Here is publisher's blurb about the Four Queens, by Nancy Goldstone. Yes, this is non-fiction work set during the 13th century, but it was well written and fast paced. It shatters the myth that women were helpless pawns during this era and illustrates the qualities still found today in families, such as the love of parents, duty, sibling rivalry, independence and birth order.
Publisher's blurb:
Four Queens is a rich pageant of glamour, intrigue, and feminine power at a time when women were thought to have played limited roles. In thirteenth-century Europe, four sisters from a single family-Marguerite, Eleanor, Sanchia, and Beatrice of Provence-rose from obscurity to become the queens of, respectively, France, England, Germany, and Sicily. All four were beautiful, cultured, and ambitious, and their stories offer a window into the era of chivalry, crusades, poetry, knights, and monarchs that will appeal to fans of Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser."
A forum for book discussion and musings. Why Jolie Laide? I am drawn to aspects of the world that are outside the classical rigours of symmetry and proportion prescribed as beauty. The slight discords are more compelling.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Mount
The Mount by Carol Emshwiller fulfils my mandate for fantasy and fluff for 2008, albeit, it is Science Fiction (don't want to get bogged down on details). Having ridden in the past, I loved the language Emshwiller used to describe the nuances of aliens riding foreign mounts. Her comments about how she got the idea for the book was also interesting. I would recommend this work to Science Fiction readers and I would read additional titles by Emshwiller. Thanks to The Jane Austen Book Club for directing me to this text!
From the Publisher
"A memorable alien-invasion scenario, a wild adventure, and a reflection on the dynamics of freedom and slavery."--"Booklist."
Winner of the 2002 Philip K. Dick Award.
From the Publisher
"A memorable alien-invasion scenario, a wild adventure, and a reflection on the dynamics of freedom and slavery."--"Booklist."
Winner of the 2002 Philip K. Dick Award.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Fluff and Fantasy: Jane Austen Book Club
My goal this year is to read nothing but fluff and fantasy. I started to read, Loving Frank, by
Nancy Horan, but I couldn't handle the separation of Momah, the married woman who falls in love with Frank Lloyd Wright, and her children. Not enough fluff for me.
So I turned to The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler. I enjoyed the book, but I didn't find the characters rich enough for me. I struggled to remember who was who and unlike books filled with different characters, I could barely visualize anyone. It was enjoyable though. And added bonus: I got a lead on a number of different science fiction authors. Science fiction is in line with my goal of fluff and fantasy. But back to JABC, here is a blurb from the publisher:
From the Publisher
In California''s central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.
Dedicated Austenites [which I'm not] will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy. "This exquisite novel is bigger and more ambitious than it appears Fowler''s shrewdest, funniest fiction yet, a novel about how we engage with a novel. You don''t have to be a student of Jane Austen to enjoy it, either. . . Lovers of Austen will relish this book, but I envy any reader who comes to it unfamiliar with her. There's no better introduction."
Nancy Horan, but I couldn't handle the separation of Momah, the married woman who falls in love with Frank Lloyd Wright, and her children. Not enough fluff for me.
So I turned to The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler. I enjoyed the book, but I didn't find the characters rich enough for me. I struggled to remember who was who and unlike books filled with different characters, I could barely visualize anyone. It was enjoyable though. And added bonus: I got a lead on a number of different science fiction authors. Science fiction is in line with my goal of fluff and fantasy. But back to JABC, here is a blurb from the publisher:
From the Publisher
In California''s central valley, five women and one man join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.
Dedicated Austenites [which I'm not] will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy. "This exquisite novel is bigger and more ambitious than it appears Fowler''s shrewdest, funniest fiction yet, a novel about how we engage with a novel. You don''t have to be a student of Jane Austen to enjoy it, either. . . Lovers of Austen will relish this book, but I envy any reader who comes to it unfamiliar with her. There's no better introduction."