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Title: Katherine
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Author: Anya Seton
Rating: Not available
Hits: 94

Review of Katherine

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Comments for Katherine

• Posted on 2009-11-19
  Passionate Love Story
  
  I enjoyed this book. It was a very passionate love story and I was compelled. I did need my dictionary handy to understand a few words but it was great.
  
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• Posted on 2009-11-06
  Historical epic-classic of historical literature
  
  A detailed and rich novel, with the author showing a flair for the English language and a deep understanding of medieval English history. Colourful wording, and a balance between passionate scenes and descriptive tracing of the events of the life of the incredibly interesting and beautiful Katherine Swynford.
  One may have to reread parts, but if you focus you will find this a rewarding historical page turner, and understand why after 55 years it is still a best loved classic of historical literature.
  
  The author meticulously researched her sources, and even for minor characters, used where she could, those mentioned in the chronicles.
  Hence we definitely do gain an insight into the lives of royalty and nobility as well as the ordinary people of the England of that time.
  
  Katherine Swynford was born from a humble background, the daughter of a herald. While her older sister Phillipa gained a position in the royal court, Katherine through her beauty and charm, beguiled the powerful nobleman John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, father of Henry IV, and ancestor of most of today's royal family, through his eventual marriage to Katherine, his long time paramour.
  Katherine is first pressured into marriage to the boorish and brutish knight, Hugh Swynford. She gains the friendship and gives her loyalty to Blanche, John of Gaunt's first wife. After the deaths of Blanche and Hugh, so begins the passionate liaison between the flame haired beauty Katherine, and the charismatic Duke of Lancaster and player in the power of England's politics of the time. John is haunted by malevolent slander of being a changeling while he determines to revenge himself on those behind this false charge. Katherine of course was dogged by the charge of the time often levelled against beautiful and passionate women, of harlotry.
  
  But instead of marrying his love Katherine john married the Spanish princess Constance of Castile
  Only years later did the lovers meet again after much pain and turmoil and spend three years of marriage before John of Gaunt's death.
  Covers events such as the Black Death, and the rebellion of the time led by Wat Tyler, during the reign of the boy king Richard II.
  We also get to meet characters such as John Chaucer (married to Katherine's sister) and the mystic Nun, St Julian.
  A great work of literature, well worth the effort
  
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• Posted on 2009-10-27
  Injects blood into dry history
  
  I am glad I finally read this book. As the plot was pre-known to the writer, Anya Seton could only contribute her gifts as a storyteller to create this novel.
  
  She tells a story of knights in armor, (in)fidelity to the Crown, chivalry, etc. which is so romanticized and sterotyped nowadays that I don't usually have much interest in this era.
  
  But she encases this in a naturalistic manner using appropriate terms, great characterization, content to keep the details of life and the passage of time as one would experience it if living in those times. What, for instance, would someone like Katherine do if none of our mopdern distractions were available?
  You sew, talk to people, stare out the window, think about your life, your children, attend festivities, special meals, receive visitors, etc.
  
  What do you eat, how do you travel, how do you view distances from one place to another, what is the relationship between master and serf?
  
  She conveys these daily life details in a calm and everyday way to put you right into the era without hype. You learn about how politics functioned, the various ways different classes and titles interacted, how medicine was viewed, religous beliefs at the time, how news got communicated.
  
  I highly look forward to reading some of her other books (as soon as they get a Kindle edition).
  
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• Posted on 2009-10-26
  My favorite book of all times!
  
  I first read "Katherine" forty years ago when I was a teenager, and it's been my favorite book ever since. I have worn out three copies from reading and re-reading this wonderful story. I would have named a daughter "Katherine" because of this book! I loved all of Anya Seton's works - but this is by far the best. It's great that other generations are discovering her! Timeless....
  
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• Posted on 2009-08-27
  A Wonderful (and true) Love Story
  
  I really, really enjoyed this book. It is based on a true story of a love affair that changed history - that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (one of Edward III's many sons). This pair pretty much the ancestors of most of the British royal family. This book tells of how John, (grandfather to the future Henry V) falls in love with the already married Katherine and how they overcome everything imaginable (marriages, rebellions, war, plague, etc) to finally be together.
  
  Katherine is an innocent 15 year old when she leaves a convent on orders from the Queen and comes to Court. Her sister is already there (and going to be married to Geoffrey Chaucer) waiting on the Queen. Once there it doesn't take long before she catches the eye of a few men (one of wish is John of Gaunt), and is married off to Hugh Swynford, one of Edward III's knights (John arranges this and comes to regret doing this because he's fallen in love with her). After the wedding she has to try to oversee Swynford's very run down and almost poverty stricken manor at Kettlethorpe. John even shows up at the manor after she has her daughter! After her husband dies of apparent wounds during the war in France, John and Katherine finally give in and become lovers. John won't marry her though because he is quite ambitious and is planning on marrying the heiress to the throne of Castile so he can eventually become its king (since he can't have England's crown of course he'll take any other crown he can get!). He does make her the governess to the children by his first marriage. Katherine stays with John for many years, however, bearing him many children (all given the last name Beaufort) and bearing all the negative criticism their well known love brings. After loosing her daughter in the midst of the peasant's revolt, she feels she is being punished for her sins and tells John they must separate. Several years later, John defies convention and marries his long time love, making her Duchess of Lancaster (which his sisters-in-law hate and they are determined to ignore Katherine) and making all of their children legitimate. One of their sons, John Beaufort, ended up being the Henry VII's great-grandfather. Their daughter Joan Beaufort was Edward IV and Richard III's grandmother (so you see...pretty much connected to most of the British royal family!).
  
  The characters in this book all seemed very REAL to me. There were none that were completely good or bad like you tend to get in a lot of stories. You could really like a character one moment and then think they have to have lost their mind by the next chapter. Katherine comes across as very human in her thoughts, opinions, and desires. Sometimes I just wanted to slap her for her stubbornness, other times I wanted to try to comfort her and let her know that things will be alright eventually. John of Gaunt, while obviously very ambitious (and I wanted to slap HIM occasionally for being so ambitious that he'll ignore his true feelings), still can make your heart go all a flutter. I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical fiction and also loves a good romance.
  
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