Introducing The Martha Years of the Little House Saga

I’m sure many of you have read at least one book from the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is almost a rite of passage or required reading for a young girl. I haven’t read all of the books, maybe 3, but I always enjoyed reading them. Did you know that there are several companion series to the Laura Years based on the other women in her family? There are the Martha Years (about her great-grandmother Martha Morse), the Charlotte Years (about her grandmother Charlotte Tucker), the Caroline Years (about her mother Caroline Quinner) and the Rose Years (about her daughter Rose Wilder). I have read a couple of these as well and have heartily enjoyed them and am now making it my mission to finish reading/reviewing the whole collection – now that I own them all. I wanted to take this time to introduce you to the Martha Years – as this will be the first series I will be reading.

The Martha Years cover the childhood (age 6-10) of Martha Morse in Scotland and is written by Melissa Wiley (pen name for author Melissa Peterson, will go into that a little later). Martha is the youngest daughter of the Laird and we get to explore all different aspects of life in Scotland in the late 1770’s to early 1780’s. She is quite the little spitfire.

I know several of you have asked it the past about how historical these books are and if they are really about members of Laura’s family. I was able to ferret out some information at Melissa Wiley’s website about this. Here is a Q&A answer from Wiley’s site about the historical information:

“Martha Morse and Charlotte Tucker were real people. We don't know much about the real Martha; what little we do know is from a letter written by Laura's sister, Grace Ingalls Dow. Grace wrote that her great-grandmother, Martha Morse, was the daughter of a Scottish laird who married someone the family considered beneath her station. We know that Martha and Lew married in Boston on Jan. 1, 1799. 

For Martha's childhood I had to do even more imagining! That's why these books are historical fiction, not biography. We didn't know much about her family except that bit about her father being a laird. I had a wonderful researcher in Edinburgh who helped me look up the details big and small that would bring Martha's story to life. I worked hard to present an accurate picture of what life in that time, place, and situation might have been like for her. 

Loch Caraid and Glencaraid are fictional places. I could show you on a map exactly where I imagine them to be! Look for the town of Crieff: that's a real village I mention several times in Martha's stories.” (from Melissa Wiley’s website).

There are four books in the Martha Years series – it sounds like there were supposed to be more but the publisher “decided to go a different way”. The books are: Little House in the Highlands Book 1, On the Far Side of the Loch Book 2, Down to the Bonny Glen Book 3, and Beyond the Heather Hills Book 4.

A bit of trivia for you – the Martha, Charlotte, and Caroline Years are all written under pen names whose last names begin with “Wil” – Wiley, Wilkins, and Wilkes. This was done so that they would be shelved right near the Wilder authored books and the rest of the Little House girls. The Rose Years were authored by Macbride so I’m not sure what happed to the trend.

It is unfortunately difficult to get your hands on any of these companion series books for a reasonable price. They are currently out of print, so none of the booksellers (big name or indie that I contacted) can get them. If you keep your eye out on Ebay, Half.com, Alibris, etc you can find them – sometimes reasonably priced. I just finished acquiring all my own. I hope they will be put back in print at some future date. But if you can get your hands on them they are a real treat.




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Mailbox Monday #91

I had a huge mailbox load this week and most of them came on the same day!  I went out to the mailbox to find it packed to the top with 5 packages.  Most of what I received was to complete my Little House series.  Here is what I hauled in:

• The Road from Roxbury by Melissa Wiley (Charlotte Years #3) - Ebay
• A Little House of Their Own by Celia Wilkins (Caroline Years #7) - Ebay
• Beyond the Heather Hills by Melissa Wiley (Martha Years #4) - Ebay
• Little City by the Lake by Celia Wilkins (Caroline Years #6) - Ebay
• Across the Puddingstone Dam by Melissa Wiley (Charlotte Years #4) - Ebay
• One O'Clock Jump by Lise McClendon (audiobook received through the Audiobook Jukebox Solid Gold Reviewer Program)

Did you receive any great books this week?


Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and for the month of December it is hosted by Let Them Read Books.



Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Book 1 of the Earth’s Children series

Unabridged, 19 hr. 36 min.

Brilliance Audio

Sandra Burr (Narrator)

September 14, 2004

★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Downloaded audio from my local library

“This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love. Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear.

A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly--she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.”

I had only first heard about this book relatively recently, although it has been out for over 20 years. I wasn’t sure how I would like this book as there isn't a whole lot known about Neanderthals and Cro-magnon peoples in terms of their daily lives. Let me tell you, this book hits it out of the park! All my concerns were for nothing and this will be one of my favorite reads of 2011.

Auel makes the very distant to us Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon come to vivid life. We get a very believable description of how they may have lived life – from the clothing they wore, to the spirits they could have believed in, the food they ate, how they hunted, and what they may have thought about each other. A vast amount of details would have to have been supplied by the author as aspects such as their belief system will likely never be known – but they felt seemless and believable.

As strong as the writing is regarding the culture and setting, the characters are where the writing shines. There is quite a large cast of main characters and even more supporting characters, however Auel constructs all into well rounded characters that you can identify and connect to. Even the supporting cast does not get pushed into the background. One way that you know you have great characters is when their actions or things that happen to them can bring you to tears – and at several points in this novel that happened to me. You can get so emotionally connected to these characters. One of the characters that I loved the most is Brun, the leader of the clan. I really enjoyed how he would weigh all of the options and really tried to do what was best for everyone.

This book has been on several Banned Books lists for one of two reasons. The first is due to its support of the idea of evolution. The second is for the sex/rape scene that occurs – and this is the one that I want to address. Auel essentially builds the idea of sex as a part of their culture into the novel from very near the beginning. She explains how it is a “normal” way of life for men to exercise their needs with women. The scene itself wasn’t very graphic and certainly not the worst I have read. It just felt natural to the way the book was written and not out of character for the setting of the story. Now I would certainly understand not wanting it to be available in say a middle school library, since the book is written for an adult audience. But I wouldn’t let the fact it might be banned stop you from reading it.

I didn’t want to put this book down and eagerly anticipated getting back in the car to listen to it – I didn’t love that it usually meant I had to be on my way to work though! Although I want to jump right into the rest of the series, I have heard mixed reviews of the other books, so I am waiting until my love for this book dies down a little bit.

★★★★☆

The narration of the book met expectations. There was differentiation between characters and it was read at a good pace. However the voices used for the characters were a little weird, but I did get used to them. The only complaint that I have would be with the production/direction of the reading. It seemed like there were places where a pause should have been inserted, such as between sections/chapters. Sometimes it would flow right together like it was just the next paragraph but the content was so different it felt choppy. It is likely that there was a section break in the print version, but that didn’t translate to the audio version.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

You can also listen to an audio sample of the book below.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• The Book Addict Blog
• Feeling Fictional

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Jean M Auel

The Valley of Horses (Book 2)
[My Review]

The Mammoth Hunters (Book 3)

The Plains of Passage (Book 4)

The Shelters of Stone (Book 5)

The Land of Painted Caves (Book 6)

Find Jean M. Auel: Website | Facebook

 
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Horrible Histories: Cavemen

I love the Horrible Histories videos - even if some of them are bad - so I had to look at what they had about the Stone Age, prehistoric people, cavemen etc - and they had quite a few. So I am posting some of my favorites.

Video 1 - Cro-Magnon couple invites Neanderthal couple over for dinner. I thought this was funny and would go along with yesterday's post:

Video 2 - Caveman sets the record straight about the Stone Age - in song!:

Video 3 - A cavewoman sings about finding a mate:

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Neanderthal vs. Cro-Magnon

If you have read Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel (review coming later this week) you will be constantly interacting with Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon, now commonly referred to in the scientific community as Early Modern Humans (or EMH). It can help to have a little bit of a visual aid and some additional information nearby while reading – or if you are just interested in learning something new! Read on!

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has an awesome website about early humans. Among other things there are visuals and explanations of the different fossils they have found, genetics information, timelines, and interactive features. There is a pretty awesome exploration game where you get to compare “unknown” skull fossils against “known” species to determine which species they belong to.

Neanderthals were our most recent ancestors - they lived alongside Cro-Magnon for a period of almost 10,000 years (really just a blink of the eye in evolutionary time). They lived about 200,000 to 28,000 years ago. Common to Europe and parts of Asia. Neanderthals have a distinct look that would prevent you from misidentifying them as Cro-Magnon. On the face they have a defined, protruding brow ridge and larger nose. The size of the head is very similar to Cro-Magnon, but in comparison to the size of their bodies it is larger in proportion. The body is more compact, stocky, and strong. Females averaged 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighed around 119 pounds. Men were approximately 5 feet 5 inches and weighed around 143 pounds. The body adaptations were designed to help them weather the cold temperatures better. They are also believed to have been one of the first to use burial rites – which is why we have found so many fossils of Neanderthals. In terms of sustenance they ate both plants and hunted game. In the long winter periods plants would be difficult to find. New research shows that they hunted using thrusting spears and the multitude of fractures to their bodies suggest they may have rode on top of some of their prey. They also were the first to create a type of clothing.

Cro-Magnons are very similar to humans today, but compared to Neanderthals they are very different. Cro-Magnon’s have a very defined chin, little to no brow ridges, a taller skull (rather than the more elongated of the Neanderthal), less defined nose and straight sloping face. They stood taller (due to their straightened legs) and had straighter, longer arms. The average height was between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 7 inches. The Cro-Magnon started out in the East Africa/Middle Eastern area and spread east and westward bringing them into contact with the Neanderthals. There was likely an exchange of culture and possible interbreeding between the two groups.

There has been news made lately about the Neanderthal Genome Project. With the high volume of fossils found they have been able to extract a usable amount of Neanderthal DNA. With these findings they are better able to compare Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon and even modern humans. One of these findings shows that 1-4% of the European population has some amount of Neanderthal DNA. These findings may also help shed light on why they became extinct. Various theories abound about inability to adapt to a changing environment, competition for resources with Cro-Magnon, conflicts and fighting with Cro-Magnon, and also that their genetic material became diluted when they intermixed and bred with Cro-Magnon populations.

There is still a lot to be learned about the early people that came before us and science is finding new information every day. Keep a listen out for more on the Neanderthal Genome Project in the news as that is the big thing right now.





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Mailbox Monday #90

This week I received a few books in my mailbox -

For review for a blog tour - The Legacy of Eden by Nelle Davy - not quite my typical read - it is more contemporary than historical - but it sounded great so I went for it.  Here is the blurb:

"For generations, Aurelia was the crowning glory of more than three thousand acres of Iowa farmland and golden cornfields. The estate was a monument to matriarch Lavinia Hathaway’s dream to elevate the family name—no matter what relative or stranger she had to destroy in the process. It was a desperation that wrought the downfall of the Hathaways—and the once-prosperous farm. 

Now the last inhabitant of the decaying old home has died—alone. None of the surviving members of the Hathaway family want anything to do with the farm, the land or the memories. 

Especially Meredith Pincetti. Now living in New York City, for seventeen years Lavinia’s youngest grandchild has tried to forget everything about her family and her past. But with the receipt of a pleading letter, Meredith is again thrust into conflict with the legacy that destroyed her family’s -great name. 

Back at Aurelia, Meredith must confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway family…and her own part in their mottled history."

To complete my Little House series I got - Across the Rolling River by Celia Wilkins.  And somehow I managed to order 2!  It looks like I will be taking to Ebay for my extra copy.  It really stinks that most of the books are out of publication, so I have been hunting them down on various websites to try and find them at a reasonable price.  I came across several listed as acceptable for over $100! Yeah, that will be the day I buy that book!  However, I think I have found all those missing - we will see what shows up over the next few days.

I also received the gift as part of the Book Blogger Holiday Swap and received a few books - however I want to wait to post about these until closer to Christmas!  But they were good ones!

What came in your mailbox?


Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and for the month of December it will be held at Let Them Read Books.



Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Sarah Childress Polk by John R. Bumgarner

Sarah Childress Polk: A Biography of the Remarkable First Lady

by John R. Bumgarner

Paperback, 176 pages

Macfarland & Co Inc Pub

March 1997

★★★☆☆

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: Personal collection

“Historians generally consider James K. Polk one of the most effective presidents in United States history. Many of them doubt, however, that President Polk would have been successful without the counsel of his wife Sarah. The president dominated his cabinet and trusted no one--except for his wife.

Sarah Childress Polk (1803-1891) was a highly educated woman who became President Polk’s virtual secretary and more: She critiqued his speeches, evaluated his Cabinet decisions, and worked side by side with her husband. Mrs. Polk was praised for her astute views on matters of state by both Polk’s supporters and his opponents. She outlived her husband by 42 years, and was often consulted by politicians who respected her opinions and trusted her instincts, including Confederate and Union officers in the Civil War. This is the story of a powerful and tireless first lady who became one of the most influential Americans of the middle and late nineteenth century.”

I read this book with a dual purpose – one: I was researching for my Master’s research project on First Ladies and politics and two: I’m trying to read a non-fiction on each President and First Lady. This book only somewhat met my expectations.

It should be noted that the author of the book is a M.D. – not a PhD. His previous books were related to the health of the Presidents and he originally intended this book to be about the health of President James K. Polk, however he states he found Sarah Polk more interesting. I have no problems with him being a doctor – however a lot of time was spent on medical conditions on the Polks as well as the general populace – to the point that it became distracting. Nowhere in the above description is the medical focus alluded to.

While there was great information provided about Sarah Polk – who is little written about – I felt like less time was spent on her than on her husband, or various friends and cohorts, and the above mentioned medical diagnoses. For someone who really was a remarkable First Lady you don’t come away from the book feeling that.

Also, this book could have certainly benefited from better editing – and I’m not talking about spelling and grammar. The information really needed some fleshing out – it felt barebones in many places and could certainly have benefited from transitions between paragraphs and thoughts. There is one section that comes to mind where within three paragraphs we jumped from James Polk becoming Speaker of the House, to the issue of owning slaves, to letters from family (about various subjects), and then back to the main thread. It was very choppy and certainly drew my attention away from the main topic.

As I said previously – there is not a lot currently out there still in print about Sarah Childress Polk – this was the only one I could get my hands on even through the state library system. With those constraints, this book does provide great information if you can wade through the obstacles. If you were to only use this as a reference tool and pull information from it, it would probably be fine – however as a read it is certainly lacking.

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia 

Also by John R. Bumgarner

Parade of the Dead

The Health of the Presidents

 
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court 

I'm Being Interviewed!

Hey everyone!  I'm being interviewed today over at Historical Editorial: It's All in the Details!  Drop on by if you want to hear my thoughts on the historical fiction genre!




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Ranking Sarah Childress Polk

A few weeks ago we looked at how Dolley Madison has been ranked among First Ladies of the United States – this week I would like to take a look at Sarah Childress Polk – the wife of the 11th President, James K. Polk. Unlike last time, I have very little information from the Siena Research Institute (SRI) on her behalf.

Sarah does not fall in the top 5 or the bottom of any of the individual categories: Background, Value to the Country, Intelligence, Courage, Accomplishments, Integrity, Leadership, Being Her Own Woman, Public Image, and Value to the President. But I would like to explore a few of these a little more based on some of my own research.

Sarah was one of the few pre 20th century First Ladies that received any sort of formal education. At her time (1845-1849) college was an unheard thing for almost all women – however she was educated. Sarah attended the Moravian Female Academy, Abercrombie School and Daniel Elam School. I would say that this should give her some credit in the Accomplishments category.

In the category of Value to the President I would have to say that she should have been very highly ranked. From the various articles that I have read about her and from the book Sarah Childress Polk by John R. Bumgarner it is fairly clear that James Polk relied on her immensely. She not only was his secretary but also screened correspondence, met with cabinet members and proofread his speeches among other things.

In terms of Public Image at the time she was very well respected and loved by the American public. She was one of the first women to be given franking privileges (free postage). After her tenure in the White House she was visited every year by the member of the Tennessee legislature on New Year’s Day. While she kept her political views and the aid she gave her husband very low key, she was very popular.

Researcher Robert P. Watson (who has written many works on the First Ladies) conducted his own poll, the Watson Presidential Scholar Poll in 1996-1997 and his results place Sarah number 6 in the Top Ten First Ladies. The SRI poll results are as follows:

Overall Score:
1982: 22nd
1993: 20th
2003: 10th
2008: 26th

I would be more willing to personally place her somewhere close to the 10th-15th position. I can see why she might be placed in the mid twenties – the presidential terms close to the Civil War are frequently overlooked by scholars and many don’t know much about Sarah – so in that regard I am surprised she is even in the twenties.





Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Movie Review: The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

Gaumont

148 mins.

November 12, 1999

Rated: R

This movie takes us from the time Joan is a little girl until shortly after her death. We are privy to her visions and really get the feel of her passion and devotion to the cause. We are really seeing the world as Joan would see it – you get caught up in her revelations. All of the pieces of Joan’s story are here – the visions, the battles, the heresy trial, the burning at the stake. Not being familiar with the intimate details of her story there were some new events brought to my attention here.

Overall I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would – based on the reviews that I had read. People felt that it was poorly acted – I thought that Mila Jovovich did a good job of portraying a truly passionate woman following what she believed to be the word of God. The movie doesn’t make a determination one way or the other (as to if she was crazy or actually being spoken to by God) but it does go into some self questioning at the end (by a comically funny Dustin Hoffman as her Conscience type person). The movie presents both possibilities. I think this was done to make her more human and less saintly – someone that a wider audience would connect with and someone who still wrestles with her conscience. Others complained that people during this time period would never speak the way they did (or use foul language) – I say, I’m glad they are speaking modern language or I would probably lose interest. And it terms of foul language there is a handful of colorful words and I’m sure that they used similar language back then too!

In terms of cinematography – there are some great wide shots of the people and landscape and I thought the scenery was well done. It was nominated for awards in Best Cinematography and won a Cesar (French equivalent to Academy Awards) for Best Costume Design.

The only thing that I wish had been improved in this film would be the ending – it felt a little rushed. This is a long film and maybe a few minutes could have been sacrificed from the battle scenes to leave time for a longer ending – since it really is the climax – without making the film longer.

I know that the concept of Joan of Arc can still spark controversy among people today – however if you look at the movie on its own, it’s relatively decent – I very much enjoyed it. If you are someone who is interested in the life of Joan of Arc I would recommend this movie – despite its detractors. If you are someone who is passionate about her story one way or the other – I might caution you against watching it.

I want to point out that although this movie is rated R I didn’t find it to be as bad as many other movies with that rating. Most of it is due to the war scenes – which can be brutal but are certainly not the worst I have seen. There is also one scene involving a rape – however you don’t directly see it happening – it is more alluded to and you are on the other side of the wall with a peephole view. For more on the rating check out this page.

Also, while this is a Foreign film – it is presented in English – I was thrilled that I did not need to turn on subtitles!

Check out this trailer:

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Mailbox Monday #89

I received one book in the mail this week - all the way from Australia!  I had no idea it was coming from this far away - so that was pretty cool.

For review I received Asenath by Anna Patricio from the author.  I was very interested in this book because I have read some Biblical fiction and found it interesting and some of it is set in Ancient Egypt - one of my favorite places to read about.

Did anything arrive in your mailbox?


Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and will be wrapping up the month of November at it's home site.




Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Movie Review: The Duchess

The Duchess

Paramount Vantage

110 mins.

September 10, 2008

Rated: PG-13

I had looked forward to watching this movie for some time and ultimately very much enjoyed it. Keira Knightly plays another period role (which seems to be her thing) and beautifully exudes the time period and feel of the character. She played the Duchess of Devonshire as I would have imagined her – beautiful, smart, impassioned. Another actor that I LOVE is Ralph Finnes – and he plays the older husband of Knightly’s character, the Duke of Devonshire. He really is an actor that I love to hate, since I usually despise his characters (and it is no different here) but I love his acting. He is very restrained and so insensitive and infuriating all at the same time. The other name that I recognized is Dominic Cooper, who plays Charles Grey – you may remember him from the feature film version of Mamma Mia!. All the roles were very well acted.

The costumes were gorgeous and I am going to assume rather authentic. The film won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Satellite Award for Best Costume Design. Knightly certainly had so many hairdos that I am hoping many were wigs, otherwise I cannot imagine the amount of time that needed to be spent in hair and makeup!

While there are small pockets of slowness in the storytelling, overall I enjoyed this film. There was so much passion and deception and betrayal in this film that kept it interesting.

Check out this trailer:

Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

by James W Loewen

Paperback, 464 pages

Touchstone

October 16, 2007

★★★★☆

Genre: Non Fiction

Source: Personal collection

“Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past. 

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses. 

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country.”

I think I should start off by saying that this book isn’t a “set the record straight” book about American history – it is a critique of high school US history textbooks. I have seen too many reviews where the reviewer complained that it was all about textbooks – and yes it is! Loewen conducted a thorough survey of over a dozen US history textbooks and compares them against one another as well as against the historical record. He discusses what is misrepresented or completely overlooked and why. He explains why there is a need to teach our children true history as opposed to the continued feeding of lies. At the same time we are presented with much more detailed histories of events that we thought we knew.

I graduated from high school only 6 years ago and can attest to having used at least 2 of the textbooks that Loewen reviewed and actually can agree with many of his points about these books. I know that I too fell into believing many of the broad generalities that are taught by these texts and Lies was quite thought provoking – I often found myself going to explore many of these topics. I think that this is a good book not just for someone who is involved in the textbook selection process, but for parents as well. It helps to know if your child is getting an adequate history lesson or not.

Lies covers a vast array of topics from the colonization of America up to 9/11 and the present. Some of the topics covered include: Christopher Columbus, the first Thanksgiving, Native American policies, Racism, Antiracism, Federal Government, Vietnam War, Recent Past. He also closes out the text with chapters on why history is taught the way it is, some things that can be done to improve the situation, and the outcome.

I very much enjoyed this book. I liked seeing how different texts covered (or failed to cover) an issue and then learn some additional facts about the highlighted event. There were also some great images and charts that are often not included in high school texts that were very enlightening and interesting. At times the author can be long winded and you are ready to move on to the next section, but you really get the feeling that he is passionate about what he is telling you. I can’t wait to read his other book, Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong.

I recommend reading this preview of the introduction before committing to the book to discover if this book is for you.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Hankering for History
• Ana Mardoll’s Ramblings

Buy the Book:: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by James W. Loewen:

Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

The Confederate and Neo-Confederate Reader: The “Great Truth” About the “Lost Cause”

Find James W. Loewen: Website

 
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason

The King’s Daughter by Christie Dickason

ARC, Paperback, 480 of pages

Harper Paperbacks

November 23, 2010

★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from the publisher for review

“The court of James I is a dangerous place, with factions led by warring cousins Robert Cecil and Francis Bacon. While Europe seethes with conflict between Protestants and Catholics, James sees himself as a grand peacemaker—and wants to make his mark by trading his children for political treaties. 

Henry, Prince of Wales, and his sister, Elizabeth, find themselves far more popular than their distrusted father, a perilous position for a child of a jealous king. When Elizabeth is introduced to one suitor, Frederick, the Elector Palatine, she feels the unexpected possibility of happiness. But her fate is not her own to choose—and when her parents brutally withdraw their support for the union, Elizabeth must take command of her own future, with the help of an unexpected ally, the slave girl Tallie, who seeks her own, very different freedom.”

This novel is a quick read and the plot speeds right along. The beginning of the novel feels somewhat frivolous, but by the time you reach the middle of the book it gains some weight. I think this is on purpose to show how Elizabeth grows up from an innocent child to a woman. There was also a cute love story between Elizabeth and Frederick that you were rooting for by the end of the book.

This was an interesting story and one whose characters I have not encountered elsewhere. We get up close and personal with the court of James I – his wife Anne of Denmark and children, Henry, Charles, and Elizabeth. This is quite the interesting court. James I is a very paranoid king – and rightly so – but it was shocking some of the actions that he took to protect himself, even from his family. Throughout the story we find out a lot about Henry, Elizabeth, and King James, but left wanting some regarding Queen Anne. The author may have left us distant from her in order to show how she was distant to the rest of her family – however, I did want to know more about her.

This wasn’t a novel with a lot of depth, more of a surface story, but it was enjoyable. I would recommend this if you are looking for a fun read but not expecting to tax your mind too much. I came away from reading it with a sense of enjoyment, but not with too much else and the events of the story don’t stick with you for a long time.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Rundpinne
• Peeking Between the Pages

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Christie Dickason

The Firemaster’s Mistress

The Principessa

Indochine

A Noble Assaassin

The Lady Tree

Quicksilver

The Memory Palace

The Dragon Riders

Tears of the Tiger

Find Christie Dickason: Website | Blog


 
Copyright © 2011 by The Maiden’s Court