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a classic in historic romance which nevertheless gets to bottom of the story
I read first the new biography on Katherine Swynford and was quite amazed that the author of this biography referred quite often to Anya Seton's novel. So I decided to have a go on this. And I have to say I did not regret it.
Medieval history is often very difficult to capture in a way that it is interesting reading, especially for non-scholars. So the "working method" of a historic novel is a great way to get one's message across.
Anya Seton brings alive this royal mistress who became a royal wife, a relationships and marriage causing much scandal at the time. Sounds quite familiar to us, doesn't' it?! Anyway.... Here is a woman who manage very well in a male dominated and extreme hierarchical world, she gets what she wants, gets heavily bruised but nevertheless survives. And that was very much the real Katherine Swynford. So I believe Anya Seton got to the bottom of the story of Katherine Swynford and I now fully understand why the "proper" biography was referring to this novel.
It is nicely written, enjoyable and properly one of the classics of historic romance.
Katherine Dieser Roman ist einer der schoensten Mittelalterromane die ich je gelesen habe. Die Geschichte ist spannend geschrieben und weckt Lust auch ueber ihre Nachfahren mehr in Erfahrung zu bringen.
"Katherine" is a spiritual novel It's not just a historical novel, or a romance, or a story about a woman who overcomes Ñ although it contains elements of all-of-the-above. The story is something else altogether. "Katherine" is a spiritual novel, and I have never thought of myself as a particularly spritual person. The knights in shining armor are, of course, glorious. The descriptions divine. But Katherine's growth as a human being is described so sensitively, so realistically, I sometimes wonder if Ms. Seton traveled back in time witness Katherine's life!! I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't read it yet!
Einfach nur schön... Ich hatte zunächst Das Lächeln der Fortuna gelesen und wollte mehr über John of Gaunt erfahren. Dass Lady Katherine in seinem Leben so wichtig war, wusste ich da noch gar nicht. Stellenweise ist es natürlich eine etwas seichte Liebesgeschichte, aber das weiss man im Vorfeld ja. Da die Story aber einen Hintergrund im richtigen Leben hat, ist sie doch bemerkenswert; insbesondere dass John of Gaunt seine Mätresse gegen alle Konventionen am Ende doch noch geheiratet hat. Nach dem Lesen ist das Buch jetzt von mir ganz "zerliebt" und das passiert nicht oft.
A SCINTILLATING LOVE AFFAIR THAT ROCKED 14th CENTURY ENGLAND Written half a century ago, this well-researched historical fiction is as vibrant and as stirring today, as it, undoubtedly, was when it was first written. A best seller in its day, the book regales the reader with the story of Katherine De Roet and John of Gaunt.
Born commoners to a herald who was knighted before he died, Katherine and her older sister Philippa, who went on to marry Geoffrey Chaucer, were left poor as church mice. While Philippa managed to obtain a post in the household of the Queen, wife to King Edward III of England, Katherine was sent to a convent.
When she had grown into her early teens and become a raving beauty, Katherine left the convent to join her sister at Court. Upon doing so, her youthful beauty captivated a boorish knight, Sir Hugh Swynford, who lusted after her. He eventually married Katherine, when it became clear that it would be the only way by which he could satisfy his desire.
At the same time that she met her husband to be, she also caught the eye of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, son of King Edward III and brother to the heir to the throne, Edward, the Black Prince. John was, at the time, happily married to a beautiful woman named Blanche, who would befriend Katherine.
After reluctantly becoming Lady Swynford, Katherine retired to her husband's estates. She would meet John of Gaunt again, igniting a passion that upon the death of Blanche and that of Sir Hugh Swynford would be consummated. For John of Gaunt, Katherine would remain the love of his life and his mistress, even though, for reasons of state, he could not marry her, at the time. He, instead, married the heiress to the throne of Castile.
Still, Katherine remained with him, bearing him many children. Their illicit union was to cause much unrest and scandal throughout England, until they finally parted, only to reunite in their later years. John of Gaunt would then do something unprecedented. This act would bring them much happiness in their final years.
This is a richly drawn portrait of a scintillating love affair in a time that was rife with political intrigue. Set in a medieval landscape with all the pageantry, strife, and turbulence that constituted fourteenth century England, this beautifully written narrative is peppered with those characters and individuals that made the period memorable. It is a novel to be savored and one with which the most discerning reader would be well satisfied. Bravo!
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