Lucy Worsley: Courtiers. (Book Review)

[selenak]

This is a delightful book given to me as a Christmas present by kathyh. Subtitle: "The Secret History of the Georgian Court", it covers the era between the time of Georg Ludiwig, Prince Elector of Han(n)over, becoming King George I. of England, and the death of George II, with a brief "Where are they now?" overview about the last of the protagonists

Comments

[kathyh]

Really glad you enjoyed it. Lucy Worsley can be a bit of an acquired taste due to her habit of dressing up in her TV documentaries but obviously this does not matter in a book and she is very entertaining. I found the story of “Wild Peter” very touching in that he did eventually have a life away from the court. I was also very glad that Henrietta Howard eventually managed to escape her rather invidious role as George II’s mistress.

I have been meaning to tell you that I recently finished Passion and absolutely loved it. The author made all the characters come alive and I thought the relationship between Byron and Augusta was particularly well done. Mary Shelley is always fascinating and I thought the portrait of Byron was fantastic. Many thanks for the really immersive reading experience :)

[selenak]

You're very welcome! It's my favourite fictional take on the Romantics so far, and I hoped you might enjoy it. Writing a good Byron who isn't his own Byronic caricature and has that vital sense of humor is especially rare, and I entirely agree about him and Augusta. As for Mary Shelley, I felt so let down by the movie a couple of years ago because the director's previous film had been a wonderful one - "The Girl Wajda" - and then there was this dreary "Mary the long suffering martyr", so this novel's take on Mary in which she's one of the most interesting and sharp-tongued characters is so much better.

[kathyh]

I certainly thought so. I loved the complexity of her relationship with Claire/Jane and indeed the way he showed the relationships between all the female characters from Caro and Lady Melbourne to Augusta and Annabella. I also loved the way he wrote about Fanny Brawne and her rather different social milieu. My one complaint was not enough Keats but I can see that might have been structurally difficult as he was younger and not as interlinked as the others were. I’m surprised it’s not better known as an historical novel.