HNS Reviews - November 2009

HUGH AND BESS
by Susan Higginbotham (Sourcebooks, 9781402215278)

Susan Higginbotham's debut novel THE TRAITOR'S WIFE told the story of Eleanor, wife of Hugh le Despenser, intimate of King Edward II and casualty of Queen Isabella. Now the Despenser story continues in Susan's second novel, HUGH AND BESS. This book tells the story of Eleanor and Hugh's son, the younger Hugh, and his marriage to Elizabeth "Bess" de Montacute—a love story almost thwarted by a vast age difference, ghosts from the past, and the harsh reality of life in the fourteenth century.

When thirteen-year-old Bess is informed of her betrothal to the 32-year-old Hugh, she is less than thrilled. Bess has no wish to marry someone from such a tainted family, to be shipped off to live in disgrace in "a horrid place full of dead Despensers". Hugh himself is not keen on wedding a child, not to mention giving up the woman he loves to do so. Both submit to the wishes of their families and their king, but the odds are stacked against them—as time passes, however, a true and lasting love grows between this unlikely pair, a love that endures past disgraces, present betrayals, and future tragedies.

At the close of THE TRAITOR'S WIFE, Eleanor advises her son to marry, and here we see that counsel come to fruition as Hugh finds love and redemption after an unspeakably cruel youth. Yet this story is also Bess', a young woman coming of age, experiencing her first love, and finding her place in the world. Like Eleanor, Bess flowers from a side note of history to a real woman with her own flaws and virtues.

Susan admits to a bit of "second novel syndrome" while writing HUGH AND BESS: "I had a hard time settling on a topic to write about, and once I did, I found it harder to avoid things that distracted me." Writing new characters also presented new challenges: "With Bess, all I knew was the bare genealogical data and the lands that she held. That gave me a lot of freedom in creating her character."

Will there be future stories from the Despenser family tree? "I'm intrigued by the thirteenth-century Hugh le Despenser who served as justiciar to Simon de Montfort's government," Susan says. "I might well revisit the Despenser family." No matter what the topic, her readers are sure to be pleased.

THE MYTH OF BLOODY MARY
by Linda Porter (St. Martin's Griffin, 9780312564964)

This fascinating biography of Mary Tudor cuts through centuries of assumption, legend, and demonization to reveal a more even-handed portrait of the first true English queen regnant. Every aspect of Mary's life is thoroughly reexamined: from her supposed religious fanaticism to her seemingly loveless marriage and the derangement resulting from two phantom pregnancies. Instead of a wizened crone who burned heretics to warm her frigid body, Mary is revealed as a woman of her time, a true Tudor whose every action bore careful forethought and purpose, even if those thoughts do not mesh with modern-day morality. We watch a vivacious and intelligent child, the delight of her parents, grow into a beautiful and articulate young woman, the trend-setter of her day, who endures terrible traumas and psychological torment to become a Queen whose heartbreaks eventually lead to a sad conclusion. Mary was by no means an innocent, but neither was she the unhinged monster of legend, the "bad Tudor" shelved away in the dark to make room for Elizabeth's light. Mary's life, like all lives, had its share of triumphs as well as failures, and Porter's exhaustive research makes this passionately clear. Highly recommended for any Tudor library.

THE SECRET WIFE OF LOUIS XIV: FRANÇOISE D'AUBIGNE, MADAME DE MAINTENON
by Veronica Buckley (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 9780374158309)

When Françoise d'Aubigne was born in a French prison cell to a disgraced criminal and the warden's daughter, no one could ever have imagined she would one day marry the King of France. This biography traces Françoise's (literally) rags-to-riches story—her unhappy childhood in the Caribbean as a penniless, unloved, neglected girl; her success in the salons of high society as an intelligent, independent, stylish woman; and her pinnacle as a benefactor and caretaker of royal children, bringing her ultimately into the house—and bed—of King Louis XIV.

Buckley's biography is a page-turner, engaging and witty, stylish, intelligent, and often humorous—much like Françoise herself. A secret side note of history becomes a complex, real woman, a paradox of tradition and innovation, the sum of her parts and yet more so. Françoise was by no means perfect, but this makes her no less fascinating. An enjoyable and educational read.

THIS TIME: A NOVEL OF RICHARD III
by Joan Szechtman (Basset Books, 9780982449301)

In 2004, a technology group finds a way to reach into the past and snatch an object into the present. The group decides to try the next step: a living person, a historical figure who can answer modern-day questions. They choose a figure surrounded by mystery—Richard III of England, snatched from the battlefield at the brink of death so as not to change the course of history.

Once Richard overcomes the shock of the situation (a process that takes up several chapters of fish-out-of-water moments), he becomes surprisingly reconciled to it. He is astounded to learn how history judged him and, consequently, he questions the choices he made. He considers going back to face his death—but then he realizes that since his fate has been changed, he might also change the fate of someone else. From that moment on, the story becomes a race against time, technology, and growing romance.

Timeslip is not my regular genre, but I was intrigued by the premise and the opportunity to learn more about Richard. It took a while to get into the story; the plot is slow to get started, but once it does, it moves along quickly, and the characters are endearing. This Time is sure to appeal to readers of timeslip as well as fans of Richard III who would like to see him written in a more human light.

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