A rich memory is better than hope, for it lasts after fruition, and serves us at a time when hope has failed and fruition is but - a memory. "How rich is a man who has laid up such treasures of memory to grow the sweeter as he feeds upon them. Here are two quotes from the book that illustrate why I liked it so much: 1. Thank goodness for educated reviews such as Anniemod's, the reading of which really enhanced this delightful love story for me. I'm gullible and uneducated enough to have mostly believed the entire story was written by a descendant of Sir Edwin Caskoden. and it's not that easy to switch from one to the other the way the book would force you to if you do not know the history behind it. Without that, I would have probably called it a pseudo-Tudor Victorian romance - the mixing of the two eras is hard to work out. And a rich tapestry it is.Overall - I liked the book - but a big part of the reason is that I knew what to expect exactly. And despite the fact that Mary (and especially Jane) sound more Victorian than Tudor, the spirit of the time is there and even the historical half-truths and plain imagination stories (the way in which Charles gained access to the court for example) adds to the tapestry of the novel. But if you know what to expect, the novel is charming - especially if you are fond both of the Victorian novels and of the Tudors period. But even then, you are almost compelled to believe that this is a Tudor tale(even when the author slips and mentions that a country under a queen prospers(as a comment of the Salic law in France - a courtier of the Tudors times would not have a reference for such a note considering that chaos that had been created from the rule of the only independent queen before the Tudors).And that's where I am back to my initial descriptions - anyone expecting a Tudor novel will be disappointed anyone expecting a Victorian one might like it a bit better but still probably will not consider it a really good one. The spirit of the Tudors court is somewhere there but in most cases the book sounds more like the court of Victoria than the one from 4 centuries earlier. And the story flows as a good late Victorian novel - with the proper expected behaviour of everyone in the book and with as many historical inaccuracies as the author managed to invent in order to make the already unbelievable story almost magical. So the premise is set, the language is clarified and the story can unfold. The author actually explains why he chose to do that instead of publishing the memoirs as they were. The book is published at the end of the 19th century and the language used in it shows that clearly. A few generations later one of his descendants will publish part of his memoirs - and the story he picks is the story of one of the most romantic loves in the Tudors history - the one between Mary Tudor(the first one - Henry's sister) and Charles Brandon. in some ways.Meet Edwin Caskoden - a master of the dance of Henry VIII (no, you had not forgotten your Tudors history - don't start looking for that particular title). What the book actually end up being is an amalgam of the two- more a 19th century book than a 16th century one but still keeping the spirit of the Tudors times. Judged based on any of them, the book has a lot of flows and if the reader expects any of the above, they probably will not like the book. There are two ways to describe this book:- A 19th century novel about an epic love inspired by one of the interesting stories from the Tudor times- A story of the love of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon at the beginning of the 16th century.Both descriptions would be correct and at the same time, both of them will be wrong.
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