Hello everyone! I wanted to announce the 5 finalists in the Wind Warrior Blog Tour Giveaway. These finalists will be sent to the author and she will pick the grand prize winners. And the 5 finalists from The Maiden's Court are:
“Queen of Scotland at six days of age, married as a young girl to the invalid young king of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third to the dashing Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
Unable to rise above the violence and disorder that swirled around her, Mary escaped to England—only to find herself a prisoner of her ruthless, merciless cousin Queen Elizabeth.
Here, in a riveting first-person account, is the enchanting woman whose name still evokes excitement and compassion—and whose death under the headsman’s axe still draws forth our sorrow”
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
“Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode” .
★★★★½☆
The narration was absolutely top notch! With this book set in France and some phrases in French, it was easier to get the real feel of the story - I know absolutely no French so I would have slaughtered it.
You can listen to a short sample of the book below:
This book has been turned into a movie, Elle s’appelait Sarah, which was recently picked up at the Toronto Film Festival for US distribution by Weinstein & Co. It is scheduled to be released in France on October 13, 2010. It stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Julia and Melusine Mayance as Sarah.
Here is the trailer –
Reviews of this book by other bloggers
Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia
Also by Tatiana de Rosnay:
The House I Loved
[My Review]
A Secret Kept
The Other Story
A Paris Affair
You can also check out my review of the movie.
Find Tatiana de Rosnay: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Usually when I do an edition of Caught on Tape, it focuses on one person, this time, as part of Off With Their Heads! Week, I thought it would be interesting to see some of the portrayals of royal executions in TV and movies. I have only chosen one scene per character even though there may have been several to pick from – in order to keep this to a reasonable length post (it is going to be lengthy already. I also tried to stick with dramas instead of biopics or historical documentaries.
Sometimes you just want to read a book that is about a small segment of someone's life. In this case, the last days of someone. Here is a list of books that cover the last period of our historical figures lives or relate to them in some way. I haven't read most of these, so don't hold me to it. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!
Sometimes the thing that someone is remembered best for is the last words that they say. This is true in many cases with historical figures. It is also true that sometimes these last words are just what a contemporary records as their last words. This may be fiction but it ends up being what everyone remembers - this is likely the case with Katherine Howard's last words. Sometimes their last words were just to get them safely into Heaven. Others did not even have their last words recorded (Jane Boleyn). Let's explore these now.
To kick-off Off With Their Heads week, I thought it would be a good idea to get to know the characters that we will be encountering throughout the week. While we will not be looking at each and every royal or courtier that has lost their head, but I chose several of the best know cases.
d been so in love with Anne that he had divorced his previous wife Catherine. But alas, that would not last long. Anne was charged with adultery, incest (with her brother), and treason against the king. These charges were most assuredly false, but were helped along by her sister in law (Jane Boleyn) – who we will see a little later on. Because of political manipulations and the desire for a male heir, Henry signed off on the warrant and Anne was executed by a French swordsman on May 19, 1536.
d – Katherine was the second Queen who fell to Henry – for quite similar reasons as her predecessor, but her charges were most likely true. Henry married Katherine (a young, pretty girl) after his failed marriage to Anne of Cleves. By this time Henry was aging and heavy and oozing – not much for a young girl to stick around for. Katherine began a secret love affair with Thomas Culpepper (which Jane Boleyn helped along) – which ultimately lead to her treason charge and execution. She was executed on February 13, 1542.
was pushed into the role by those around her who didn’t want Mary Tudor to become the Catholic Queen after Edward VI died. After just a few days, the Privy Council decided that Mary was the appropriate queen of England and she was imprisoned in the Tower of London to await the decision of what Queen Mary would do about her. Jane was charged with high treason but was supposedly going to be spared. Another rebellion a few days later sealed the deal – because her father was involved – and she was then executed on February 12, 1554 (almost exactly 2 years from the date of Catherine Howard’s execution).
ts – Mary would be the last Queen to fall to a Tudor. Mary escaped from captivity in Scotland to England with the hope that her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, would help her. She thought wrong and Elizabeth had her imprisoned at various households across England. After several plots (on the part of Mary) she became too much of a risk to Elizabeth. She was found guilty of attempts on the life of the Queen and found guilty – although the Queen held off on signing the death warrant. After the warrant was signed – Elizabeth hadn’t given permission for it to be carried out – yet her councilors carried out the act quickly so that her mind couldn’t be changed. She was executed on February 8, 1587.
England. Most know the story of Marie Antoinette. Her and her husband, Louis XVI were frivolous in the way that they lived while their subjects faced hard times. The subjects revolted and the King and Queen were taken captive. The King was tried and executed – as we will look at later. Marie was charged with several crimes including incest with her young son. She was found guilty of treason in an orchestrated trial and sentenced to execution by the guillotine. She suffered the indignity of having her hair cut off and being driven through the mob in a cart in a simple, plain dress. She was executed on October 16, 1793. She was buried in an unmarked grave.
stated above, they were dethroned during the French Revolution. Louis was charged with high treason and crimes against the state. All of the voting members of The Convention found him guilty of his crimes, but the vote was much closer on the issue of execution. In the end, it was decided he would be executed. On January 21, 1793 Louis was beheaded by the guillotine. There are some accounts that say his head was not fully severed in the first blow.
not even sure I really understand enough to describe here, so I’m going to rather explain just his trial and execution. The concept of trying a king was relatively new – usually he would just be overthrown and then murdered. The charges against Charles were that of treason and using his power to promote personal interests rather than that of the state. He also was, in part, responsible for helping along the civil wars. Charles refused to answer to the charges against him and his death warrant was signed. He was executed on January 30, 1649. In an unprecedented action, the head of Charles I was sewn back onto his body.
More – Thomas was the Lord Chancellor of England – in this role, he was very effective. His problem stemmed from the religious upheaval in England. Thomas was a staunch Catholic during a time when the tides were changing to the Church of England. He resigned from his office because he refused to take an oath that renounced jurisdiction over the church to anyone but the sovereign. He also did not like Anne Boleyn. He refused to attend the coronation, which put him on Henry’s bad side. He had many petty charges brought against him, but they were proven to be false. What ultimately brought him down was his inability to swear to the oath of supremacy and disagreed with the King’s divorce from Queen Catherine. This led to his charge of treason. More refused to answer all questions – believing that if he didn’t deny the King was the ruler of the Church, he couldn’t be found guilty. He was found guilty anyway. He was executed on July 6, 1535 and his head was posted on London Bridge.
Cromwell was Henry’s biggest supporter in the overthrown of Anne in favor of Jane Seymour. His downfall would be because of another of Henry’s failed marriages – Anne of Cleves. Cromwell was a strong supporter of the Cleves marriage because it would make the Reformation much stronger – by bringing in a Protestant queen. The Cleves marriage was a disaster – the King was not satisfied and Cromwell could not find him a way out of it without upsetting the Duke of Cleves and the Protestants. His enemies found a way to get him out of the picture. An Act of Attainder was signed but held until the Cleves marriage was ended. He was executed on July 28, 1540. 
Suddenly Sunday is hosted by Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.
Now, it other news, this week I am hosting a weeklong event called Off With Their Heads! Week. I will be featuring posts that star those royals and courtiers that parted with their heads under dire circumstances.
