Sadly, it seems there won't be many new books on royal topics waiting for us in bookstores next month. But here's a sneak peek at three titles that are scheduled for publication in December:
Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir. Biography. The first child of England's King Edward IV, Elizabeth married Henry VII, ending the Wars of the Roses. She was the mother of Henry VIII.
Queenship in the Mediterranean edited by Elena Woodacre. Explores the key roles queens played in the medieval and early modern eras.
Becoming Josephine by Heather Webb. Novel about the Creole socialite who became the wife of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
Publication dates are based on U.S. publishing schedules and are subject to change. To see the full list of December's new royalty books, visit the Royalty.nu Books page next month.
If I could read only one of the books listed above, I would pick "Elizabeth of York" because Alison Weir is my favorite royal biographer. Which book would you choose?
There is an excellent older bio of Elizabeth of York, by Mary Luke. Its worth looking for, if you don't care to pay full price for the new book.
I see the Josephine novel is written in the first person. (SIGH) personally, I can't stand first-person novels about historical figures… I feel as if I'm reading someone's fantasy. Not to bash the hard work that goes into research, etc. but third person allows more insight into the other characters. Just IMO
Susy, thank you for your comments. I like first-person novels, but still, I know how you feel because personally I hate fiction written in the present tense. A lot of historical novels these days are written in both first person and the present tense, so we're both out of luck!
Great minds think alike 🙂 I must say, (so that I don't sound so much like an old crank) that one historical novel written in first person which I really enjoyed, was Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus.