Before I became a mother and had lots of spare time, I loved to fill it with a great book. I guess I will go ahead and embarrass myself and let you also know that I am obsessed with Tudor England. I would be a happy lady if I could be a fly on the wall in King Henry VIII's court for just a day. Scandalous!! I read mostly biographical fiction which are mostly true, but with a little bit of imagination....okay okay okay, so it is usually a cheesy love affair, so what!!??
My obsession came about three years ago when I found a book in a local thrift store. It is The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory and I bought it because it had a green sticker which meant it was half off that day. On the back I noticed that the author was the same person who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl which I thought was a pretty good movie. One day I was looking for something to do and I remembered that book and decided to give it a read. I was hooked from the first page on and could not put it down.
It is a look into the life of Queen Elizabeth I and her love affair with a man of no royal blood, Robert Dudley. Such a great book and highly recommended if you are looking to see how inadequate the romance in your life really is.
Another great book that I ran across in my local library is called The Secret Wife of King George IV by Diane Haeger.
Again, another tawdry love affair. This one is between Maria Fitzherbert, a young beautiful widow , and King George IV. This book is incredible!!! I guess the title pretty much says it all now that I think about it... still a must read for those who are hopeless romantics like myself:)
Okay, on to the one I am most obsessed with...King Henry VIII!! A man who broke from the Catholic church so that he could divorce his first wife (who by the way was married to his older brother first) to marry a supposed witch that he had beheaded so that he could marry his third wife who was pure and sweet but died in childbirth. So then he marries a woman who he thought was soooo ugly that he compared her to a mule. He dumped her to marry a girl who was like 15 and quite a bed hopper who was having a secret love affair with his servant which resulted in both of them being beheaded. Finally, he married his last wife who really just turned out to be a companion because he was so sick and delusional. He almost had her beheaded too!!! Fortunately for her he died before the orders were sent out. Give it up for HRH:
I have to mention one more book that I absolutely love!! It goes back waaaay farther than the Tudors all the way to the House of Plantagenet. This one is long and incredible about Joan of Kent (who had royal blood through her grandfather who was king at one time) and the Prince Edward. Again, scandal scandal scandal.
I actually love to read about all kinds of things. Although I love reading about the royals of old, I also love a wide range of different books. One of my favorite authors is Jane Austen. I can't think of one book that I don't absolutely love but if I had to pick my absolute favorite I would have to say Pride and Prejudice is my most favorite. The Bennett family reminds me of my own, dysfunction at it's finest. I love all of the characters just as I love every member of my family. Elizabeth Bennett is one tough cookie and Mr. Darcy is full of snobbery which ends up being really shy.
While we are on the subject of Jane Austen books, I have to add another favorite of mine. Mansfield Park. I wish I were more like good ol' Fannie who is sweet and caring. She is in love with her confused cousin which finally comes around at the end. Hey, as gross as that is now a day, it was very common back in the day to get with your cousin...YUCK!!
Another of my favorite old authors is Charles Dickens. My most favorite book by him is Bleak House, "you brimstone beast" - Just a little quote from the colorful Mr. Tulkinghorn. The story is actually a long and drawn out court case for Richard and Ada, but you end up being intrigued by all of the crazy characters that this one has:)
I can't talk about Charles Dickens without telling you about one more of my favorites by him which happens to be Little Dorrit. Little Dorrit is actually a young lady who is the only one in her family that has a good head on her shoulders. Her brother is a drunkard, her dad starts out living in a tax prison dirt poor. By the end the web unravels a really good shocker.
Okay, one more old one which is actually newly written...okay I don't really know how to tell you about this one I guess. It is a diary that was found from a woman named Martha Ballard who lived during the late 18th early 19th century who worked as a midwife. I found all of my emotions when I read this one. It goes through her daily life of being a woman, cook, house maid, midwife, and everything else you can imagine. She records every birth and death of the babies that she helped bring into this world. She writes down fights that she had with her husband who was a surveyor and was barely at home at all. I don't want to spoil it in case you are interested in it but she writes about not feeling too well towards the end and then there is no more writing...so sad:'(
I know you are bored by now so I will finish up with a must read. It is a memoir of a lady named Jeanette which absolutely will amaze you. She starts out flying by the seat of her pants growing up, to a self made woman who I so admire. Her family are basically drifters and they have several kids that they just neglect their entire lives. The float from place to place, living in rundown shacks and what not. It really is a fantastic book!!
Okay, I am pretty sure nobody made it to the end of this post, but it was good to put all of my favorites down in one sitting anyway. If you did make it to the end, I hope that you look into these books because they are all incredible. Even if you are not a big history nerd like me, I think you will really enjoy each of these books. So get your read on and feel free to share your favorites with someone special:)
