Saturday 15 August 2009

The Merry Monarchs Wife by Jean Plaidy

SYNOPSIS
Charles II is restored to the English throne, and his court is lively and even scandalous. The country is eager for succession to be clear and certain: The next king will be the son of Charles II and his queen, Catherine of Braganza. Yet Catherine, daughter of the king of Portugal and a Catholic, has never been popular with the English people. She is also having great difficulty conceiving an heir, even as many of Charles’s well-known mistresses are bearing his children with ease. Catherine is aware that courtiers close to Charles are asking him to divorce her and take another wife—yet she is determined to hold her title in the face of all odds.

The ninth novel in the beloved Queens of England series, The Merry Monarch’s Wife brings Catherine of Braganza to life and plunges readers into the tumultuous world of Restoration England.

MY VIEW
I really liked this, I didn't think I would like it so much but, it was good! I liked how it started with Catherine as a child and this is a Queen I know quite little about only from the fiction and non books I have read about Charles II & Nell Gwyn.

Although I adore Nell I really sympathised with Catherine and all that she went through I thought that her story was quite similar to Henry VIII's Katherine of Aragon albeit Katherine had a daughter but, there were similarities IMO. This is told in the first person and I do love books like that rather than told in the third.

Good overall, maybe not one of JP's best books but, definitely worth a read.

1 comment:

Nina said...

I havent heard of the Queens of England series! I love the history of England, so i'm going to look up the books. Thank you for your review! :)