Book Review: The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick (Sourcebooks Fall Reading Club)
The Forever Queen: Sometimes, a desperate kingdom is in need of one great woman by Helen Hollick. © 2010 Sourcebooks Landmark. ISBN 9781402240683. Trade Paperback. Historical Fiction. 656 pages. Source: ARC provided by the publisher
Synopsis: Married to a king incompetent both on the throne and in bed, Emma does not love her husband. But she does love England. Even as her husband fails, Emma vows to protect her people-no matter what. For five decades, through love and loss, prosperity and exile, Emma fights for England, becoming the only woman to have been anointed, crowned, and reigning queen to two different kings.
Review: In 1002 England, Emma of Normandy is married off to the Saxon king, Æthelred the Unready. Æthelred is a horrible king, and an even worse husband (misogynistic, much?). Emma may not have the love of a good man, but she has fallen for the country which is now her home. When England is invaded by the Danish Vikings, it was up to Emma—not Æthelred—to save the country. Following Æthelred’s death in 1016, Emma guardedly married King Cnut and it is with him that she finds love.
Now, my knowledge of England’s history tapers off with Boudica and picks back up around the Tudors so there’s a huge gap there that I know very little about, but I was amazed that I had never heard of Emma’s fascinating story—twice Queen consort of England, mother of two Kings herself and great aunt of William the Conqueror.
Hollick’s writing is so incredibly engrossing and I felt like I was actually in medieval England (I know, cliché but you just can’t help it sometimes lol). There is an unbelievable amount of history included in this book, but it’s never boring. You never feel as if you are about to nod off in class (I do warn you though. If you are like me and like to read multiple books at once, you won’t be able to do that with this whopper of a door-stopper). The Forever Queen is satisfying, gripping and nothing less of amazing. Fans of historical fiction will devour this!
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If you’d like to chat about this book, be sure to stop by the Book Club Chat hosted on The Bibliophilic’s Book Blog on Monday, November 22, from 7-9pm EST. Helen will be stopping in from the UK to chat with us!
Synopsis: Wiltshire, during the dying days of Oliver Cromwell’s Republic. Robert Vaughn is the son of a Parliamentary officer, investigating a series of grisly murders which suggest a link with Satanic rituals. Led along a dark path to vampirism and beyond, he attempts to fight an evil killer.
Synopsis: The Fletchers’ beautiful new house is everything they dreamed it would be. Built between two churches in Heptonclough, a small village on the moors that time forgot, it ought to be paradise for this young family of five, but they barely have a chance to settle in before they find that they’re anything but welcome. Someone seems to be trying to drive them away–at first with silly pranks but then with threats that become increasingly dangerous, especially to the oldest child, ten-year-old Tom Fletcher, who begins to believe that someone is always watching him.
Synopsis: Young and beautiful Violetta may be of royal blood, but her kingdom is in shambles when she arrives in London on a mysterious mission. Her journey has been long and her adventures many, but it is not until she meets the playwright William Shakespeare that she gets to tell the entire story from beginning to end. Violetta and her comic companion, Feste, have come in search of an ancient holy relic that the evil Malvolio has stolen from their kingdom. But where will their remarkable quest—and their most unusual story—lead? In classic Celia Rees style, it is an engrossing journey, full of political intrigue, danger, and romance.
In this hilarious retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, screenwriter Wayne Josephson casts Mr. Knightley as one of the most handsome and noble of the gentlemen village vampires. Blithely unaware of their presence, Emma, who imagines she has a special gift for matchmaking, attempts to arrange the affairs of her social circle with delightfully disastrous results. But when her dear friend Harriet Smith declares her love for Mr. Knightley, Emma realizes she’s the one who wants to stay up all night with him. Fortunately, Mr. Knightley has been hiding a secret deep within his unbeating heart-his (literal) undying love for her…
Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow, lives with her children in a crumbling old tower in Pendle Forest. Drawing on Catholic ritual, medicinal herbs, and guidance from her spirit-friend Tibb, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future in exchange for food and drink. As she ages, she instructs her best friend, Anne, and her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft. Anne ultimately turns to dark magic, while Alizon struggles to accept the power she has inherited and dreams of a simpler life. But when a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate tricks her into accusing her family and neighbors of witchcraft. Suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights as friends and loved ones turn on one another and the novel draws to an inevitable conclusion.
Today we are joined by historical fiction author, Mary Sharratt (The Vanishing Point; Bitch Lit; The Real Minerva). Mary’s latest book, Daughters of the Witching Hill, was released last month through Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This vividly crafted novel tells the story of Mother Demdike, a cunning woman from Lancashire, England who was never given the chance to speak on her own behalf against allegations of witchcraft. In Daughters of the Witching Hill, Mary gives Mother Demdike her say.
Ah, April in Meryton. The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, the temperature is rising … and so is the undead body count. 
