Review: The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

It's been years since I read an ebook and The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory has been on my Kindle App since 2016. This year I'm planning to read some bigger books from my backlist and coming in at 530 pages and waiting nine years, it was definitely time to read The Boleyn Inheritance.

Set in England during the reign of King Henry VIII, we're given first person narratives from Jane Boleyn (Lady Rochford, wife of George Boleyn and sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn), Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard.

Beginning in 1539, we meet Anne when she's the Duchess of Cleves. She's keen to escape her domineering brother and make the biggest match possible to become Queen of England. I really enjoyed this different perspective on Anne's life, her mindset and the way in which she navigated the challenges of coming to a land without knowing the language. Navigating the tricky court of Henry VIII was a real culture shock:

"Clearly, I will never be alone again for another moment in all my life." Page 59 Anne, Calais, December 1539

Anne's first meeting with the King was a disaster - as we know - but I enjoyed Gregory's interpretation of the events which have since become legendary.

Meanwhile, Jane Boleyn has been away from court following the execution of her husband and sister-in-law for treason in 1536. Jane is ambitious and a social climber, as becomes clear early on in the book:

"Once again I shall be at court. Once again I shall be the closest friend of the queen, a constant companion in her chamber. I shall see everything, know everything. I shall be at the very centre of life again, I shall be the new Queen Anne's lady in waiting, serving her as loyally and well as I have served the other three of King Henry's queens. If he can rise up and marry again without fear of ghosts, then so can I." Page 15, Jane Boleyn, Blickling Hall, Norfolk November 1539

Jane struggles with her role in the demise of her husband and sister-in-law and again the author offers a refreshing perspective on her motives. Jane strives to be Anne's confidant, all the while recognising the precarious nature of her union with the King:

"She will have to learn to obey him. Not in the grand things, any woman can put on a bit of a show. But in the thousand petty compromises that come to a wife every day. The thousand times a day when one has to bite the lip and bow the head and not argue in public, nor in private, nor even in the quiet recesses of one's own mind. If your husband is a king, this is even more important. If your husband is King Henry, it is a life or death decision." Page 124 Jane Boleyn, Greenwich Palace, 6 January 1540

Serving Anne of Cleves in court is Katherine Howard who is portrayed as a young, foolish, sexually active and extremely flirtatious young lady. Anne had been the subject of unkind gossip from the court when young Kitty Howard came to her defence:

"I was so grateful to her for that. She is a foolish, frivolous little thing but she has the cleverness of a stupid girl, since, like any stupid girl, she only thinks about one thing, and so she has become very expert in that." Page 189 Anne, Hampton Court, March 1540

Despite the age gap, Katherine is encouraged to flirt with King Henry and is naive about what might follow. Seeking the King's favour and her time in the limelight, she convinces herself:

"The other wives did as they had to do, their lives ended as God and the king willed; it is really nothing to me. Even my cousin Anne Boleyn shall be nothing to me. I shall not think of her, nor of our uncle pushing her on to the throne and then pushing her on to the scaffold." Page 257 Katherine, Norfolk House, Lambeth, June 1540

Meanwhile, King Henry takes his time setting aside Anne of Cleves and making her his sister in order to annul their loveless marriage. At the age of twenty-five, Anne is frustrated that she's done nothing wrong, yet by agreeing to the terms and saving her neck, the cost of staying alive is great:

"I will have to face a single life, without lover, or husband, or companion. I will have to face a lonely life, without family. I will never have a child of my own, I will never have a son to come after me, I will never have my own daughter to love. I will have to be a nun without a convent, a widow with no memories, a wife of six months and a virgin. I will have to face life in exile. I will never see Cleves again. I will never see my mother again." Page 288 Anne, Richmond Palace, 12 July 1540

Despite knowing the history and seeing it portrayed in multiple documentaries, drama series, movies and historical fiction novels over the years, Philippa Gregory managed to make me care for all three characters. The novel takes us right up to the point of Katherine's and Jane's deaths at the Tower of London in February 1542, with a jump in time of five years to 1547 and the death of King Henry, setting Anne free from his reach at last.

This book is part of 'The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels' series, previously known as the 'Cousins War' and 'Tudor Court' series and each of the books can be read as a stand alone.

Here are all the books in the series in order, with reviews linked:

The Lady of the Rivers (Book 1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The White Queen (Book 2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Red Queen (Book 3) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kingmaker's Daughter (Book 4) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The White Princess (Book 5) on my TBR
The Constant Princess (Book 6)
The King's Curse (Book 7)
Three Sisters, Three Queens (Book 8) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Other Boleyn Girl (Book 9)
The Boleyn Inheritance (Book 10)
The Taming of the Queen (Book 11) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Queen's Fool (Book 12)
The Virgin's Lover (Book 13)
The Last Tudor (Book 14) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Other Queen (Book 15) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Boleyn Inheritance is Book 10 and I can highly recommend it. The White Princess is next on my radar for the series and I've had a physical copy on my shelves since 2014. Have you read any of these?

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell

In the mood to continue learning about our natural world, I recently picked up The Golden Mole - And Other Vanishing Treasure by Katherine Rundell. Reading the e-book and listening to the audiobook read by Lenny Henry, each of the short chapters are dedicated to a particular endangered animal. There were a total of 22 animals featured in the book, including: the wombat, giraffe, lemur, narwhal, seahorse, pangolin and the golden mole of the title. A variety of creatures were chosen, including those that live in water, on the land or in the air; the large; the small; those that bring good luck as well as those that inspire fear.

I was proud of myself for reading the chapter about the spider given my fear of arachnids and just Googling the word now to check my spelling gave me a bloody heart attack! I also enjoyed hearing one of my favourite animal facts: the horn of the narwhal was once misrepresented to collectors as belonging to a unicorn.

I enjoyed being reminded that crows have great memories and are highly intelligent, they remember human faces and are capable of rewarding and punishing behaviour in kind. In an example, the author explains that university students wearing masks captured crows and kept them briefly in captivity before releasing them. When the students walked past them again without their masks they were ignored, but if they were wearing the masks they were mobbed by the crows still carrying a grudge. The information was passed down to the next generation, and students wearing the same masks long after all of the original crows had died were also attacked. 

On the plus side, the reverse is also true and crows can reward human behaviour. A girl in Seattle by the name of Gabi Mann became famous when the crows she'd fed for years began to bring her gifts in return. When her mother dropped the lens cap from her camera in a field nearby, one of the crows picked it up, washed it in their bird bath back at home and left it out for her to find. Astonishing! (For more on crows and ravens, check out my review of The Ravenmaster - My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife or The Book of the Raven - Corvids in Art & Legend by Caroline Roberts and Angus Hyland).

Some of the creatures featured in The Golden Mole may be familiar but you might be surprised to learn about others facing endangerment and extinction.

The Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell is recommended for animal lovers and readers who enjoy short, punchy chapters about wildlife and the endangered species all around us.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Spotlight: Gen Z - Kickstart Your Future by Simon Walter

Intro

During lockdown this year, I'm proud to announce I was busy editing a non-fiction manuscript for a writer and actor in the UK. Simon Walter's book Gen - Z Kickstart Your Future is now finished and it's my pleasure to share it with you today in this special spotlight. Read on to find out how to download your free copy of the book.

So, what's it about? It's a non-fiction self-help book designed to help young people build happy and successful futures by employing some simple strategies we can all learn from. Check out the blurb.

Blurb

Has COVID-19 screwed you over?
Was your education interrupted or your exams cancelled?
Have you felt unimportant and overlooked by society?

You are not alone.

The pressure on young people was high before COVID-19, now it's through the roof! The good news is, you can reduce the pressure by changing the way you look at life. In this book, you'll learn that by applying some simple techniques, you can shape your own future.

Simon Walter enjoyed success in the world of investment banking for 25 years before having a realisation and deciding to follow his heart in the field of acting.

With Simon's help, you'll determine what you have to offer the world and how to harness your individuality. By the end, you'll have the confidence to punch COVID-19 in the face and move on.

Are you ready?

In Gen Z - Kickstart Your Future, Simon shares many no-cost tips, tricks and hacks that you can employ as you begin the next leg of your journey in an uncertain world. Simon is passionate about reducing pressure and anxiety for Generation Z and wants them to succeed in whatever they choose to do next.
Simon believes the world's future success lies on the shoulders of young people and aims to equip them with the tools they will need to succeed.

Let's do this together.

Simon Walter

Message from the author

"It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Tracey on my book Gen Z – Kickstart Your Future and she was an invaluable resource when it came to editing, proofreading and suggesting content for my book. Without Tracey I would be nowhere near the finished and published book I would love to share with you today. Tracey has shepherded me through the world of booklovers and reviewers and thanks to her I’m now a member of GoodReads. I’d love to connect with you there or on any of my social media channels (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook).

To say thank you to Tracey, I’d like to invite all Carpe Librum readers to be the first to take advantage of my free promotion on Amazon and download my book before 20 December 2020. I hope you enjoy it and learn something along the way."

Access your copy of the book

Thanks Simon! Click here to access and download your free e-book copy of Gen Z - Kickstart Your Future, available on Amazon from today until 20 December 2020. 

Enjoy, feel free to spread the word and don't forget, Carpe Librum!

Review: Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic

Emma Viskic burst onto the Australian crime writing scene back in 2015 and I'm just catching up now. Winning a bunch of awards, Resurrection Bay is the first in the series featuring Caleb Zelic.

Caleb has been deaf since childhood and has learned to adapt by lip reading, closely observing his surroundings and by actively interpreting other key signs and signals. Caleb is an investigator and runs his business with an ex-cop by the name of Frankie.

Caleb is such a fresh and unique character I immediately warmed to him. Caleb's deafness is very much part of who he is and reading about him and the danger he soon finds himself in really helped me to understand the challenges those hard of hearing inevitably face every day.

I can't recall a character like him in crime fiction, perhaps with the exception of John Stefanovitch; a New York cop confined to a wheelchair after being shot and left for dead in the 1989 novel The Midnight Club by James Patterson.

I found myself invested in Caleb way more than the plot, and knew early on this was a series I would continue reading. There's plenty of action, tension and diversity as well as Aussie references and recognisable settings in this debut.

I've already read the next in the series - And Fire Came Down - which I believe is better than this one, which has directly informed my rating below. I'm giving it 3.5 stars rounded down. Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic is highly recommended for crime fiction fans.

Carpe Librum!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Non Fiction November 2019 Wrap-Up

The Non Fiction November 2019 challenge was to read more non fiction than I usually would in a month and I definitely succeeded. However it did come as a bit of a shock when I realised that each of the books I read for the challenge had the word dead or death in the title. Whoops! Here's how my reading went for the challenge.

Necropolis: London and Its Dead by Catharine Arnold ⭐⭐⭐
The author tackles the fascinating history of London burials from pre-historic and medieval times to the present day and if you enjoy history, anthropology, urban development, changing attitudes to death and mourning or learning about the macabre, this is for you. A personal message from the author on Twitter was a nice touch after I published the review.

The Royal Art of Poison: Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This covers all of the toxic poisons contained in cosmetics and the disastrous medicines used by doctors and well-meaning apothecaries in history. It examines a collection of famous figures from history and their deaths, with modern reviews and theories on whether they were poisoned. The book concludes with the poison hall of fame; an ingenious list containing the quickest poison, the most painful poison and so on. A terrific read!

Death on the Derwent - Sue Neill-Fraser's Story by Robin Bowles ⭐⭐⭐
The author looks into the disappearance of Bob Chappell in January 2009 and the subsequent trial and incarceration of his partner Sue Neill-Fraser. It is widely held Neill-Fraser is innocent of Bob's murder and after reading the book my opinion hasn't changed.

Summary
As it turned out, all three books were by female authors, one of which is Australian. History, science and death were the dominant topics with one Australian true crime.

I also started listening to the audiobook of The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper but didn't finish it in time to qualify for the challenge.

How did you go? Did you read any non fiction this month? I really enjoyed the experience and I look forward to participating again next year. Thanks to A Book Olive for organising.

Carpe Librum!

Review: The Royal Art of Poison - Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman

The next book I read for the Non Fiction November Reading Challenge was The Royal Art of Poison - Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman.

It covers all of the toxic poisons contained in cosmetics and the disastrous medicines used by doctors and well-meaning apothecaries. It examines a collection of famous figures from history and their deaths, with modern reviews and theories on whether they were poisoned.

Heavy metal poisons include: arsenic, antimony, lead and mercury. Some notable plant poisons include: belladonna or deadly nightshade, hemlock, henbane, monks-hood or wolf's bane. Post renaissance poisons included: cyanide, sarin and strychnine.

I'm interested in the food poisonings in royal courts and was amused to learn that when servants carried food into a royal dining chamber: 

"they placed them on a credenza, which takes its name from the various 'credence' tests for poison conducted there." Page 153

The horn of a unicorn was believed to show indications of poison when it was waved over or dipped into food or drink. It wasn't a real unicorn horn but the tusk of a narwhal, a creature not discovered until the eighteenth century. Bezoar stones were also used.

As we now know, many poisons were used in cosmetics. For white teeth, ladies applied a powder:

"that contained grain, pumice stone, aloe, vinegar, honey, cinnamon, pearls, scrapings of ivory, quinces, and walnuts crushed into a paste and cooked with silver or gold foil." Page 607 

The abrasive powder removed stains but also the tooth enamel.

Many medications contained heavy metals and the sicker a patient became, the more medicine they required often making them sicker. I knew about the humours, blood letting, enemas and poultices, but I didn't know that: 

"whenever a member of the royal family was gravely ill, doctors would remove saintly body parts and entire corpses from churches and monasteries and put them in bed with the invalid." Page 793

Outrageous! Herman introduces us to poisons used today that are almost untraceable and concludes with the poison hall of fame. This was an ingenious list containing the quickest poison (cyanide), the most painful poison (strychnine) and so on.

All in all, Herman gives us plenty of interesting tidbits from history to sink our teeth into. I could have done with less of the biographical history in each of the modern autopsies but it's a small complaint. The Royal Art of Poison was informative, unexpectedly funny (have you ever felt so sick you believed you were bursting in twain?) and highly recommended.

Carpe Librum!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Participating in Non Fiction November 2019

I love reading non fiction and last year I learned about the Non Fiction November Reading Challenge hosted by one of my favourite Booktubers, A Book Olive.

It's just been announced again and this year will be my first time officially participating. Here are some of the titles (listed alphabetically by author) from my TBR I'm thinking of reading:

• The Innocent Reader: Reflections on Reading and Writing by Debra Adelaide
• Necropolis: London and Its Dead by Catharine Arnold
• The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery by Catherine Bailey
• Gothic by Fred Botting
• Death on the Derwent: Sue Neill-Fraser’s story by Robin Bowles
• Conan Doyle for the Defence by Margalit Fox
• The Royal Art of Poison: Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman (already started reading)
• Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane
• Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem (reading now)

Have you read any of these books? Are you interested in reading any of them or doing a buddy read together?

I went back to see what I've read so far this year, and it's quite a lot! Here are the non fiction titles I've read so far in 2019 in chronological order:

• 2,024 QI Facts To Stop You In Your Tracks by John Lloyd
• In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World by Simon Garfield
• Threads of Life by Clare Hunter
• Green Is The New Black by James Phelps
• The Easiest Slow Cooker Book Ever by Kim McCosker
• Treasure Palaces by Maggie Fergusson
• Beyond The Pale by Emily Urquhart
• Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls by Justine Ford
• Cold Case Investigations by Xanthe Mallett
• What We Did in Bed: A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani

Remember, non fiction doesn't have to be dry. It can include true crime, cookbooks, self help and more.

Let me know if you want to join me for Non Fiction November and what you'd like to read to celebrate this sometimes under-represented genre. You can find out more on Twitter, GoodReads or YouTube.

Carpe Librum!

Review: What We Did in Bed - A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani

* Copy courtesy of NetGalley & Yale University Press *

I'm fascinated by sleep, so when I saw What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani was available on NetGalley it was a no-brainer.

This non-fiction gem contains a history of beds through time, including changes in beds from the Egyptian Pharaohs all the way to the modern age. Sleeping habits are discussed, including bed sharing amongst family members and travelling strangers and co-sleeping with children.

Dreams, sex, childbirth and death are all activities that happen in bed and are given much consideration within the text.

Futons, reed mats, raised beds, beds on ropes, bundling boards, truckle beds, pallet beds, waterbeds and inner spring beds are all covered with interest. Deathbeds and funerary couches were a highlight, as were the seemingly excessive bedding layers required to make a Victorian era bed.

It was fascinating to learn medieval Europeans slept at an angle partially upright, and that the witching hour was first recorded in 1883 and took place between midnight and 4.00AM.

I enjoyed reading about famous people who required very little sleep, including Winston Churchill, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Napoleon. Modern day 'short sleepers' include Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

However, I was most pleased to discover What We Did In Bed included one of my favourite sleep related topics: segmented sleep and the fact that we used to sleep in two four hour chunks with a gap of wakefulness in between. The author of one of my favourite books At Day’s Close - A History of Nighttime by A. Roger Ekirch was referenced together with his thoughts on biphasic sleep.

Authors Fagan and Durrani explain on page 4:

.. a practice known as segmented sleep that seems to have been commonplace before electric light turned night into day. People slept for, say, four hours, after which they would awaken and spend time having sex, analyzing dreams, praying, doing chores, meeting friends, or committing crimes and other devilish deeds, and then return to bed for another four hours or so.

Here an interesting quote about bed design from page 4:

By Tutankhamun's time, around the mid-fourteenth century BC, the basic design of the bed (as we would recognize it) was well established, albeit slightly higher at the pillow end and with a footboard to prevent the sleeper from sliding off.

And I enjoyed this tidbit from France during the reign of the Sun King from page 158:

At Versailles a valet always sat inside the wooden enclosure around the king's bed because the court was concerned about sorcery. An enemy of the monarch could sprinkle spell-carrying mixtures on the bed that could endanger the occupant.

In conclusion, there was plenty to bookmark and highlight during the reading process, but I'm not convinced the title accurately sums up the content. Perhaps 'A Horizontal History' might have been more accurate. While the book did cover sleep, dreams, sex, childbirth, illness and death, there wasn't enough focus on other recreational activities that we engage in right now whilst in bed. I guess I was left wanting more.

What We Did In Bed: A Horizontal History by Brian Fagan & Nadia Durrani is recommended reading for anyone with an interest in beds and sleep across history.

Carpe Librum!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Beyond The Pale - Folklore, Family and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes by Emily Urquhart

Albinism is a rare genetic condition where pigment fails to form in a person's skin, hair and eyes. Those with albinism suffer from poor vision and sensitivity to the sun, often developing skin cancer.

When Emily Urquhart gave birth to a daughter with albinism in 2010, her life took an unexpected turn. Living in Canada, Urquhart set out determined to learn everything she could about the condition, and the implications for her daughter's health and wellbeing in the years to come. Beyond the Pale is Urquhart's memoir of this period of discovery and as the blurb says, it is part memoir, part cultural critique, and part genetic travelogue.

Urquhart consulted a myriad health professions and attended the NOAH (National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation) conference in the USA. She travelled to Africa to meet children with albinism and hear about their traumatic experiences first hand.+

Urquhart is a folklore scholar and journalist and I was very interested in reading about the superstition and folklore surrounding albinism in different cultures and across time. Unfortunately there just wasn't enough and given this was the primary reason for my reading, I was deeply disappointed.

The last section of the memoir covered Urquhart's efforts to map her family tree and trace the albinism gene back through the generations. She shares all the ins and outs of her family tree and I quickly lost interest in this geneology deep dive.

In hindsight, I think I'd have been better off spending 30 minutes learning about albinism online, rather than reading this specialised memoir. It really wasn't for me.

Recommended reading for:
- memoir lovers
- parents who have a child with albinism
- those with an interest in geneology

My rating = **

Carpe Librum!

+ In Tanzania, 1 in every 1429 babies born have albinism and the population believes those with albinism have magical powers. As a consequence, those with albinism are often hunted and their body parts are sought after for use by witch doctors to heal the sick. Tragically, it is sometimes the family members who offer their children to the albino hunters in return for money. Not something Urquhart's beautiful daughter Sadie will ever have to worry about.