"The Virgin Queen's Daughter" by Ella March Chase was a very good fictionalized account of Queen Elizabeth's daughter, Elinor de Lacy. Elinor's nurse, Eppie, was called to the young Princess's bedside and delivered her of a daughter she then whisked away and gave to her mistress to raise as her own. Elinor grows up having no idea who she really is, until she defiantly goes against her mother's wishes and joins Elizabeth's court. Once she gets there she realizes how dangerous court is, and when Eppie seeks her out to tell her the truth of her birth it's more dangerous still. It was good but not amazing and it was historically accurate enough to suit me.
Over the last two weeks I've been rereading some old favorites. I usually want to reread in December and January, and while sometimes I can stop myself this year I just went with it. I reread two of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books, "Little Town on the Prairie" and "These Happy Golden Years". Then I reread Roger Lea MacBride's Rose years: "Little House on Rocky Ridge", "Little Farm in the Ozarks", "In the Land of the Big Red Apple", "On the Other Side of the Hill", "Little Town in the Ozarks", "New Dawn on Rocky Ridge", "On the Banks of the Bayou", and "Bachelor Girl". I wish the publishers would have continued with the Martha and Charlotte years. I enjoyed Rose and Caroline so much. Oh well.
And finally, a fantastic, highly recommended novel by Jon Clinch, author of "Finn", called "Kings of the Earth". It was like a mix of my favorite episode of the "X-Files", "Home", and one of my favorite Faulkner novels, "As I Lay Dying". It told the story of the Proctor brothers, growing up poor and backward and seemingly out of touch with modern era on their dairy farm. When the oldest dies in his sleep the youngest is accused of murdering him, and a whole host of ugly secrets comes out. It was beautifully written and very good. Now I feel like watching "Home" again :)
No comments:
Post a Comment