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Books : Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and His Scandalous Duchess
Rating: 
- Fascinating story stitched together from very little cloth
Although Weir has written historical biographies of women who were intrinsically interesting -- Eleanor of Acquitaine and Isabella (the She Wolf) of France -- I have always found them a little dry. It's surprisingly, then, that her most lively and readable book so far should be about a woman about whom so little is known.
We can conjecture who Katherine de Roet's father was but the identity of her mother remains unknown; we cannot be sure how many children she bore, assuming that some died young, as was almost inevitable; Weir makes silly statements such as 'Katherine may well have been there that day but there is no evidence of it' a little too often.
Even so, the character of Katherine shines through, the first royal mistress ever to achieve the status of wife, ancestor of every English monarch since 1461, loving the larger-than-life John of Gaunt.
Weir mischievously quotes the late Queen Mother as saying that men of status do not marry their mistresses.
I suspect that most British people would say 'Katherine Who?' I'm delighted that Weir has introduced Katherine back into history, where she belongs and whence some of her descendants, a little ashamed of her humble birth, tried to expunge her.
Rating:
- interesting
Yes, I have read the Anya Seton book, over and over again, it was and is a great favourite of mine, so I thought I would get the definitive biography of the lady and her Duke. I was not daft enough to expect an enormous amount of facts, too much time had passed for many records to still be in existance, plus the fact that when the Savoy was burnt down in the Peasants revolt,I would imagine that many more records were lost. Katherine came over as a very interesting, beautiful and educated lady, very far indeed from being a dumb blonde.
I salute Ms Weir on writing a very erudite book, with very little facts to go on and keeping one's interest right up until the last page.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
- Misleading title
I was disappointed. Katherine Swynford is barely a ghost in this book. On the other hand we learn an enormous amount about the cast of hundreds who knew or were related or even contemporary with her. The book jumps around a great deal as well, filling in history about people I had no interest in and drifting away from what was supposed to be the main theme. That was confusing. As there were no facts to hang Katherine's character or life experience on, this was a dry and very lifeless read. It did follow John of Gaunt's life closely although he never came to real life between the pages either, which would be my most serious criticism. There's also a lot about Geoffrey Chaucer but I didn't buy the book to find out about him!
Rating: - The two Katherines
I don't think I can be the only reader who, although very eager to read this book, felt a certain amount of trepidaton and yes, that is because one of my all-time favourite historical novels is Anya Seton's Katherine. Alison Weir has been very kind to me, I think: although her own research has clearly shown Seton's errors and conjecture and she has not swerved from presenting the facts as she has found them, at the same time she has not callously tried to destroy my rose-tinted images completely. So while I would rather believe, for instance, that John of Gaunt married Katherine entirely out of love, and that he had always been faithful to her, I can accept Weir's far more realistic point of view. Yes, many things about Katherine in this book are still speculation, due to the huge gaps in time when there is no record of her, but they are intelligent, considered speculation and offered to us as such. I enjoyed this portrait of Katherine Swynford immensely and was able to appreciate even more than before how extraordinary her life was. But I was still able to read Seton's novel with great pleasure, although I did have to suspend belief just a little more than I used to.
Rating:
- Disappointing Biography
I was so disappointed with this book. It should be retitled "John of Gaunt with a few mentions of Katherine Swynford".I can understand that, because of very little documented evidence remaining on Katherine, much of this book is actually supposition but it is very disappointing to buy a book expecting to discover so much more about a historical figure and actually get a fairly comprehensive biography of another.I feel that the biography really is about John of Gaunt rather than Katherine.
Not a book I would recommend.
- Fascinating story stitched together from very little clothAlthough Weir has written historical biographies of women who were intrinsically interesting -- Eleanor of Acquitaine and Isabella (the She Wolf) of France -- I have always found them a little dry. It's surprisingly, then, that her most lively and readable book so far should be about a woman about whom so little is known.
We can conjecture who Katherine de Roet's father was but the identity of her mother remains unknown; we cannot be sure how many children she bore, assuming that some died young, as was almost inevitable; Weir makes silly statements such as 'Katherine may well have been there that day but there is no evidence of it' a little too often.
Even so, the character of Katherine shines through, the first royal mistress ever to achieve the status of wife, ancestor of every English monarch since 1461, loving the larger-than-life John of Gaunt.
Weir mischievously quotes the late Queen Mother as saying that men of status do not marry their mistresses.
I suspect that most British people would say 'Katherine Who?' I'm delighted that Weir has introduced Katherine back into history, where she belongs and whence some of her descendants, a little ashamed of her humble birth, tried to expunge her.
Rating:
- interestingYes, I have read the Anya Seton book, over and over again, it was and is a great favourite of mine, so I thought I would get the definitive biography of the lady and her Duke. I was not daft enough to expect an enormous amount of facts, too much time had passed for many records to still be in existance, plus the fact that when the Savoy was burnt down in the Peasants revolt,I would imagine that many more records were lost. Katherine came over as a very interesting, beautiful and educated lady, very far indeed from being a dumb blonde.
I salute Ms Weir on writing a very erudite book, with very little facts to go on and keeping one's interest right up until the last page.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
- Misleading titleI was disappointed. Katherine Swynford is barely a ghost in this book. On the other hand we learn an enormous amount about the cast of hundreds who knew or were related or even contemporary with her. The book jumps around a great deal as well, filling in history about people I had no interest in and drifting away from what was supposed to be the main theme. That was confusing. As there were no facts to hang Katherine's character or life experience on, this was a dry and very lifeless read. It did follow John of Gaunt's life closely although he never came to real life between the pages either, which would be my most serious criticism. There's also a lot about Geoffrey Chaucer but I didn't buy the book to find out about him!
Rating:
- The two KatherinesI don't think I can be the only reader who, although very eager to read this book, felt a certain amount of trepidaton and yes, that is because one of my all-time favourite historical novels is Anya Seton's Katherine. Alison Weir has been very kind to me, I think: although her own research has clearly shown Seton's errors and conjecture and she has not swerved from presenting the facts as she has found them, at the same time she has not callously tried to destroy my rose-tinted images completely. So while I would rather believe, for instance, that John of Gaunt married Katherine entirely out of love, and that he had always been faithful to her, I can accept Weir's far more realistic point of view. Yes, many things about Katherine in this book are still speculation, due to the huge gaps in time when there is no record of her, but they are intelligent, considered speculation and offered to us as such. I enjoyed this portrait of Katherine Swynford immensely and was able to appreciate even more than before how extraordinary her life was. But I was still able to read Seton's novel with great pleasure, although I did have to suspend belief just a little more than I used to.
Rating:
- Disappointing BiographyI was so disappointed with this book. It should be retitled "John of Gaunt with a few mentions of Katherine Swynford".I can understand that, because of very little documented evidence remaining on Katherine, much of this book is actually supposition but it is very disappointing to buy a book expecting to discover so much more about a historical figure and actually get a fairly comprehensive biography of another.I feel that the biography really is about John of Gaunt rather than Katherine.
Not a book I would recommend.