Book Review: Chaucer's Tale

Title: Chaucer’s Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury

By: Paul Strohm

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about this book and thus had a hard time writing this review. Paul Strohm clearly did a great deal of research and put a lot of effort into this book, but I felt like this became more about the history of London in the late 14th Century and less a micro biography of Chaucer.

Don’t get me wrong, I really did like the book and if it had been packaged as a history of London or the politics of England during the time of Chaucer, I wouldn't be so conflicted. So much time was spent on the history, social dynamics, politics, and other notable persons of the time, that Chaucer became a minor player in his own story. A chapter would begin with some aspect of Chaucer’s personal or professional life, and then Strohm would spend the next 30 pages discussing something related and Chaucer would all but disappear until the author circled back and discussed how it could have influenced Chaucer’s writing. He might include a passage from Chaucer’s work to illustrate his point, but anything related directly to him was a fraction of what was written about the setting. Frequently I had to remind myself that the book was about Chaucer, and not London or later, Kent.

The passages quoted from Chaucer’s work were what I really liked about the book. I loved how Strohm used the Old English and the modern vernacular. He did an excellent job choosing passages that related to the chapter. It was only during these brief interludes when I felt the focus was on Chaucer.

Though I really enjoyed the book, due to the unfocused nature of the narrative, I can’t justify giving it a 4 cup rating. But because I personally liked it overall I’m giving it a rating of 3.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: Joan of Arc

Title: Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured

Author: Kathryn Harrison

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (4)

I was first introduced to the story of Joan of Arc in CCD class by a lovely religious sister (For those who aren't Catholic, a sister could be considered an un-cloistered nun.) who was visiting our church. I remember that she was wearing a plain navy blue dress, and being a young child, I wondered why she wasn't wearing black robes and a wimple like the nuns did on TV. She was visiting our class that evening because she felt it was important for us to learn about the remarkable girl our church was named for, Joan of Arc. Since that day I have been fascinated by the paradox of this peasant girl, warrior and savior of France.

Probably one of the most well-known of the Catholic Saints, there are a lot of books written about her life as a warrior. But most of these books are written for children or are carefully cultivated to emphasize her Saintly status. So I was really excited to have the chance to read a more academic and factual version of her life.

Kathryn Harrison begins with the traditional story of our Saintly virgin and how God told her to leave her home and save France from the English. Joan of Arc was carefully researched and Harrison does her best to strip away the myths surrounding Joan, a task that is made difficult because of how short her public life was and the infamous nature of her death. She also delves into the political and social climate of France and England during the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) and how Joan fit into this tumultuous period in history. This adds more insight into how truly incredible it was for this unknown girl to gain the respect and admiration of veteran soldiers and then lead them into battle – and win.

I really enjoyed this; for the most part Harrison maintained a good flow, although there are some parts that were bogged down by excess information. That aside, this is the best Joan of Arc biography I have read (and I've read quite a few) and is a good example of how biographies of female historical figures should be done.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: Isabella: The Warrior Queen

Title: Isabella: The Warrior Queen

Author: Kirstin Downey

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (5)

If you were to ask anyone who Queen Isabella of Spain was, most people would tell you that she was the monarch who bankrolled Christopher Columbus’s expedition across the Atlantic. Some might even remember that she was the Queen during the rise of the infamous Spanish Inquisition <insert obligatory Monty Python joke>. And, while these are important, they are only a fraction of the history changing events that occurred during the life and reign of one of the most famous (and infamous) rulers in Christendom.

Although I am a history major, Spain is a region I know very little about. Little by little, I’m learning about the colorful, and at times tumultuous, history of what was once the most powerful country in the Western world. I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to read this book because many of the biographies I've seen about Isabella were either written for children and/or they were a joint biography with her husband Ferdinand. And Kirstin Downey certainly filled that void.

The story of the rise of Isabella of Castile and Leon didn't begin with her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon. It didn't begin with the death of her father King Juan II or the death of her older brother King Enrique. It began nearly 750 years before her birth when the Moors left Africa and invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Downey gives the reader a much-needed primer on the wars between the Moors and the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. It is this and many other instances where the author puts the actions of Isabella into a greater historical context. She does an excellent job giving us the details but also giving the reader a look at the bigger picture. 

Downey takes great care to show us that Isabella was a real person; she wasn’t a saint but also had flaws like anyone else. Although she was a powerful monarch, she wasn’t infallible. She accomplished amazing things during her reign but she was also responsible for some terrible things. The author is careful to rely on facts and not, unlike many biographies, speculate about the feelings and motivations of Isabella and the people around her.

Isabella was a thoroughly researched and fascinating read. I enjoy biographies and I really love it when an author manages to give the subject back their humanity and remind us that these were real people and not characters in a fairy tale — and Kirstin Downey does just that. Even though I have the digital copy, I am definitely going to go out and buy the hard copy of Isabella: The Warrior Queen to put on my biography shelves at home next to the biographies of her daughter Catherine of Aragon.

**Yes I do have a separate section on my shelves for biographies. No, I do not sort them alphabetically by person. I sort them by time period, country, and then person. It’s my system and it works for me.**

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: La Belle Créole

Title: La Belle Créole

Author: Alina García-Lapuerta

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕

As a history major I have always been frustrated by the lack of biographies and histories of women who were not part of the Western European Royal and Noble elite. When I was given the opportunity to read La Belle Créole, I was intrigued. I had never heard of María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, the Comtesse Merlin, to be honest I didn’t know anything about Cuban culture during the Spanish Colonial period – let alone the women who lived through it.

Comtesse Merlin, or Mercedes, was born into some of the most powerful families in colonial Cuba. Her life was one of glamour and constant upheaval while the world changed around her. She persevered as she left her homeland for Spain in 1802, at the age of 13, experienced the fall of the Spanish crown, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and her own success as the hostess of Paris’s leading salon. Mercedes was not the only noble to struggle during the uncertain political climate of the Napoleonic and Restoration eras, but she is definitely one of the more fascinating ones. She didn’t have affairs or cause political intrigue; she was known for her kindness, her love of music, and her love for her family and homeland.  

I’ve mentioned this in the past and I will continue to mention it because I believe it to be very important – if the work is non-fiction, read the author’s note or introduction, and La Belle Créole is no different. Alina García-Lapuerta begins by defining the term “créole”, a word that made me think of Gambit from the X-Men. What I didn’t know was that the term créole referred to anyone born on a colony; in Cuba the term was also used for anything that came from the colonies, to differentiate it from Spain. She also clears up some naming issues amongst other things. Thankfully the author did include a partial family tree, but I wish she had placed it at the beginning with the introduction instead of in the back after the index and bibliography.

The author clearly has a deep appreciation for Mercedes and pre-Revolutionary Cuba. The research was well done and the author did well to question certain accounts from Mercedes and her contemporaries. Her descriptions of the palaces and grand estates in colonial Cuba painted a vivid picture of a time of wealth and family prestige. Alina García-Lapuerta did touch on slavery as it affected Mercedes but didn’t delve further, although there were occasions where I believe she wanted to go into more detail but chose not to. I wish the author had shown some of that restraint when talking about Mercedes’ time as a successful salon hostess. After the initial descriptions of notable guests and events she continued on and on to where it became repetitive.

Overall La Belle Créole is a beautiful story about an extraordinary woman who lived during an extraordinary time. A must read for anyone interested in women’s history or women of the time who were not Marie Antoinette or Josephine Bonaparte. I look forward to reading more from Alina García-Lapuerta, perhaps maybe a history of colonial Cuba…

**NetGalley provided me with an advanced reader copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces

Title: Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces

Author: Miles J. Unger

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ 

My Thoughts:

I have always had a fascination for art and art history. It may be due to my mother’s influence—I spent the better part of my childhood being dragged from museum to museum, gallery to gallery while my mom worked on her degree in Fine Arts. Or it may be because the lives of the artists themselves were so interesting to me. I suspect it may be a mix of the two. Michelangelo was one of a select group of artists my mom could spend hours talking about. As an adult I was able to see up close the sculptures and paintings I had seen in my mom’s art books. And while I knew a lot about Michelangelo’s work, I knew very little about the man. So when the opportunity arose to read Miles J. Unger’s labor of love, “Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces”, I was thrilled.

The Pietà ©klorenz

From the beginning I could tell that the author was truly passionate about Michelangelo and took great care to portray his life as honestly as possible. To achieve this, he used letters from the artist, his family, his friends, and his contemporaries. Unger does a fantastic job balancing each perspective to separate the legend from the man, which must have been a difficult task because not only was Michelangelo a gifted artist but he was also gifted in self-promotion.

The Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel

The six title pieces are: The Pietà, David, The Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Medici Chapel, The Last Judgment, and St. Peter's Basilica. The author does discuss many of Michelangelo’s other works but they are used to show the artists growth or to add perspective in regard to the timeline. Of the six pieces featured I have personally seen five. The one I did not see was the Medici Chapel, it was on my list of places to see but morning sickness, the line to see David, the train schedule, and the best strawberries and cream ever, prevented me from seeing it.

What I enjoyed the most was reading about how Michelangelo evolved as an artist and reading about the little behind the scenes details about some of his most famous pieces. I know that art doesn't just appear, but sometimes you forget the amount of work and the difficulties that went into each piece. It put a lot of things in perspective and gave me a whole new appreciation for his art and the art of his contemporaries.

Saint Peter's Basilica  ©klorenz

Unger’s writing was fluid and engaging. Michelangelo was a pleasure to read and I plan on reading the author’s other works on Lorenzo de Medici and Machiavelli, and I hope to see more from him in the future. Anyone interested in art, art history, the Renaissance, Italy, or biographies will enjoy this book.

For this review I was provided a digital copy from NetGalley, which had some formatting issues but I was so engrossed in the book that I was able to overlook most of the issues. I really loved this book. So much so, that I have ordered the print copy to add to my collection—if my mom doesn't steal from me first.