The Queen's  Poisoned
357980
As this is the first time that I have ever read the work of this author, I have found a new favorite author. I love the way that he developed the characters. Seen through the eyes of an unsuspecting child, rates four stars alone. The midwife was an excellent choice to help the boy. The king was not as grand as he appeared, the boy melted his heart in the end.  What will become of the boy sent north, his parents banished and the king?  I can't wait to read the next book, I hope that it is just as  good as book 1.
4528150
This story is a fictionalised account of a real relationship and murder trial that occurred in 19th century Glasgow, Scotland. The relationship was between the socialite Madeleine Hamilton Smith, and her working class lover, Pierre Emile LAngelier. In 1857 Pierre died and Madeleine was accused of his murder, but was eventually acquitted.
Its an intriguing story because of its complexities. Emile was older than Madeleine and keen to improve his social standing, Madeleine was young, naive and stubborn. They moved in different social circles, but she wilfully ignored that and the instructions of her family, and he unhesitatingly seduced her. When she realised her family would never accept him she tried to break it off, and he threatened to expose their sexual relationship by using her letters. This would have ruined her.
Emile also took arsenic, supposedly to improve his health and looks, but died of arsenic poisoning. The question is, did Madeleine poison him, was it accidental, or did he try to set her up?
The author skilfully constructs the events of their secret liaisons, and uses real letters within the story to illustrate the nature of their relationship, these offer fantastic insights into their personalities. Known facts are woven into the story, presenting the reader with the evidence to make up their own mind as to what really happened. Fascinating stuff!
I found myself racing through the last half of the book to see how it unfolded. The book opens with Emiles death, so although you know how it ends (or rather how he ends), the power of the story lies in how toxic their relationship becomes, and whether her actions suggest murder. And ultimately what happens to Madeleine afterwards.
Highly recommended.
4649627
The people around the throne ruled in his name until he was to take over at about 16-18 then he caught a fatal infection and slowly died.  The book is well researched and written.  It tells us all there is evidence of about his life and death.  It definitely gave me the information I wanted about a little known king of England  and a lesson on the dangers of living in the politics close to a king and a child king at that.. And then, there was something frightening about his personality and I wonder if it was not a blessing that he never ruled. The absolute rule of Kings and Queens is a dangerous and not very successful way to administer a country as brought to the forefront in this book.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Edward-VI-The-Lost-King-of-England/dp/0312538936/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Edward VI: The Lost King of England</a>&nbsp;The book Innocent Traitor, a novel of Lady Jane Grey follows this story perfectly for those interested.  Another sad story about the dangers around the crown<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Innocent-Traitor-A-Novel-of-Lady-Jane-Grey/dp/0345495349/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey</a>
4099876
I was a big fan of The Bones of Avalon, so I was thrilled to find another addition to the Dr. Dee series by Phil Rickman. I hope there are many more to come!

This novel tackles one of the biggest questions in Tudor lore: Who killed Amy Dudley?

In this second installation to the series, Dr. Dee is dodging Queen Elizabeth's desire to consult about a propitious wedding date for herself and Robert Dudley following the death of Dudley's wife, Amy. The court is swarming with murder accusations against Robert, finding such a convenient time for his wife to die so that he can marry Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth can barely disguise her glee, even while garbed in black as she paces the courts.

Dr. Dee is involved in a quest for a powerful crystal scrying stone, belonging to an abbott of a monastery that was torn down during the reign of Elizabeth's father, King Henry VIII. The stone is beyond his financial ability to purchase, but he must find it to fulfill a promise made to the Queen. Robert Dudley, needing an escape from the accusations at Court, becomes embroiled in the plot to find the stone and accompanies Dr. Dee on the journey.

As usual, Rickman gets the details right: the living situation of the famous (but not rich) Dr. Dee, the dark and mysterious spymaster Francis Walsingham lurking in the corners, the rotund and all-knowing Cecil, a young and double-minded Queen Elizabeth, the conflicted and tortured Lord Robert Dudley, the houses, castles, The Thames, and who is in or out of favor at a particular moment of the Elizabethan monarchy.

If you are a fan of all things Tudor, you will not put this novel back down again until you have read it through to the very end. And then you will ask for more! More! More!
4220644
This book is interesting and shows the Royal Family were almost a normal couple.  As usual, the American Press were as stupid as they are now.  The upper class were shocked at the British eating HOT DOGS.  These people did not take into account that the
British ate German Foods and still eat Sauages.  Although when I was living in Cornwall in the late 1990's, their hot dogs were horrible. I cannot remember the name of the sauage that comes from Yorkshire area that was tastey.

All and all the book gives us insight to the 1930's, an important time in history.
Southern Lady
4746806
I first saw this on TV and was completely engaged.  I just got this DVD today and very happy to own it.  Marie Antoinette's early life was completely in a bubble.  Yes she reminds us of celebrities like Paris Hilton but did she deserve to die?!!  Of course, not!. She was completely ignorant of anything outside of her royal confines.  In fairness to her, I think the partial cause of this tragedy was Louis XVI, who was an inept person let alone a King! If he was half as much of what a King should be, he would've dealt with much of the country's financial issues rather than Marie herself.  He also could've made her change her frivolous ways and become more responsible to her subjects.  It was just a mess.  People blame her solely but half of it if not much of it was not her fault.  She was in a wrong time with the wrong man.  Granted she was a horrible queen but part of the reason which led to her execution was due to those pamphlet lies!  I agree with the Englishman historian that if only she and the king could agree on a constitutional monarchy, which would have saved the royal family and prevented an uprising.  It's just too bad.  Very tragic indeed!  I will go to Petit Trianon to see it.  Been to Versaille but not her Petit Trianon.  Vive la Marie!
673264
I was always under the impression that, upon the death of Elizabeth and the succession of James VI/I in 1603, Robert Cecil had engineered a relatively quiet and peaceful passage of the Crown.  This book is fantastic, it describes how Cecil remained in court favor, how the Catholic faction viewed the new King (with hopes of tolerance not matched by James), Arbella Stuart's attempts at the Crown and the downfall of Sir Walter Raleigh in connection with the "Bye" and the "Main" plots.  The passage of the Crown was not, afterall, a quiet affair.

This book is, in my opinion, well written and easy to read.  I suggest that anyone interested in Stuart history read this book to understand just how a Scottish monarch attained the throne of England.
2235908
In their latest book, David Wayne and Richard Belzer investigate the murder of Princess Diana. They debunk the claim that the driver was drunk and the car was fleeing from the press. The truth, in fact, is far more sinister. We learn that is took 1 hour and 40 minutes to get the princess to the hospital and had she gotten there sooner, she would have survived. She was not trapped in the car and her internal bleeding could have been stopped. Her car was forced into the tunnel where the killers were laying in wait... A fantastic read. Diana deserves justice. Her death was no accident.
4180816
Interesting and easy read and good information on the Queen's personal life and those close to her.  Not as strong on world events and history.  Overall, I liked the book and enjoyed learning more about this great Queen's personal life.
2439471
Princess Alexandrina is a young woman who after her father's death finds herself to be poor because of all of his debts.  He had been an Indian Maharaja of Brindor. When Queen Victoria hears of her sad circumstances, she bestows a grace-and-favor home in Hampton Court Palace.

Alexandrina and her maid Pookie move into their new home and find it to be run down and possibly haunted. There are many other royals living in the Palace, most of them down on their luck and needy.  Alexandrina does make friends with some very interesting ladies and tries to accept her new life.  When she is invited to a picnic, she has her maid Pookie make her specialty, a pigeon pie!  Unfortunately, an unlikable man named Major General Bagshot died after eating the pie.  The police suspect Pookie of putting arsenic in the pie. She may be arrested for murder.

There are a total of 34 characters mentioned in The Pigeon Pie Mystery! It was a little difficult to follow if you didn't read it everyday. I found the book to be interesting, but all of the very quirky characters were confusing to keep in order.

I looked up the Hampton Court Palace grace-and-favor homes and it is true and continued even to recent times.

Although, not my favorite book, I have to say that it is truly an unforgettable story!
2386776
I can appreciate more the suffering Princess Diana endured during her marriage.  I especially like reading the British style of how she explained life stories.  Diana refers to arguments as rows, as one example. Her time in the royal palace was stressful and at times joyful I suppose.
4104305
In London 1558, when a baker Avis and her servant White Boy sit down to rest over ale, White Boy asks Avis to tell him her story.  Her story is tied up with the story of the court of King Henry VIII.
When Avis begins her story, it is 1533 and Avis is a garden maid at Greenwich Palace. Her mother helps make sweet foods in the confectionary and her father makes bread in the bake house. But on this day that she begins to tell her story, Master Smeaton, a musician and member of the royal household takes her away from her work and into a chamber that is like stepping inside a stained glass window. She has been taken to meet King Henrys new queen, Anne Boleyn who has called her there because of Aviss reputation for having a special gift, the gift of the sight. The Queen promises Avis she will raise her status if she will use her status to answer some questions for her.  This becomes a dangerous thing for Avis.  Avis is very  intelligent; she knows that even though some answers will anger the Queen, she must answer her.  Although all of the Kings best astrologers tell Anne that her baby will be a boy, Avis will not just tell Anne what she knows everyone wants to hear.  When the things she says start coming true, she is thrust in a life that is the very opposite of the one that her parents want for Avis.  Instead of ambition, her parents love humility and modesty. When Queen Anne discusses religion, Avis finds that the Queen believes everything different than her parents have taught her.  How will she survive these very adult situations she finds herself in?
Although most of us know the story of Anne Boleyn, this is a very refreshing look at the court through a young girls eyes.  She gives a great description of the different people that make up the court from the different positions they hold to the colorful clothes they wear, including the differences between the lesser servants in the outer courtyard and those in their colorful uniforms in the inner courtyard
Avis notices the things a young girl would notice and remember, such as not only how King Henrys new queen dresses and wears her hair, but also how shocked her mother would be to see how different she is than the modest Queen Katherine.
Avis is a smart child, shown by how observant she is, and she understands instinctively when she should not discuss a subject with the Queen, such as religion. She also understands when she should not, but she does not have a choice.
The chapters alternate between Aviss story in 1533 and her sitting at the table with White Boy in 1558 reflecting on what her story meant to her while a child and the meaning it holds for her now through the haze of the memories and music. A careful reader can see parallels between the two timelines.
The writing flows, is descriptive, and makes a well-known subject interesting again.
Thanks to Endeavour Press for providing a copy of this for review.
756588
I enjoyed all the intrigue and didn't realize how dangerous it was for the royalty. Now eager to read the next book in the series. So
sadCatherine 's babies were taken from her when born , and how women were treated as servants and  had to manipulate the men.
1561864
I think Queen Elizabeth is an excellent monarch who deserves a wonderful well researched book about her (I don't think this book is the one) The positive about this book is that Bedell Smith manages to depict the Queen as a dedicated and excellent monarch.  Duly covered are: the courtship and marriage of Elizabeth and Philip, Princess Elizabeth finding out on an overseas trip that her father passed away, the Coronation, and her untiring dedication as monarch. Of course she had issues with her family, her sister and three of her children all got divorced. The time of the narrative ends about the time of the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

But unfortunately Bedell Smith seems to have an agenda where the late Princess Diana is concerned--an obvious axe to grind.

I don't know if Bedell Smith is trying to score points with Charles and Camilla or what, but to read her book, Diana is a scheming, treacherous and yes, "mad" vixen like something out of a daytime drama. She whitewashes the fact that Charles did play a role in the downfall of the marriage by insisting on keeping his mistress Camilla around. Camilla was a married woman when she was involved with Charles and Bedell Smith seems to whitewash that before Diana came along, Charles was actually involved with this married woman. I think the lack of fairness when it comes to the late Princess of Wales ruined the book for me.  And Diana gave the royal family two exceptional sons and was an excellent mother to them. Plus did extremely well as an ambassador for the royal family and worked hard for worthy causes (a lot more than Camilla does now in my opinion)--but to read Bedell Smith's propaganda Diana had no redeeming qualities. She also never seems to see Diana's side of the story. I think it takes two people to make a marriage. She slams Diana for refusing to bring the boys to Sandringham in 1992, but leaves out that at Sandringham Diana would have been surrounded by Charles friends who readily provided safe houses for Charles and Camilla and had no use for Diana.

Come on Ms Bedell Smith Diana could not have been that bad. The icing on the cake is Bedell Smith's "diagnosing" the late Princess as having Borderline Personality Disorder. There was never a such a diagnosis by anyone who treated Diana. And this "diagnosis"  (which Bedell originally made in her book Diana: In Search of herself) was refuted in another book with a quote by a psychologist. The sad thing is Diana is not around to defend herself. Is this "diagnosis" designed to give Prince Charles a free pass. It seems that way to me.

Bedell Smith does not spare Dodi Fayed practically saying he's a low life, etc. Dodi's ex wife was interviewed before and after he died and she had really nice things to say about him. Dodi Fayed to me was rather a sad and ultimately ill fated figure and someone not to be despised the way Bedell Smith does.

Another point that bothered me was Bedell Smith's bringing into the narrative  Helen Mirren who played QEII in the film the Queen. And even referring to the film as a source. It would be like referring repeatedly how Meryl Streep "felt" about Margaret Thatcher in any future authorized biography.

If you are looking for a good unbiased account all around, I would not recommend this book.
3834769
After I bought this product I discovered that it is dangerous and has poisoned people. I ordered two...will throw out.
2551254
This follows the authors Murder as a Fine Art. Thomas de Quiney ,is the notorious OpiumEater. Mr de Quiney and his daughter Emily are still in London after solving previous crimes, de Quiney is a real life laudanum filled writer. If you want to learn about England in the 1850"s. The are bloody murders by a group of people who want to kill Queen Victoria. If you enjoy British mysteries read this one now.
I received this book in exchange for and honest review.
823818
I totally enjoyed reading Mrs Queen takes the trian. I have been in London and Edinburgh and have visited the Britannia, so it was fun reading about these places thru the eyes of the Queen. The support characters were well written and I enjoyed the way the story progressed. I would recommend this book.