the second world war, and whose critical and popular acclaim continued until the late 1950s when fashions in literature changed. But they are not!" cried Katherine, her eyes flashing. "Nobody starves in Leicester, or any of the Duke's domains. The kitchens often feed three hundred a day." Born in Manhattan, New York, on the 23rd of January 1904, Ann Seton was the daughter of the English-born naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton, who also established the Boy Scouts of America. Her mother was also a famous American travel writer, who was Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson, and Ann would grow up in Cos Cob in Connecticut. Raised in wealthy family, she would grow up with a keen passion for literature, which would gradually develop throughout the years. This was a father's day present last year from my younger daughter, she bought it for me partly because we live in Avalon (though not necessarily the one sought by Rumon in the novel), partly because my office window overlooks the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and partly because she was at the time attending a school named for St Dunstan. With all these connections I had an immediate affinity with the story but that of itself would not have been sufficient should the writing be poor or the characters unbelievable. Fortunately I found this one of the best historical novels that I have read - and I've read quite a few.Katherine is considered Seton's most well-known work [2] :131 as well as the best-known depiction of Katherine herself. [2] :307 In 2003, Katherine was ranked 95 in the BBC's Big Read survey of Britain's best-loved novels. [3] It is commonly regarded as a prime example of historical fiction and romance, [4] with Vanora Bennett of The Independent noting in 2010 that it "set the benchmark in high-medieval romance, and few have matched her since". [5] It has been continuously in print since its publication date. [6] Women desire six things: They want their husbands to be brave, wise, rich, generous, obedient to wife, and lively in bed. Only years later did the lovers meet again after much pain and turmoil and spend three years of marriage before John of Gaunt's death.