Edward Charles

Mais um livro que retrata um pouco da história de Inglaterra, mais especificamente da dinastia Tudor. Desta vez o autor que trago aqui, não é Philippa Gregory de quem já li alguns livros sobre esse tema. O livro "Rainha por nove dias" de Edward Charles, descreve o período pós-morte de Henrique VIII e respectiva sucessão ao trono. Apesar do título do livro sugerir a uma história que gira em torno da vida de Jane Grey, a qual foi rainha de Inglaterra por nove dias, isso não é bem verdade. O livro, apesar de ir ao encontro dos acontecimentos onde Jane Grey esteve envolvida, o certo é que o protagonista do livro é um jovem auxiliar de uma das inúmeras quintas pertencentes à poderosa família Grey, de nome Richard Stocker.
Richard devido à sua honestidade, à sua grande capacidade de trabalho e também devido à sua boa estampa física, foi ganhando confiança dentro da família Grey. Chegando a viver um romance tórrido com uma das filhas do casal Grey, Catherine, e mais tarde acompanhando de muito perto os últimos meses de vida de Lady Jane, a qual Richard a considerava como sendo uma das pessoas mais puras e cultas existente à face da terra, nutrindo por ela uma grande admiração. E é este episódio sobre a ascensão ao poder, de uma certa forma contrariada, de Lady Jane e mais tarde a sua condenação à morte por traição, por indicação da nova rainha de Inglaterra Maria, filha de Henrique VIII, que a história do livro retrata sempre com Richard envolvido.
A conclusão que se tira deste livro, é a sede de poder que existia na altura, nem que para isso se tenha de prejudicar a própria família. Os membros da família, principalmente os filhos, eram usados como peças de xadrez num jogo muito perigoso. Será que hoje a situação é muito diferente? Uma coisa certa, actualmente não existe o cepo, onde os supostos traidores/malfeitores punham os seus pescoços a nu, para que num golpe certeiro fossem decepados. Se calhar não seria mal pensado para alguns parasitas da sociedade que andam por aí.
Chega de divagações. Se se interessa por história e tem alguma curiosidade pela dinastia Tudor, aconselho vivamente o livro "Rainha por nove dias" de Edward Charles.
Boas leituras.… (meer)

Daughters of the Doge is one of my charity shop purchases. There are days when you go into a charity shop and you end up leaving with 10 books, simply because they seem to have interesting book after interesting book. It's a historical novel set in the mid 1550's, mainly in Venice. In fact, it was the sleek cover with its dusky image of a gondola which caught my eye.

Richard Stocker is a young English protestant. Unfortunately for him though, Catholic Queen Mary sits on the English throne and tensions are high between the religions. Richard's position is more precarious than most given the fact that he had been a companion to Lady Jane Gray, who had been executed by Queen Mary. All this is recounted in the first Richard Stocker novel, In the Shadow of Lady Jane, but rest assured, you do not have to have read the first novel to understand the events in this second novel.

Richard is unsure of his path in life, but fate offers him a chance to travel to Italy, more specifically Venice. He has a strong interest in medicine and being accepted to study at Padua University is a possibility. But while in Venice, he discovers a talent for art and drawing in the studio of the great artist Tintoretto. He also meets three remarkable, and beautiful women who all play their part in the development of his life. There is the stunning and calculating courtesan Veronica Franco who teaches him about the subtle undercurrents of Venetian life, the demure and intelligent Yasmeen, a Muslim who captures his heart and finally, captive nun Faustina. Together, these women represent the diversity of Venice and are the Daughters of the Doge.

It's a weird coincidence that I've just finished Sarah Dunant's amazing novel Sacred Hearts, also set in the world of Renaissance convents. Unfortunately though, this novel fails to reach the same heights as Dunant's book. It is somewhat repetitive and predictable with rather flat characters. The author does take the rather 21st century concept of not knowing your path in life and applies it to a character in the 16th century, but ultimately Charles fails to bring the main character to life.… (meer)

This novel had so much potential – an exquisite setting in one of the richest periods of history, a cast of artists and royalty, and a personable hero – but I didn’t feel it ever quite delivered on its promise.

For the most part, it reads like a novel marketed at the young adult market, but occasionally the language changes to something that is definitely more adult in nature, so that it hovers on the brink between then, neither one thing nor the other. The narrative is also constantly interrupted by the stating of specific dates throughout, which I thought hindered proceedings, rather than propelling the story forward in any way – it gave it quite a fragmented feel and I found myself only able to read it in shorter bursts, never once compelled to sit for any length of time and read a longer section in one go – there just wasn’t enough to keep me interested for longer than about twenty minutes at a time and my mind would wander.

The characters are largely two-dimensional – none of them feel particularly fleshed out, although there is a more attention given to Veronica Franco, the beguiling courtesan, and her scenes were some of the most beautiful and smoothly-written. This was partially due to the fact that those scenes were mostly within an art studio, and the only time Charles really wrote with any passion was while describing the activity within the studio and the history of different techniques – those passages were a dream to read. The narrator, Richard, was personable enough, but he seemed remarkably immature for a young man of twenty and much was made of his “coming of age”. There were constant references to his growing up (made by the man himself) which felt out of place in the text and did nothing to enhance the story. Yes, this was a coming of age, but the subtleties of his situation were more than enough to indicate this to any reader without him constantly reminding himself that he needed to mature.

The sub-story of a royal plot was, to me, the most exciting possibility, but this was largely side-lined and forgotten, much to my disappointment. Several characters were introduced specifically for the purposes of the plot against Queen Mary, but it was never fully explored and a great opportunity for added intrigue was missed. On top of this, everything falls into place far too neatly and felt very contrived towards the end.

Overall, I was disappointed and unimpressed – the author could have really pushed himself and written something that sparkled, but I feel he was trying too hard to play it safe and didn’t challenge himself. It’s a pleasant enough read, but nothing to write home about.… (meer)