Book News

You'd think with all my free time, I'd have known before TODAY that a new Philippa Gregory book was releasing TODAY and I wouldn't just be sharing this fabulous news with you people TODAY!!!

Good grief. Okay. So. Philippa Gregory writes wonderful historical "fiction," primarily set in England during the 1500s/1600s (I put fiction in quotes, because she does obscene amounts of research, so I consider her books an interesting fiction/nonfiction hybrid). She's most well known for the book The Other Boleyn Girl (recently adapted in so-so fashion by Natalie Portman, Eric Bana, and Scarlett Johannson in the film with the same title), but she has many other novels as well. I have read many of them, and find the ones set in castles with princesses and queens to be the most entertaining (I'd suggest The Constant Princess or The Boleyn Inheritance if you're new to this genre).

Her latest, despite not being set in a castle proper, seems intriguing; The Other Queen is about Mary, Queen of Scots, and USAToday has already given it a great review (with an analogy to Angelina Jolie no less). A brief excerpt of the plot from about.com:

"The story is told from the point of view of the Queen of Scots, being held against her will in England after she fled insurrection in her country. Her story alternates with the narratives of the husband and wife who host -- and restrain -- her. They bring differing perspectives of the old noble England as well as the newly-minted Protestant wealthy class. "

The book officially released today, so there are few personal reader reviews available at this point on Amazon.com. Regardless, this author has proved fantastic in the past and that's good enough for me. Once I get my hands on a copy, I'll be sure to post a full review.